Ain't Dere No More: New Orleans Language and Local Nostalgia in Vic & Nat'ly Comics

Abstract

As “local,” “authentic,” “working class,” “white,” “urban,” and “salt of the earth” characters, Vic and Nat'ly, the protagonists of Bunny Matthews's classic comic strip, embody all of the stereotypes of a New Orleans–based “Yat” identity. In this paper, we examine written representations of Yat English in Vic & Nat'ly strips, analyzing these results in comparison with current linguistic data from actual New Orleans English speakers and contextualizing our interpretation in terms of social and historical changes within post‐Katrina New Orleans. We find that many of the linguistic features exaggerated in the comic (e.g., oil as “erl”) have been stigmatized almost to the point of nonexistence in the speech of working‐class whites today, such that the characters Vic and Nat'ly do not accurately represent any current group of native New Orleanians, despite being held up as quintessential New Orleanians imbued with local authenticity. While Vic & Nat'ly comics celebrate a New Orleans identity that is increasingly dear to Yat and non‐Yat residents alike, we argue that the representation is based more in nostalgia than faithful rendering of the current sociolinguistic landscape, and that commodification based on this nostalgia in some ways erases the realities of modern New Orleans, in particular the role that black New Orleanians play in representations of authenticity.

Displacement and local linguistic practices: R‐lessness in post‐Katrina Greater New Orleans

“…Brennan () and Schoux Casey (, ) found similar patterning in their own New Orleans English data sets, suggesting that despite local dialectal variation in (r), New Orleanians orient towards broader Northern American linguistic norms in terms of producing more (r‐1) in more monitored speech conditions. Though (r‐1) is overtly prestigious, there is covert prestige to using r‐less pronunciations, which along with other ‘Yatty’ features have been shown to index authenticity, uniqueness, and local pride (Coles ; Schoux Casey , ; Carmichael and Dajko ). These locally valued, covertly prestigious qualities are likely also behind the significant effect of extra‐Chalmatian orientation, the results of which can be seen in Figure , which demonstrates a clear trend in rates of (r) across orientation scores, ranging from lowest (most oriented to Chalmette) to highest (most oriented to places outside Chalmette).…”

“…The shift away from r‐lessness in GNO makes its use noticeable and marked, and thus ideal for identity expression – as Becker () found on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where speakers used r‐lessness as a means of distinguishing themselves from new arrivals. Like the Lower East Side, post‐Katrina GNO has been a context of population flux, foregrounding place‐linked components of an ‘authentic New Orleans identity’, which may be claimed on the basis of using these marked, traditional features (Carmichael and Dajko ).…”

“…The commodification of local linguistic features like r‐lessness in GNO to index authenticity pre‐dates Katrina (Coles ), though since the storm such practices have escalated dramatically (Carmichael and Dajko ). Commodification of linguistic features is part of a dialogic enregisterment process.…”

“…For commodification to occur, there must be some level of linguistic awareness surrounding the existence of a given linguistic feature and its connection to certain social qualities; however, the commodification further circulates and builds on these associations (Johnstone, Andrus and Danielson ; Johnstone ). In the case of traditional New Orleanian linguistic features such as r‐lessness, the associations are clearly those of unique, fun‐loving, authentic and down‐to‐earth locals (Carmichael and Dajko ; Schoux Casey ). However, this association is at odds with disdain for these features when uttered by working‐class Chalmatians (Carmichael ).…”

“…The storm changed the social fabric of the city, redistributing its citizens who were previously stratified across neighborhoods according to ethnicity and social class, bringing into everyday contact cross‐sections of New Orleanians who previously avoided each other. This post‐hurricane reshuffling has highlighted claims to locality and authenticity, as well as emotional ties to home (Carmichael and Dajko ; Schoux Casey ). For this reason, post‐Katrina GNO provides an important site for research into the ways place‐linked linguistic variables may be employed in identity construction and performance.…”