Kassie Tulenko
In Kulick’s article “Anger, Gender, Language Shift And The Politics Of Revelation In a Papa New Guinean Village” he focuses on a synchronic view of culture and language in Papa New Guinea to argue for broader diachronic shifts. Kulick describes two languages, Tok Pisin and Taiap, and speakers’ use of code switching between these languages to index gender, intelligence, and sociability. The men use the formal language, Tok Pisin, which indexes education, Christianity, and progress. The vernacular, Taiap, is used by women and indexes traditional values, hot headedness, and incompetence. Through these indexical connections of language, the transition between these two languages can be explained. The opposing ideologies that place …show more content…
Tok Pisin is a creole language that is tied to men, Christianity, and education. The traditional language is Taiap. Using this language is indexical to the uneducated, women, and outbursts of emotion. Most villagers under the age of 14 do not speak Taiap anymore; they solely learn Tok Pisin in school. In Gapun language is used very delicately and carefully. They will pointedly not speak vernacular to show that they are being direct or parents will use the vernacular to convey disapproval or anger. “By speaking in particular ways, women and men in Gapun activate complex webs of associations linking a wide array of discourses. …. by using language in the specific ways they do, speakers are embodying and recreating salient stereotypes about what women and men are, they are engendering affect and they are positioning themselves socially in relation to Christianity, civilization and the modern world.” (page number) Languages shifts like this when a certain dialect is tied to negative stereotypes. For example in the US now, many people will avoid using a southern dialect to avoid being associated with the values and opinions tied to that type of speech. Similarly in Gapun the vernacular is dying out because of the type of behavior that is indexed by the use of Taiap. Kulick examines the discourse in this culture to show how the culture has created gender roles and identity through speech. Men are pushed to hide …show more content…
The strong Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that the culture in which you live shapes your thoughts and your frame of reference. Although this hypothesis has been refuted and a weaker one that allows for the individual to reciprocally shape the culture is widely accepted, I believe that the strong the Sapir-Whorf article has merit here Elder women in Gapun did not have equal access to education, and thus did not have the same opportunities to learn Tok Pisin, immediately casting them in a role as uneducated. The existing culture now also encourages women to defend their men by arguing with others. Men will tell their wife about a perceived slight so that they will express the anger. The culture perpetuates this view of women and forces them into the role, which doesn’t allow them to participate as leaders in the culture. Even when they attempt to participate in leadership discussions they are brushed off due to the existing culture that stereotypes women as fickle and too emotional to have rational concerns. ADD QUOTE BY
In Kulick’s article “Anger, Gender, Language Shift And The Politics Of Revelation In a Papa New Guinean Village” he focuses on a synchronic view of culture and language in Papa New Guinea to argue for broader diachronic shifts. Kulick describes two languages, Tok Pisin and Taiap, and speakers’ use of code switching between these languages to index gender, intelligence, and sociability. The men use the formal language, Tok Pisin, which indexes education, Christianity, and progress. The vernacular, Taiap, is used by women and indexes traditional values, hot headedness, and incompetence. Through these indexical connections of language, the transition between these two languages can be explained. The opposing ideologies that place …show more content…
Tok Pisin is a creole language that is tied to men, Christianity, and education. The traditional language is Taiap. Using this language is indexical to the uneducated, women, and outbursts of emotion. Most villagers under the age of 14 do not speak Taiap anymore; they solely learn Tok Pisin in school. In Gapun language is used very delicately and carefully. They will pointedly not speak vernacular to show that they are being direct or parents will use the vernacular to convey disapproval or anger. “By speaking in particular ways, women and men in Gapun activate complex webs of associations linking a wide array of discourses. …. by using language in the specific ways they do, speakers are embodying and recreating salient stereotypes about what women and men are, they are engendering affect and they are positioning themselves socially in relation to Christianity, civilization and the modern world.” (page number) Languages shifts like this when a certain dialect is tied to negative stereotypes. For example in the US now, many people will avoid using a southern dialect to avoid being associated with the values and opinions tied to that type of speech. Similarly in Gapun the vernacular is dying out because of the type of behavior that is indexed by the use of Taiap. Kulick examines the discourse in this culture to show how the culture has created gender roles and identity through speech. Men are pushed to hide …show more content…
The strong Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that the culture in which you live shapes your thoughts and your frame of reference. Although this hypothesis has been refuted and a weaker one that allows for the individual to reciprocally shape the culture is widely accepted, I believe that the strong the Sapir-Whorf article has merit here Elder women in Gapun did not have equal access to education, and thus did not have the same opportunities to learn Tok Pisin, immediately casting them in a role as uneducated. The existing culture now also encourages women to defend their men by arguing with others. Men will tell their wife about a perceived slight so that they will express the anger. The culture perpetuates this view of women and forces them into the role, which doesn’t allow them to participate as leaders in the culture. Even when they attempt to participate in leadership discussions they are brushed off due to the existing culture that stereotypes women as fickle and too emotional to have rational concerns. ADD QUOTE BY