“If a Muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an LGBT youth group

This article presents ethnographic data emerging from research with a group of LGBT young people, detailing the construction of a shared identity. Using discourse analysis, it shows how the group members position people of South Asian descent as a homogenous out-group, one framed as ‘other’ to their...

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Main Author: Jones, Lucy
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29755/
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author Jones, Lucy
author_facet Jones, Lucy
author_sort Jones, Lucy
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
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description This article presents ethnographic data emerging from research with a group of LGBT young people, detailing the construction of a shared identity. Using discourse analysis, it shows how the group members position people of South Asian descent as a homogenous out-group, one framed as ‘other’ to their own in-group identity of ‘non-Asian’ due to the assumption that Asian people are homophobic. It is argued that this very local form of identity construction is facilitated by broader discourses of Islamophobia, as well as homonormative ideologies positioning gay people as white. The article therefore provides evidence to support Bucholtz and Hall’s (2005) claim that identity positioning relates not only to the interactional moment and the norms of a given ethnographic context, but that it also encompasses macrolevel discourses and ideologies. It also, however, reveals the pervasiveness of Islamophobic discourses in Britain today, and the marginalisation of LGBT people of colour.
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spelling nottingham-297552020-05-04T20:04:06Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29755/ “If a Muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an LGBT youth group Jones, Lucy This article presents ethnographic data emerging from research with a group of LGBT young people, detailing the construction of a shared identity. Using discourse analysis, it shows how the group members position people of South Asian descent as a homogenous out-group, one framed as ‘other’ to their own in-group identity of ‘non-Asian’ due to the assumption that Asian people are homophobic. It is argued that this very local form of identity construction is facilitated by broader discourses of Islamophobia, as well as homonormative ideologies positioning gay people as white. The article therefore provides evidence to support Bucholtz and Hall’s (2005) claim that identity positioning relates not only to the interactional moment and the norms of a given ethnographic context, but that it also encompasses macrolevel discourses and ideologies. It also, however, reveals the pervasiveness of Islamophobic discourses in Britain today, and the marginalisation of LGBT people of colour. Cambridge University Press 2016-02 Article PeerReviewed Jones, Lucy (2016) “If a Muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an LGBT youth group. Language in Society, 45 (1). pp. 113-133. ISSN 0047-4045 LGBT identity racist discourse homonormativity Islamophobia http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404515000792 doi:10.1017/S0047404515000792 doi:10.1017/S0047404515000792
spellingShingle LGBT identity
racist discourse
homonormativity
Islamophobia
Jones, Lucy
“If a Muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an LGBT youth group
title “If a Muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an LGBT youth group
title_full “If a Muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an LGBT youth group
title_fullStr “If a Muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an LGBT youth group
title_full_unstemmed “If a Muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an LGBT youth group
title_short “If a Muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an LGBT youth group
title_sort “if a muslim says ‘homo’, nothing gets done”: racist discourse and in-group identity construction in an lgbt youth group
topic LGBT identity
racist discourse
homonormativity
Islamophobia
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29755/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29755/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29755/