Replacing “Them” With “Us”

Language Ideologies and Practices of “Purification” on Facebook

Bibliographic Data

ID21203294
AuthorsFarzad Karimzad (0000-0002-9729-4361, Salisbury University, corresponding author), Gulnaz Sibgatullina (0000-0001-5628-5920, Leiden University)
Year2018
Volume12
Issue2
Pages124-139
Publication date2018-04-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Multilingual Research Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1931-3152 • E-ISSN: 1931-3160
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19313152.2017.1401449
OpenAlexW2767847899
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited23

Adopting an online ethnographic approach, we examine the linguistic/semiotic practices and ideologies of “purism” among Tatar and Iranian Azerbaijani Facebook users. We argue that purification practices can be understood as identity work, the outcome of which is often not an etymologically “purer” language but a (perceived) “purer” and more “authentic” identity. We show that top-down standardization in Tatar has resulted in more homogenized ideologies regarding “pure” language and “authentic” identity, compared to the more heterogeneous ideologies among Iranian Azerbaijanis. Furthermore, we argue that since these communities rarely use the written form of their languages in off-line contexts, their purification practices are profoundly limited to metapragmatic discourses; however, social media provides a unique venue to also exercise these ideologies linguistically/semiotically. Finally, unlike previous scholarship that has focused on the informality of language use on social media, we illustrate how social media turns out to be a platform to practice formal language

Aesthetics · Ethnography · Ideology · Indexicality · Linguistics · Political science · Scholarship · Semiotics · Social media · Sociology · Tatar · Anthropology · Digital Communication and Language · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Multilingual Education and Policy

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