Abstract
This paper analyzes the use of Hindi in English newspapers in India to argue that code-switching creates a discursive space - a third space (Bhabha 1994)-where two systems of identity representation converge in response to global-local tensions on the one hand, and dialogically constituted identities, formed through resistance and appropriation, on the other. The results of the analysis of data show that code-switching: (1) reflects a new socio-ideological consciousness; (2) yields a new way to negotiate and navigate between a global identity and local practices; and (3) offers a new linguistic diacritic for class-based expressions of cultural identity. Based on these results, I conclude that code-switching, as linguistic hybridity, is a third space where social actors (re-)position themselves with regard to new community-practices of speaking, reading, and writing. It is in this space that actors are presumed to have the capacity to synthesize, to transform: code-switching serves as a visible marker of this transformation.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 177-200 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Journal of Sociolinguistics |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2008 |
Keywords
- Code-switching
- Global-local
- Hybridity
- Identity representation
- Language ideology
- Third space
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Sociology and Political Science
- Philosophy
- Linguistics and Language
- History and Philosophy of Science