par Jaspers, Jürgen
Référence Journal of sociolinguistics, 15, 4, page (493-524)
Publication Publié, 2011-09
Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : Teenagers often appropriate dialect features they find attractive. This paper argues that unattractive dialect features can also become a target for teenage constructions of linguistic style. Based on an ethnographic case study at a multi-ethnic school in Antwerp, Belgium, it is shown that Antwerp dialect for non-white students conjured up angry white and/or racist voices, and that it was frequently stylised as a way of speaking associated with others. At the same time, however, these students produced stylisations that were in synchrony with their own voice and self-presentation when they recruited Antwerp dialect features to underline assertiveness and to distance themselves from recent, linguistically incompetent, arrivals. It is argued that Antwerp dialect's tainted connotations were outweighed by its value as a tool for shaping a working-class, non-immigrant identity.