Queerly Phrased

Queerly Phrased is a pioneering collection of articles on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trassexual language. Combining queer theory and feminist theory with the latest theories and findings in language and gender, the book expands the field well beyond the study of "gay slang" to consider gay dialects, like Polari in England, early modern discourse on gay practices, and late twentieth-century descriptions of homosexuality. The contributors examine the conversational patterns of queer speakers in a wide variety of settings from women's friendship groups to university rap groups and electronic mail postings. Taking a global, rather than regional approach, the essays include studies of the language use of sexually liminal communities in a variety of linguistic and cultural groups, such as lesbian speakers of American Sign Language, Japanese gay male couples, Hindi-speaking hijras (eunuchs) in North India, Hausa-speaking yan-dauda (transvestities) in Nigeria, and French and Yiddish gay groups. The most accessible and diverse collection of its kind, Queerly Phrased sets a new standard in the study of language's impact on the construction of sexuality.