Appropriating the language of the other: Performativity in autonomous and unified markets

Abstract

This paper focuses on how the language of the Other can be appropriated to serve as a resource for the formation of identities. Discussion of the performative aspects of appropriation, we argue, has to be sensitive to the specific social conditions under which appropriation occurs. By comparing data from autonomous and unified linguistic markets, we show that speakers may be constrained in different ways by the specific ideologies operating in a particular market. These ideologies strongly influence the kinds of symbolic values assigned to instances of performativity, that is, how attempts at linguistic appropriation are received and evaluated. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.