Precarious projects: the performative structure of reclamation

Herbert, Cassie

doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2015.05.002

Cited by 24 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…This precariousness of entitlement is built right into the pragmatics of peripheral speech. This makes the project of repurposing traditionally subordinating, outgrouping speech especially dangerous (Herbert 2015). ‘Bitch’ used skillfully by someone in the right position can be hilarious and empowering; used just an indefinable bit off-key, it can reinforce sexism and be alienating and hurtful.…”

Section: Resisting and Reclaiming Speechmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Austin's pragmatic analyses were free of any sensitivity to how authority and norms are structured by power inequalities, relations of oppression, or social identities. In recent years, there has been a burst of attention to how speech acts can constitute situated exercises of power that may create, enforce, or dismantle agency and identity; speech acts can subordinate, silence, grant rights and statuses, resist and reconstitute identity, and more (see Anderson, forthcoming; Herbert 2015; Kukla 2014; Langton 1993; Langton and Hornsby 1998; Maitra 2012; and Tirrell 2012). In this essay we continue along this path, but enhance it in what we think are two new ways.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Ingrouping, Outgrouping, and the Pragmatics of Peripheral Speech

Herbert

Kukla

2016

J. of the Am. Philos. Assoc.

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ABSTRACT:Speech does not merely reflect social identity; it helps create it, by ingrouping and outgrouping individuals and establishing and clarifying community boundaries and norms of membership. We define a pragmatic category of community-specific speech that is used by and directed at community insiders. We focus on a species of community-specific speech that has flown under the philosophical radar, a type of speech we term peripheral speech: Peripheral speech is informal, typically playful, insider speech that includes inside jokes, riffs, gossip, insider references; it is loosely constrained, and only those who have skills and normative competence characteristic of a community can play along successfully. Peripheral speech is shared by a community, but also used to bring people into it and cast people out of it. We argue that entitlement to peripheral speech requires a type of speaker authority that is not granted by way of established rules and conventions, but rather settled locally and in situ.

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Section: Resisting and Reclaiming Speechmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ingrouping, Outgrouping, and the Pragmatics of Peripheral Speech

Herbert

Kukla

2016

J. of the Am. Philos. Assoc.

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“…Although, as I mentioned earlier, reclamation is difficult in all sorts of ways, and always “precarious,” as Herbert () puts it. Sadly, exploring slur reclamation remains outside of the scope of this paper.…”

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confidence: 98%

“…There is plenty of interesting literature on reclaimed slurs and insider uses of slurs; see, for instance, Herbert and Anderson, forthcoming. I put aside the subtleties here.…”

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confidence: 99%

Slurs, Interpellation, and Ideology

Kukla¹

2018

The Southern J of Philosophy

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The goal of this paper is to give an account of the pragmatic and social function of slurs, taken as speech acts. I develop a theory of the distinctive illocutionary force and pragmatic structure of slurs. I argue that slurs help to produce subjects who occupy social identities carved out by pernicious ideologies, and that they do this whether or not anyone involved intends for the slur to work that way or has any particular feelings or conscious thoughts associated with using or being targeted by the slur. I offer an Althusser-inspired account of what an ideology is, as well as of the mechanisms by which slurs can serve to cue and strengthen ideologies. A slur, I argue, is a kind of interpellation, which reduces its target to a generic identity and derogates and subordinates its target. I explore how slurs and ideologies work in tandem to constitute and fortify one another. I end by applying my account to see how well it fits and helps illuminate three quite different, especially complex slurs.

