Alternative place naming in the diverse margins of an ideologically mono-lingual society.

TY - CHAP

T1 - Alternative place naming in the diverse margins of an ideologically mono-lingual society.

AU - Quist, Pia

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - This chapter presents an analysis of the sociolinguistic practice of giving places unofficial names, i.e. The practice of 'alternative place naming'. The theoretical starting point is a discussion of 'place' as a topical challenge in sociolinguistics. While place as a holder of linguistic variation can be criticized and links between people, languages and places can be deconstructed as symbolic formations, strong ideologies of monolingualism and a place-people-language unity remain to dominate in society. The chapter studies this encounter between the national ideological construction of a mono-lingual society on the one hand and the practice based polylingual reality of young people on the other. Analyses of hip-hop and graffiti practices in Copenhagen, Denmark, suggest that alternative place naming may be a means of managing diversity in the context of a monolingualism ideology. Through the use of unofficial names, the young people create their own symbolic links between themselves, their places and languages.

AB - This chapter presents an analysis of the sociolinguistic practice of giving places unofficial names, i.e. The practice of 'alternative place naming'. The theoretical starting point is a discussion of 'place' as a topical challenge in sociolinguistics. While place as a holder of linguistic variation can be criticized and links between people, languages and places can be deconstructed as symbolic formations, strong ideologies of monolingualism and a place-people-language unity remain to dominate in society. The chapter studies this encounter between the national ideological construction of a mono-lingual society on the one hand and the practice based polylingual reality of young people on the other. Analyses of hip-hop and graffiti practices in Copenhagen, Denmark, suggest that alternative place naming may be a means of managing diversity in the context of a monolingualism ideology. Through the use of unofficial names, the young people create their own symbolic links between themselves, their places and languages.

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9789027200044

SP - 239

EP - 260

BT - The Sociolinguistics of Place and Belonging: Perspectives from the Margins.

A2 - Cornips, Leonie

A2 - de Rooij, Vincent

PB - John Benjamins Publishing Company

CY - Amsterdam

ER -