Afro-Nordic Raciolinguistic Landscapes
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Date
2024-07-01
Authors
Frost, Amara
Weissler, Rachel
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The Nordic countries, starting in the 2000s, began to shift away from using the term “race” and focused on other identifiers such as ethnicity, which has led to a disconnect between racialized terminologies and their implications. The present research examines racial language use in Nordic countries and explores key themes through a raciolinguistic approach to define race and how the ideas of race may influence language use within this locale. Additionally, this research focuses on the Afro-Nordic experiences around racial language use in Nordic countries. Key themes that were found as a part of the research using academic texts were racial terminology, racial naïveté, and the denial of race. Using these themes, we explore sociolinguistic aspects around race, ethnicity, and identity and the implications of race. The findings of this paper were the complexities around the disuse of race within the Nordic countries and how that relates to identity and the concept of ethnicity when it comes to defining individuals.
Description
Amara Frost is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics and German with a Scandinavian focus. Amaraʼs research project titled “Afro-Nordic Raciolinguistic Landscapes" was mentored by Assistant Professor of Linguistics Dr. Rachel Weissler and Associate Professor of German and Scandinavian Dr. Michael Stern. Amara will be finishing her bachelorʼs degree and applying for graduate programs in Fall 2024 through Spring 2025.
Dr. Rachel Weissler has been an Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon since 2023. Dr. Weissler is a raciolinguistic emotion perception researcher and African American English scholar. She uses experimental methods from sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics. She has a Black Studies affiliation, is a codirector of the Umoja Black Scholars Academic Residential Community, and a co-director of the Black Strategies Group.