LINGUIST List 22.2506 Thu Jun 16 2011 Diss: Socioling: Mallinson: 'The Dynamic Construction of Race, ...' Editor for this issue: Mfon Udoinyang <mfonlinguistlist.org> To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm. Directory         1.     Christine Mallinson , The Dynamic Construction of Race, Class, and Gender through Linguistic Practice among Women in a Black Appalachian Community Message 1: The Dynamic Construction of Race, Class, and Gender through Linguistic Practice among Women in a Black Appalachian Community Date: 15-Jun-2011 From: Christine Mallinson <mallinsonumbc.edu> Subject: The Dynamic Construction of Race, Class, and Gender through Linguistic Practice among Women in a Black Appalachian Community E-mail this message to a friend Institution: North Carolina State University Program: Linguistic Program Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2006 Author: Christine Mallinson Dissertation Title: The Dynamic Construction of Race, Class, and Gender through Linguistic Practice among Women in a Black Appalachian Community Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics Dissertation Director: Walt Wolfram Dissertation Abstract: This dissertation conceptualizes and analyzes the dynamic construction of race, class, and gender through linguistic practice in a way that integrates the sociological study of social organization with the study of language in its social context. I illustrate the efficacy of the approach in its application to a field study of the black Southern Appalachian community of Texana, North Carolina. I begin by contextualizing the setting using qualitative evidence from naturalistic observation and interviews with residents. I then focus on the social and linguistic habits of two groups of four women in the community. Drawing from observation and interviews, I analyze qualitative data on the groups' contemporary situations, shared memories, and ways of life. The qualitative data provides content for interpreting quantitative analyses of sociolinguistic data with regard to race, class, and gender identities. Drawing on both data sources, I show that the two groups of women exhibit distinctions based on lifestyle and presentation that divide them into discrete status groups. I thus provide evidence to show how social status is articulated with local character, in everyday practice, but is also rooted in the system of stratification in ways that intersect with gender, race, and language. My findings exemplify how agentive social actors use language as symbolic vehicles in daily interaction, in concert with other social practices, to constitute intersecting social structures. I draw these conclusions from within an integrative framework that incorporates three bodies of social theory: intersectionality and structuration theories from sociology and community of practice theory as it has developed within variationist sociolinguistics. In framing variationist sociolinguistics with two bodies of current social theory, I establish viable avenues for cross-disciplinary collaboration and insight. Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 16-Jun-2011       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.