CFP: Sexual identities/boundary management

[Georgina Turner]

CALL FOR PAPERS

Sexual identities and boundary management in discourse and language
Panel at Lavender Languages and Linguistics Conference, American University, Washington DC, February 12-14th 2010. (For more information about the conference visit http://www1.american.edu/cas/anthro/lavenderlanguages/)

Although performative theories of identity have encouraged academics to dispense with essentialist notions of sexuality, research 'on the ground' continues to suggest the prevalence and importance of shared self-definition amongst LGBTQ groups or communities of practice. Discourse - category terms; metaphor; evaluation; interaction and so on - is the primary means by which we can set out who 'we' are, who 'they' are, and evaluate the properties of those groups and members of them. 
This session invites papers dealing with the linguistic/discursive production of 'us' and 'them', such as the construction and/or management of boundaries, the positioning of (in)authentic identities, the creation of context-specific, legitimate roles, and so on. We welcome research from a variety of disciplines and locations (based on (face-to-face or virtual) interaction, media, public or other discourses) which engages with these processes in relation to LGBTQ identities.

The session is being organised by Lucy Jones (Edge Hill University, UK lucy.jones at edgehill.ac.uk) and Georgina Turner (Loughborough University, UK g.turner2 at lboro.ac.uk). Abstracts (up to 250 words) should be submitted via email to both addresses by October 31st 2009.