Vox Popular: The Surprising Life of Language in the Media

Our favorite movies and TV shows feature indelible characters who tell us about themselves not just in what they say but in how they say it. The creative decisions behind these voices—such as what accent or dialect to use—offer rich data for sociolinguistic study. Vox Popular describes the ways in which language is employed to further characterization or narrative plot, offering insightful and engaging analyses of dialogue from sitcoms like Modern Family and The Office to classic and contemporary films like Coming to America and The Help. Queen argues that linguistic register and language variation are as central to these works as costume, scenery, and musical score. The book provides a general sociolinguistic understanding of what variation, wherever it might occur, can tell us about the social world. It addresses the common perception that the media are destroying language by using “bad language,” and gives a linguist’s take on what this means. Queen also addresses the perception that the media are a poor source of information about ‘real’ life and ‘real’ language and instead shows what a rich source of linguistic and cultural data the mass media can provide, tapping into linguistic depictions of race and class that are coded for a certain understanding by the audience, even if it’s unconscious. By looking to popular culture’s representations of language in works we consume, Vox Popular provides a novel and engaging understanding of the major issues of sociolinguistics for those new to the field.  

Preface and Acknowledgements A Note on the Linguistic Conventions Used in Vox Popular . Keywords found in each Chapter   Chapter 1: Language in a mediated world Mad Men in a Modern Family world Why does a linguist care about Mad Men or Modern Family Narrative media as a site for linguistic exploration Language variation within the narrative audiovisual media   Chapter 2: Exploring Language and Language Variation Introduction Languages and Dialects The components of a grammar All the systems work as a system: The case of Systems of variation: English Personal Pronouns Language change   Chapter 3: Studying Language Variation in the Media Introduction Formulating a research question Turning narrative media into data Analytic orientations Transcribing your data Coding your data Constructing a corpus Quantitative methods Qualitative methods Triangulating your evidence with different analytic approaches   Chapter 4: Dimensions of Variation Introduction Non–linguistic/Linguistic Spoken/Written Nonstandard/Standard Informal/Formal Unplanned/Planned Local/Global Private/Public Putting it all together   Chapter 5:  Making Language Variation Meaningful Introduction Meaning Indexical Meaning Ideology Ideology about language Ideology, indexicality and power   Chapter 6: Language Variation and Characterization Introduction Characterization and Language Realness and Authenticity Identity and Identification Relational Identity Norms and Types Social Personae Indexical Authenticity   Chapter 7: Language as Narrative Action Introduction Performance and Speech Acts Language as a plot device Switching as action Taboo language as action   Chapter 8: Connecting Language Variation to the Audience Introduction Audiences Audience Design Setting expectations for viewers Enregisterment Stylization Interacting with audiovisual media Conclusion  

Robin Queen is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Linguistics, English Languages and Literatures, and Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan. In addition to her research on language variation in the mass media, Queen has extensively researched language, gender, and sexuality; intonation and prosody; and contact–related language change. She is the co–author of Through the Golden Door: Educational Approaches for Immigrant Adolescents with Limited Schooling (1998).