White talk, black talk : inter-racial friendship and communication amongst adolescents / Roger Hewitt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hewitt, Roger.

Series:

Comparative ethnic and race relations series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sociolinguistics--England--London.

Sociolinguistics.

Creole dialects, English--England--London.

Creole dialects, English.

Youth--England--London--Language.

Youth.

Black people--England--London--Communication.

Black people.

Communication.

London (England)--Race relations.

London (England).

England--London.

Physical Description:

x, 253 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Summary:

This book studies the relations between black and white adolescents in an urban environment (South London); the processes by which racism is relayed within adolescent communities, and the strategies which subvert or encourage them. More specifically Hewitt examines the sociolinguistic impact of the 'London Jamaican' creole used by young black Londoners on the language and culture of young whites. Basing his work on extensive fieldwork amongst racially mixed groups in youth clubs, schools and 'street corner' contexts. Hewitt is able to examine the way racial attitudes and cultural allegiances are expressed in, and affected by, inter-racial friendships.

White talk black talk is a uniquely ethnographic account which places the use of black language forms in the speech of whites firmly in its social and political setting: in integrating disciplines in a creative way Hewitt sites a practical sociolinguistic study within a much wider and systematic sociological context of group interaction.

This study will be of special interest within sociolinguistics, the sociology of race-relations and of youth culture, and urban anthropology, but its rich and fascinating ethnographic detail will also make it of interest to the non-specialist.

Contents:

The 'contact hypothesis'

Studies of children's 'racial attitudes'

Adolescents and racism

Language and 'inter-ethnic relations'

Terms of the research

sample and methodology

The two research areas

1 Inter-racial friendship in Area A 17

The social contexts of friendship

Primary peer groups and extended peer groups

Two adolescent groups

(1) Non style-based

(2) Skinhead

Diffusion of racism amongst white adolescents

Black resistance to racism

The attraction of black youth culture for whites

Careers of inter-racial friendship through adolescence

2 Inter-racial friendship in Area B 66

Black adolescent ideas of racism

Forms of association

Racially mixed peer groups and ideological relays

Blacks and whites 'have to get on'

Black youth culture and the informal pedagogy of cultural interactions

3 The language of black youth culture 100

Creole as a 'prestige youth language'

Caribbean and British creole relationships

Extent and nature of creole use by young blacks

Politically oppositional uses of creole

Expressive/creative dimensions

'sound systems', creole and the symbolism of black youth culture

4 Creole forms in white adolescent speech 126

Lexical traffic between black and white adolescents

Conscious and unconscious appropriations of 'black' speech forms by whites

'cultural' and 'competitive' modes

Identification with black language and culture by whites and the erosion of racist ideology

5 White creole use in inter-racial contexts 150

Symbolic importance of creole

Creole and oppositional pupil cuiture

Black hostility to white creole use

Creole and black/white power relations

'private linguistic arrangements' in inter-racial friendship

White-with-black creole use, its modes and contradictions

'black language' use by other minorities

Black/white sociolinguistic relations in the United States and the Caribbean

6 Social semiotics and ideology 200

The semiotic context of creole usage

Sociolinguistics and class/group relations

Ideology, class/race and signification

'black culture' and political meaning

'blacks and whites against Pakis and Turks': Asian/Caribbean antinomies in racist ideology

The political limitations of cultural means

7 Transmission and intervention: racism and anti-racism in communicative practices 219

Codes and constituencies

the resource languages of racism

'doing racism' through transmission

More 'struggles within signification'

The dialogue between social/political terrains

Dealing with the 'fact of racism'.

Notes:

Includes index.

Bibliography: pages 240-246.

ISBN:

0521262399

0521338247

OCLC:

13333420