Polari - The Lost Language of Gay Men

By:

Paul Baker

Format:

Hardback

Series:

Routledge Studies in Linguistics

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Description

Polari is a secret form of language mainly used by homosexual men in London and other cities during the twentieth century. Derived in part from the slang lexicons of numerous stigmatised and itinerant groups, Polari was particularly popular among actors and gay men in the Merchant Navy. Initially used in order to maintain secrecy, Polari was also a means of socialising, acting out camp performances and reconstructing a shared gay identity and worldview among its speakers. This book examines the ways in which Polari was used in order to construct 'gay identities', linking its evolution to the changing status of gay men and lesbians in the UK over the past fifty years. Social explanations for Polari's decline are given, as well as an analysis of the ways in which it has been adopted and modified in the 1990s by newer groups of users. A Polari dictionary is included in the appendix. Essential reading for students of queer studies, this book will also be of great interest to scholars of sociolinguistics, anthropology, cultural studies and media studies.

Author Biography:

Paul Baker is a research associate at the Department of Linguistics, Lancaster University. His research interests include endangered and minority languages, language and sexualities and corpus based approached to language engineering. He has published papers in the Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, Literary and Linguistics Computing and Computer Assisted Language Learning. He is a committee member of the Foundation for Endangered Languages.

Release date NZ

August 1st, 2002

Author

Paul Baker

Audiences

General (US: Trade)
Professional & Vocational
Tertiary Education (US: College)

Pages

224

Series

Routledge Studies in Linguistics

Dimensions

156x234x19

ISBN-13

9780415261807

Product ID

7273185

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