Incomprehensible language?

Abstract

In the Swedish context, the discursive regime about linguistic phenomena is characterized by a ‘matrix of intelligibility’ (Butler 1999 [1990]) that promotes images of linguistic practices among adolescents in the suburbs not only as deviant and incomprehensible, but also as essentialized traits of ethnic Otherness, social and educational problems and, more recently, of an aggressive masculinity embodied in sexist and homophobic behaviour. Unlike dominant media representations which depict such linguistic practices as unintelligible as well as inherently sexist and homophobic, the aim of the present article is to take a queer stance and illustrate how ethnic insults, gay innuendos and misogynist talk are meaningful in the sense that they constitute a rich pool of interactional resources that allow the young men in our study to actively partake in the negotiation of a ‘local masculine order’ (Evaldsson 2005) in which positions of power, authority and solidarity are enacted and/or contested.

Doing being Boys with ADHD: category memberships and differences in SEN classroom practices

“…In these and other instances, the boys' resistance to the teachers' authority and the expected classroom order are enactments of what it means to be an Oppositional Student or Oppositional Boy. The boys' emotional displays and sexual insults are thus far from pathological but are, rather, deeply meaningful in the sense that they provide interactional resources for the particular boys to enact a form of 'local masculine order' (Evaldsson 2005) in which they contest and also enact positions of power, agency and authority in the SEN classroom (compare with Milani and Jonsson 2011). An interesting finding is the agency and ability the teachers ascribe to the boys as they force them to take responsibility for the troubling classroom conduct (compare with Renshaw, Choo, and Emerald 2013).…”

“…For example, in their study of immigrant boys in Swedish school settings, Milani and Jonsson (2011) show how references to sexual activities constitute important resources in the negotiation of a 'local masculine order' (Evaldsson 2005, 764) in which power and authority are enacted and contested. Thus, Mattias' use of sexual insults not only interpellates the categorical hierarchical relationship of Teacher and Student, casting the teacher as subordinate; it also positions the teacher as an elderly and sexually deviant male -thereby redistributing the power and control over classroom order from the teacher to the boy in question.…”

Doing ethnicity: Ethnic wordplay amongst youths

“…When Evin calls Esme Svenne, it is a way of confirming Esme's language skills and means that 'she should be happy, she knows good Swedish'. Several studies have shown that language ideologies characterized by the absence of phonetic and grammatical deviations and the use of a standardized form of Swedish are consolidated and reinforced at both an institutional level and in the social interaction in peer groups (Evaldsson and Cekaite, 2010;Milani and Jonsson, 2011). It is a position associated with being, or rather acting like, a Svenne.…”

Disciplining Freedom : Treatment Dilemmas and Subjectivity at a Detention Home for Young Men

“…Since there is very little research on identity and detention homes from the chosen theoretical and methodological perspective, I will also present research from related institutional settings. While there is much relevant work on, for example, young masculinities, ethnicity, and violence (Frosh, Phoenix, & Pattman, 2002;Messerschmith, 1993) and the role of language, style, and performativity for these categories (Jonsson, 2007;Milani & Jonsson, 2011), in this study I have not taken gender or ethnicity as a theoretical starting point. Instead, I discuss these categories if and when they explicitly have become relevant in the recordings or observations, and I have accordingly chosen to limit the literary review on ethnicity and gender.…”