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<p>Preface and Acknowledgments vii</p> <p>A Note on the Linguistic Conventions Used in Vox Popular x</p> <p>Keywords Found in Each Chapter xiv</p> <p><b>1 Language in a Mediated World 1</b></p> <p>Mad Men in a Modern Family World 1</p> <p>Why Does a Linguist Care about Mad Men or Modern Family? 3</p> <p>Narrative Media as a Site for Linguistic Exploration 12</p> <p>Language Variation in the Narrative Media 20</p> <p><b>2 Exploring Language and Language Variation 25</b></p> <p>Introduction 25</p> <p>Languages and Dialects 27</p> <p>The Components of a Grammar 32</p> <p>All the Systems Work as a System 34</p> <p>Systems of Variation 40</p> <p>Language Change 47</p> <p><b>3 Studying Language Variation in the Media 55</b></p> <p>Introduction 55</p> <p>Formulating a Research Question 56</p> <p>Turning Narrative Media into Data 57</p> <p>Analytic Orientation 58</p> <p>Transcribing Your Data 61</p> <p>Coding Your Data 66</p> <p>Constructing a Corpus 69</p> <p>Quantitative Methods 70</p> <p>Qualitative Methods 75</p> <p>Triangulating Your Evidence with Different Analytic Approaches 82</p> <p><b>4 Dimensions of Variation 85</b></p> <p>Introduction 85</p> <p>Non-Linguistic/Linguistic 90</p> <p>Spoken/Written 93</p> <p>Non-Standard/Standard 97</p> <p>Informal/Formal 101</p> <p>Unplanned/Planned 104</p> <p>Local/Global 107</p> <p>Private/Public 110</p> <p>Putting It All Together 114</p> <p><b>5 Making Language Variation Meaningful 119</b></p> <p>Introduction 119</p> <p>Meaning 120</p> <p>Indexical Meaning 124</p> <p>Ideology 130</p> <p>Ideology about Language 133</p> <p>Ideology, Indexicality, and Power 138</p> <p><b>6 Language Variation and Characterization 154</b></p> <p>Introduction 154</p> <p>Characterization and Language 156</p> <p>Realness and Authenticity 160</p> <p>Identity and Identification 163</p> <p>Relational Identity 164</p> <p>Norms and Types 168</p> <p>Social Personae 172</p> <p>Indexical Authenticity 176</p> <p><b>7 Language as Narrative Action 183</b></p> <p>Introduction 183</p> <p>Performance and Speech Acts 185</p> <p>Language as a Plot Device 193</p> <p>Switching as Action 196</p> <p>Taboo Language as Action 205</p> <p><b>8 Connecting to the Audience 221</b></p> <p>Introduction 221</p> <p>Audiences 222</p> <p>Audience Design 226</p> <p>Setting Expectations for Viewers 230</p> <p>Enregisterment 236</p> <p>Stylization 242</p> <p>Interacting with Audiovisual Media 246</p> <p>The End 253</p> <p>Index 258</p>

<b>Robin Queen</b> is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Linguistics, English Languages and Literatures, and Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan. In addition to her research on language variation in the mass media, Queen has extensively researched language, gender, and sexuality; intonation and prosody; and contact-related language change. She is the co-author of <i>Through the Golden Door: Educational Approaches for Immigrant Adolescents with Limited Schooling</i> (1998).

<p>Our favorite movies and TV shows feature indelible characters who tell us about themselves not just in what they say but in how they say it. The creative decisions behind these voices—such as what accent or dialect to use—offer rich data for sociolinguistic study. <i>Vox Popular</i> describes the ways in which language is employed to further characterization or narrative plot, offering insightful and engaging analyses of dialogue from sitcoms like <i>Modern Family</i> and <i>The Office</i> to classic and contemporary films like <i>Coming to America</i> and <i>The Help.</i> Queen argues that linguistic register and language variation are as central to these works as costume, scenery, and musical score.</p> The book provides a general sociolinguistic understanding of what variation, wherever it might occur, can tell us about the social world. It addresses the common perception that the media are destroying language by using “bad language,” and gives a linguist’s take on what this means. Queen also addresses the perception that the media are a poor source of information about ‘real’ life and ‘real’ language and instead shows what a rich source of linguistic and cultural data the mass media can provide, tapping into linguistic depictions of race and class that are coded for a certain understanding by the audience, even if it’s unconscious. By looking to popular culture’s representations of language in works we consume, <i>Vox Popular</i> provides a novel and engaging understanding of the major issues of sociolinguistics for those new to the field.  

<p>"In our times, film and television show America talking in a more realistic way every year, and it's high time someone wrote a book on language and society that puts MODERN FAMILY, BOYZ N THE HOOD and much else front and center as useful sources of discussion on how America talks and why. Robin Queen has done the job." –<i>John H. McWhorter, Columbia University</i></p> <p>“Robin Queen's Vox Popular manages to do many things at once, and with finesse: it introduces the study of language in its social context in a way that will be accessible to non-linguists; it establishes an approachable, achievable methodology for the study of language in the media that is theoretically sound; and it provides a treasure-trove of material gathered over many years that will be invaluable for anyone teaching these subjects. There are years of work distilled into a readable, useful whole about one of the least studied and most promising areas of research: the role that mediated language plays in constructing social identities, from Donald Duck to Breaking Bad and beyond.” –<i>Rosina Lippi-Green, author of</i> English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the U.S.</p> <p>"Not only an important contribution to media studies but the kind of book that makes you want to design a new course specifically in order to use it as a text.  A pleasure to read!” –<i>Barbara Johnstone, Carnegie Mellon University</i></p> <p> “Vox Popular convincingly shows that in our media-saturated world, linguistics and cultural studies need each other. Students and faculty in both fields will learn a great deal from this insightful and engrossing text.” –<i>Mary Bucholtz, University of California, Santa Barbara</i></p>

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