More from the research files

As with my previous post, this entry will be about sources I have found for my research project on new language in lgbtq communities. I have another item from William Leap, this time a book on gay men's language (still academic, though possibly more accessible to the laymen than the anthology), and an absolutely fabulous find: a review of the literature on lesbian and gay language! It's always nice to see that someone else has done half of your work for you!


1)Leap, William. Word's Out: Gay Men's English. Minneapolis, Minn: University of Minnesota Press, 1996.

Using anthropology, social linguistics, and drawing on gender studies, Leap examines actual language practices by gay men in every day contexts: magazines, songs, conversation, books, performances, etc. Jacobs calls it a “linguistic ethnography” (Jacobs 1997). This book may have some useful sections as it looks at cooperatively constructing meanings in a minority sub-culture, which is at the heart of my own research. How language shapes identity should come up, and there is a discussion on the reclamation of the word “queer,” which should also be quite useful. Running through the book seems to be an ongoing consideration of communicating one’s identity through specialized language use. In other words, letting other gay men know one is also gay, perhaps without non-gay people catching on. While this does not seem directly connected with my own work, it should none-the-less provide a good background in linguistic studies of language among gay men, a plus since I have no background in linguistics.


2) Jacobs, Greg. "Lesbian and gay male language use: A critical review of the literature."American Speech. Durham: Spring 1996. Vol. 71, Iss. 1; pg. 49, 4 pgs

This review of the literature was done for an academic journal published by Duke University (American Speech) and covers studies pertaining to lesbian and gay language use with citations dating as far back as 1935, though the bulk of the work is from the 1960s into the 1990s. In 22 pages, Jacobs gives an overview of what has been studied in this field and how, including notes on methodology and theoretical underpinnings. Studies range from controlled, clinical studies to field observation, as in the case of William Leap, whose work I am also referencing. Though the most current research cited here is more than a decade old, this review is still invaluable as it delineates historical developments within this field, an understanding of which should inform any later research, including my own. Reading this review will contextualize more current work and provide a map of what theory has worked, what has not, and what is still under debate, or should be. Jacobs review will essentially function as a sort of instant primer in linguistic thought on language and non-heterosexual social positioning.


Additionally, I have also found a couple of book reviews which I intend to utilize as I evaluate Leap's books and another book, Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality, by Kira Hall and reviewed by Mary Bucholtz. Readers may remember that Bucholtz and Hall co-authored the article I covered in my last post. The review of Leap's books is done by Greg Jacobs, whose literature review is covered in this post. (yes, academia can be a very small world after all) Here is the bibliographic information for the two scholarly reviews:


1) Jacobs, Greg. "Lavender Linguistics." American Speech. Vol. 72, Iss. 2; pg. 200, 10 pgs


2) Buchholtz, Mary. "Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality." American Anthropologist. Washington: Dec. 1999 pg. 855, 2 pgs