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“Can the church say amen”: Strategic uses of black preaching style at the State of the Black Union

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2011

Erica Britt
Erica Britt
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 4080 Foreign Language Building, 707 S. Mathews Avenue MC-168 Urbana, IL 61801, USAerbritt2@illinois.edu
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Abstract

This study provides a qualitative examination of African American Language (AAL) in use and explores the interaction between phonological, syntactic, and rhetorical features of AAL and situational factors related to event structuring, speaker goals, and audience composition. Data for this research is derived from the speech of four prominent African Americans who spoke during the 2008 State of the Black Union. Analysis of their speech suggests that switches to black preaching style help speakers to redefine their relationship with audience members. Overall, shifts in style correspond to shifts in interactional framework, suggesting that black preaching style allows the speakers in this study to temporarily cloak themselves with the status and respect associated with black preachers, providing a favorable context for the reception of their message while allowing for the display of their ethnic affiliation with the black community. (African American Language, style, audience design, rights and obligations, black preaching)*

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , April 2011 , pp. 211 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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