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“…Slurs alongside #NotYourShield can also be used ironically, jokingly, or as terms of endearment rather than to inflict damage to an interest, as scholars (see Allan, 2015;Croom, 2013;Jaszczolt, 2016;Maitra & McGowan, 2012;Pryor, 2016;Zimmerman, 2012) These reclamatory and resistance-based uses of slurs are noteworthy since they suggest, contrary to arguments put forth by Bolinger, that it is not always true that "in choosing to use a slurring term rather than its neutral counterpart, the speaker signals that she endorses the term (and its associations)" (2017, p. 439). Indeed, a vast body of literature (Allan, 2015;Bianchi, 2014;Bolinger, 2017;Brontsema, 2004;DiFranco, 2017;Herbert, 2015;Hom, 2008;Jeshion, 2013;Parks & Jones, 2008;Pryor, 2016;Saka, 2007) acknowledges that although slurs can serve as linguistic mechanisms of subordination, "re-appropriating these terms can be a strategy to fight back against social injustice [and], when successful, reclamation is the subversion of powerful mechanisms of oppression" (Herbert, 2015, p. 131). In academia, most often this phenomenon is addressed in the context of LGBTQ members' self-referential re-appropriation of "queer" (Bianchi, 2014;Brontsema, 2004;Hom, 2008;Jeshion, 2013;Saka, 2007) and in black communities' re-appropriation of the term "nigger" (Allan, 2015;Parks & Jones, 2008;Pryor, 2016).…”

Section: -Beyond Faggotry: Gamergate and #Notyourshieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons from #GamerGate: Complicating virtual harm and reassessing frameworks for virtual harm assessment

Milford¹

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Beginning in summer 2014, a series of sustained misogynistic attacks against women in the video game industry coalesced online under #GamerGate. In this study I conduct a virtual ethnography of various online fieldsites hosting #GamerGate discussions, with the goal of complicating prevailing understandings of virtual harm. I draw from Feinberg (1987) to operationalize harm as that which damages an interest. I suggest that discourses in public policy, popular media and popular culture can oversimplify representations of virtual harm, theorizing an ontology of virtual harm that acknowledges a more nuanced range of factors that can impact how harm manifests within virtual contexts. To my supervisor, Dr. Lara Karaian: your guidance and support surpassed my wildest expectations. You endured my academic insecurity, excessively long drafts, and jumbled thoughts. You made me stronger with every patient word of advice that you graciously provided. You never doubted me even when I was doubting myself, and you always made me feel reassured that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I couldn't have asked for a better mentor to lead me through this experience, and I'm genuinely honoured to have been your first PhD supervision. I'll be forever in your debt for seeing me through this process. To my committee, Dr. Aaron Doyle and Dr. Valerie Steeves: your constructive feedback over the past three years made for an incredibly positive peer review experience. Your insights challenged me and helped me reach beyond my discipline, and your enthusiastic, encouraging presences made me excited for our meetings-something I'm well aware that too few doctoral students can boast. You both made this committee feel like a team, and for that I will always be grateful. To my family, particularly Mom, Dad, Stacy and Aunt Lori: thank you for unreservedly standing by me and for always being willing to field my erratic text messages and calls, regardless of when or from what part of the planet I was contacting you. Your love and unconditional support, not just for my academic pursuits but for my life decisions in general, mean the world. To my friends, Clare, Kaitesi, Ciara, Nicole, Emily, Danielle, Steph, Стиви, Charley and others: thank you for putting up with me; I'm acutely aware that I'm not always the easiest to handle. Your willingness to chat with me at any hour of the day, to help me find light in dark places, to always know what to say and do to lift my spirits, and to non-judgmentally take my eccentricities in stride are things that I will always cherish. I wouldn't have been able to get through this without all of you. Special mention to Sandra, who taught me how to survive this experience. The years that I've spent writing this dissertation, like life, have been made up of meetings and partings. All of them have made me the person who I am today. As I embark on a new chapter of my life, I'd like to extend my appreciation to everyone who has played a role in charting my journey, but who I may not have mentioned by name. If you're ...

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Precarious projects: the performative structure of reclamation

Cited by 24 publications

References 22 publications

Ingrouping, Outgrouping, and the Pragmatics of Peripheral Speech

Ingrouping, Outgrouping, and the Pragmatics of Peripheral Speech

Slurs, Interpellation, and Ideology

Lessons from #GamerGate: Complicating virtual harm and reassessing frameworks for virtual harm assessment

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