“The Whiteness of Nerds” by Bucholtz

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Summary

In summary, the main idea of the article “The Whiteness of Nerds: Super standard English and Racial Markedness” is that by avoiding the use of particular linguistic forms speakers can set themselves apart from social categories associated with such forms of speaking. It is the nerd population that is chosen for this study due to their apparent “marked” classification within the greater Bay City student body. Nerds are singled out and “marked” due to their disruption of this ideology by refusing to strive for the status of coolness by adopting behaviors and language that is far removed from what is termed as “cool”. The result of the high school obsession with “cool” creates a situation where standard “whiteness” and its association with being “cool” comes in direct correlation with its integration with the black culture and language which is defined as “cool”.

The main problem stated by the author is that scholars may be creating a static version of whiteness that is impervious to traits such as culture, history, or various local conditions. It is due to this that the author posits the question of whether white identities can be racially marked not for transgressing racial boundaries but for maintaining such boundaries too assiduously meaning being “too white”. In explaining how this is possible the author shows how despite the assumptions of previous authors and various other sources regarding the static version of whiteness there is a rather diverse variety where the use of language plays an important role in being able to classify each particular distinction.

For the most part, the author aligns himself away from literature associated with the static representation and aligns himself with those who state the possibility of markedness. In works such as those by Trubetzkoy and Hartigan, the author shows how being racially marked is possible despite being part of the same race. Through the work of Bauman, Briggs, and Lippi-Green the author can show the various linguistic variances in English that make up the United States while finally is through the work of Irvine and Gal that the author can prove how changes variances in language occur and how they create racial markedness.

When examining the article it can be observed that it is roughly 60% theoretical and 40% ethnographic. The reason for saying this is that the author uses extensive examples of linguistic theory in his work as well as various accounts from other authors while only sporadically explaining the study she did in Bay city. While sporadically may not be an appropriate term to use since this particular article is rather extensive the fact remains that the number of subjects used is rather sparse. While it is possible that other aspects were excluded for the sake of expediency to the reader it would have been nice to see more accounts from a more diverse subject array.

The research method used here was a combination of both a sampling of the population via direct interviews and extensive research on various forms of literature on the topic itself.

Overall it can be said that the author did reach his point regarding the racial marking and did prove that whites are not as static as some authors and scholars have been led to believe. This is based on the impressions from the chapter “nerds and slang” on pages 90 to 91 and the section “phonology of Super Standard English” on pages 91 to 93 which give a convincing argument on how variances in language create racial marking. The one problem with the article is that it assumes nerds reject the concept of coolness due to antisocial behavior, a desire to embrace intelligence, and possess a certain dislike for youth culture. The problem with this assumption is that it is not that nerds reject coolness but rather it is a youth culture that rejects them and relegates the label of a nerd on them.

It has come to my understanding that language is a factor that can cause both social connections as well as social distance. As seen by the experience of the nerds there are facets of knowledge and its interaction with a society that cause distinctions that create racial marking and as a result help one understand that there is no culture, race of ethnicity that is perfectly static. There are inherent differences whether seen or unseen that only through language can be discovered and brought to light.

Reference

Bucholtz, M. (2001). “The Whiteness of Nerds: Superstandard English and Racial Markedness.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 84-100.

Click Here To Order Now!

“The Whiteness of Nerds” by Bucholtz

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)