Spanish-English Code Switching in Slam Poetry
Date
2014
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Advisor
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
Type
Thesis (B.A.)
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
en_US
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
Slam poetry is a type of poetry that sprang up in the last 20 years in which
poets perform their poems for a non-academic audience, often in competitions,
rather than seeking to be published for the academic community. As
a result, slam poets represent a more diverse group than typical academic
poets (Somers-Willett 2009). One of the main goals in writing and performing
slam poetry is the creation and performance of an "authentic" identity,
both as a matter of self-expression (by trying to portray one's everyday
identity accurately) and as a tactic in competition, since "authentic" identities
(often equated with marginalized identities) are typically rewarded in
competition (Somers-Willett 2009). Because code switching is a part of the
linguistic identity of many bilingual speakers, it is natural to expect that
bilingual slam poets would incorporate code switching into their poems.
However, due to the nature of slam poetry, it is impossible for a speaker to
code switch in the unconscious way that he or she would in casual speech:
slam poems are almost always written, revised, and rehearsed before performance,
so any code switching during performance must necessarily be the
result of conscious intention by the poet.
This paper seeks to answer the question of how Spanish-English code
switching in slam poetry differs from that in casual speech by analyzing
a corpus of data pulled from recorded performances posted on YouTube.
In particular, this paper examines code switches into Spanish in otherwise
English poems, performed in the United States in the last 5 to 10 years.
The revision and rehearsal process preceding a slam performance eliminates
the need for crutch-like code switching, in which the speaker doesn't
know or has momentarily forgotten the desired lexical item in one language.
Clarification switching, in which the speaker feels that one language
is somehow insufficient to get the point across, is less prevalent than
in casual speech, likely due to the lack of conversational interaction that
would normally let the speaker know that the addressee is confused. Instead,
clarification switching is a compromise that allows poets to perform
their code-switching identity without alienating audience members who
don't speak Spanish. The conscious construction of cultural and linguistic
identity through code switching also favors the insertion of single lexical
items (most frequently nouns and noun phrases), as well as the use of Spanish
phonology for names (especially the poet's own name).