Victoria L. Bergvall Picture This: Realizing Language and Gender in Theory and Image

Michigan Technology University
Department of Humanities
1400 Towsend Drive
Houghton, MI 49931-1295
vbergval@mtu.edu

Abstract

Language and gender (L&G) researchers occupy a critical interpretive position in the perception of our data and theories, as we attempt to convey complex L&G analyses to other scholars and our students (and perhaps even influence public thinking). This poster and paper focus on how researchers shape perceptions of L&G variation as simple, diverse, or complex, through the use of graphics in papers and on book covers. The central questions are: How well do these graphic representations capture complex theoretical stances? How well do images in L&G articles and on book covers realize what scholars say about gender variation in language?

The poster and paper draw upon a large corpus of graphic images from books and articles on L&G research, tracing and illustrating the history of theoretical models (deficit, dominance, difference, standpoint/ diversity theories, etc.; see references below). I discuss the challenges facing authors as they attempt to represent theories and data of L&G research with images that are salient, yet have graphic impact.

As linguistic researchers recognize increasingly complex intersections of gender with other variables (e.g., race, class, geographic origin, age), some images on book covers about gender continue to reify perceptions of essentialist difference with simple dualisms (compare the covers of Tannen 1990 and Barash & Lipton 2002). This paper argues for caution in and control over the representational process; L&G authors must consider how their graphic realizations affect perceptions of complex L&G findings.

Poster Materials

Coming soon!



home invited speakers workshops posters contact