Newfies, Cajuns, Hillbillies, and Yoopers: Gendered Media Representations of Authentic Locals

Authors

  • Kathryn A. Remlinger Grand Valley State University

Abstract

This paper investigates how popular media representations of Newfies, Cajuns,
Yoopers, and Hillbillies maintain gender-based language stereotypes. The authenticity of these locals is in part due to their language use; they are also the "best" speakers of the local variety. In addition, the stereotypes include the notion that the "best speaker" and the "authentic local" are male, and that the standard speaker and non-local is female, or males who do not fit traditional notions of masculinity.

Author Biography

Kathryn A. Remlinger, Grand Valley State University

ProfessorDepartment of EnglishResearch InterestsMy research broadly focuses on how identity and attitudes affect language variation and change. Specifically, I study how one of the dialects in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula (in the Upper Peninsula) has developed and changed. The project aims to both describe the structure and use of the dialect and also to explain how identity and language attitudes affect its use and change. I am also interested in ethnic labels like "Yooper" and "Cajun" and how they reflect attitudes about regional dialects as well as how their use reinforces stereotypes about dialects and their speakers.In addition, I research language, gender, and sexuality. Specifically I study how language is used to create, maintain, challenge, and change notions of gender and sexuality and how these notions affect students' learning and participation in the campus community

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Published

2014-09-30

How to Cite

Remlinger, K. A. (2014). Newfies, Cajuns, Hillbillies, and Yoopers: Gendered Media Representations of Authentic Locals. Linguistica Atlantica, 27, 96–100. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/la/article/view/22628

Issue

Vol. 27/28 (2006/07)

Section

Articles