Book contents
- Middle-Class African American English
- Middle-Class African American English
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Study of Middle-Class African American English
- 3 “Talking Black” as Public Performance
- 4 Language and Double-Consciousness
- 5 Race, Class, and Camouflaged Divergence
- 6 Sounding Black
- 7 Looking Ahead
- References
- Index
3 - “Talking Black” as Public Performance
Not So Lame
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 January 2021
Book contents
- Middle-Class African American English
- Middle-Class African American English
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Study of Middle-Class African American English
- 3 “Talking Black” as Public Performance
- 4 Language and Double-Consciousness
- 5 Race, Class, and Camouflaged Divergence
- 6 Sounding Black
- 7 Looking Ahead
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter provides an analysis of the performative use of African American English by a panel of African American public figures in Tavis Smiley’s “State of the Black Union” symposium. The chapter considers the implications of such stylized uses for traditional definitions of "lame" linguistic behavior, as well as traditional understandings of the functions and motivations governing intraspeaker variation.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Middle-Class African American English , pp. 46 - 99Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021