Examining Lesbian Conversations as Discourses of Identity and Resistance

Abstract

As outlined in the Introduction, throughout this book, we pay particular attention to a specific method of linguistic analysis in each chapter in addition to discussing the principal theme of language and sexual identity — in this chapter, the method in question is functional discourse analysis as a means of exploring conversational structure. We also draw on Bucholtz and Hall’s (2004) tactics of intersubjectivity framework, which was outlined in the Introduction, when considering the content of the conversational data. As with all chapters, this one is broadly situated within a community of practice approach which is used to account for how social identities can be temporarily constructed and unified in relation to social context. We wish to illustrate here how the deployment and function of discourse strategies can change depending on which aspects of their identities the speakers wish to foreground in any given context.