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Constructing (non-)normative identities in written lesbian discourse: a diachronic study

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>09/2013
<mark>Journal</mark>Discourse and Society
Issue number5
Volume24
Number of pages18
Pages (from-to)551-568
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

This article provides an analysis of two texts written from a lesbian subject position at different points in recent history, to show how the authors construct (non-)normative ingroup representations. The study is based on theoretical notions from discourse theory, queer theory and social cognition research, and uses a mostly data-driven analytical approach. The two texts, a manifesto and a journal article, are investigated to see how they use nomination and predication to construct in- and out-group representations, to what extent these identities
are non-normative and why they are constructed in this particular way. Results show a stark demarcation of a positive, non-complex in-group from a negative, equally non-complex out-group in the earlier text, which contrasts with a more differentiated and less uniformly positive in-group representation in the later text. This is explained with the respective socio-political context, and the earlier text is interpreted as promoting a more explicitly normative in-group presentation.