Cover not available

In:Cultural-Linguistic Explorations into Spirituality, Emotionality, and Society
Edited by Hans-Georg Wolf, Denisa Latić and Anna Finzel
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 14] 2021
► pp. 185–212

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Innate or acquired?

homosexuality and cultural models of gender in Indian and Nigerian English

 | University of Potsdam
Published online: 8 September 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.14.09fin
Abstract
In this chapter, some of the findings from sociolinguistic interviews with 25 speakers of Indian English and 26 speakers of Nigerian English are presented. Emanating from a larger research project concerned with conceptualizations of gender, the current analysis focuses on conceptualizations of homosexuality and makes use of the analytical tools provided by Cultural Linguistics and Cognitive Sociolinguistics. In particular, the notions of “cultural conceptualizations” (e.g., Sharifian, 2011, 2017) and “cultural model” (e.g., Wolf & Polzenhagen, 2009; also cf. Schneider, 2014) are addressed.
At the time of data collection, discriminatory legislation concerning homosexuality was in force in India and Nigeria. Opinion polls likewise echoed a negative stance towards homosexuality among the population of the two countries. This raised the expectation that similar conceptualizations of homosexuality might be found in Indian and Nigerian English, both in terms of their negative connotation and of how homosexuality would exactly be conceptualized. However, this expectation was not fulfilled. Firstly, the acceptance among the Indian participants to this study was generally greater. Secondly, homosexuality was predominantly conceptualized as an innate condition in the Indian English data, while it was prevalently understood as an acquired condition by the Nigerian informants. Drawing from earlier findings within the context of the same project (Finzel, 2021; fc.), I suggest that these differences can be explained with culture-specific models of gender that lend their logic to conceptualizations of homosexuality.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data
  • 3.Word lists
  • 4.Conceptualizations of homosexuality
    • 4.1homosexuality in Indian English
    • 4.2homosexuality in Nigerian English
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (44)
References
Abiola, E. (2016). Same sex marriage and the future of the human society. Microcosm, 2016, 37–38.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ajayi-Lowo, E. O. (2018). The Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act in Nigeria: A critique of body policing. In A. Trier-Bieniek (Ed.), The Politics of gender (pp. 71–92). Boston: Brill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ajibade, G. O. (2013). Same-sex relationships in Yorùbá Culture and orature. Journal of Homosexuality, 60(7), 965–983. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Appiah, K. A., & Gates, H. L. (2010). Encyclopedia of Africa. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Asthana, S., & Oostvogels, R. (2001). The social construction of male ‘homosexuality’ in India: implications for HIV transmission and prevention. Social Science and Medicine, 52, 707–721. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ayeni, V. O. (2017). Human rights and the criminalisation of same-sex relationships in Nigeria: A critique of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act. In S. Namwase, & A. Jjuuko (Eds.), Protecting the human rights of sexual minorities in contemporary Africa (pp. 203–237). Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Birke, L. I. A. (1981). Is homosexuality hormonally determined?. Journal of Homosexuality, 6(4), 35–50. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Burton, N. (2015). When homosexuality stopped being a mental disorder. Not until 1987 did homosexuality completely fall out of the DSM. Retrieved from [URL]
Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carroll, A. (2016). State-sponsored homophobia. A world survey of sexual orientation laws: Criminalisation, protection and recognition. Retrieved from [URL]
Carroll, A., & Mendos, L. R. (2017). State-sponsored homophobia 2017 – A world survey of sexual orientation laws: Criminalisation, protection and recognition. Retrieved from [URL]
Finzel, A. (2021). A space for everybody? Conceptualisations of the hijras in Indian English as a showcase for the gendered spaces in Indian society. In F. Sharifian, & M. Sadeghpour (Eds.), World Englishes and Cultural Linguistics (pp. 193–216). Singapore: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(fc.). Segregation and cooperation: Cultural models of gender in Indian and Nigerian English. In M. Degani, & M. Callies (Eds.), Metaphor in language and culture across World Englishes. London: Bloomsbury.
Finzel, A., & Wolf, H.-G. (2019). Conceptual metaphors as contact phenomena? The influence of local concepts on source and target domain. In E. Zenner, A. Backus, & E. Winter-Froemel (Eds.), Cognitive Contact Linguistics: Placing usage, meaning and mind at the core of contact-induced variation and change (pp. 187–211). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gabriel, K. (2014). Formulating patriarchal homosociality: notes from India. NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies, 9(1), 45–59. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gaudio, R. P. (2005). Male lesbians & other queer notions in Hausa. In A. Cornwall (Ed.), Readings in gender in Africa (pp. 47–52). Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gupta, A. (2008). This alien legacy. The origins of “sodomy” laws in British colonialism. Retrieved from [URL]
Hinchy, J. (2014). Obscenity, moral contagion and masculinity: Hijras in public space in colonial North India. Asian Studies Review, 38(2), 274–294. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hunt, S. J. (2011). Conservative Hindu reactions to non-heterosexual rights in India. International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 3(9), 318–327.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
International Labour Organization. (2014). Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013. Retrieved from [URL]
International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. (2017). Sexual orientation laws in the world – Criminalisation. Retrieved from [URL]
Kalra, G. (2012). Hijras: the unique transgender culture of India. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 5(2), 121–126. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. (2017). Key highlights from the CSDS-KAS Report ‘Attitudes, anxieties and aspirations of India’s youth: changing patterns’. Retrieved from [URL]
McKaiser, E. (2012). Homosexuality un-African? The claim is an historical embarrassment. Retrieved from [URL]
Mendelsohn, O., & Vicziany, M. (1998). The Untouchables: Subordination, poverty and the state in modern India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nanda, S. (1986). The hijras of India: Cultural and individual dimensions of an institutionalized third gender role. Journal of Homosexuality, 11(3–4), 35–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
NOIPolls. (2015). A year-and-half after legislation, Nigerians still support anti-same sex marriage law. Retrieved from [URL]
Oppenheim, M. (2018). India’s gay prince opens his palace to LGBT people. Retrieved from [URL]
Pew Research Center. (2013). The global divide on homosexuality. Retrieved from [URL]
Pillard, R. C. (1991). Masculinity and femininity in homosexuality: ‘Inversion’ revisited. In J. C. Gonsiorek, & J. D. Weinrich (Eds.), Homosexuality: Research implications for public policy (pp. 32–43). Newbury Park: Sage Publications. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polzenhagen, F., & Frey, S. (2017). Are Marriages Made in Heaven? A cultural-linguistic case study on Indian-English matrimonials. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), Advances in Cultural Linguistics (pp. 573–605). Singapore: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polzenhagen, F., Finzel, A., & Wolf, H.-G. (2021). Colonial cultural conceptualisations and World Englishes. In A. Onysko (Ed.), Developments in research on World Englishes (pp. 199–230). London: Bloomsbury.. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sahoo, P. (2018). At TISS, India’s first gender-neutral hostel: “all students can come, chill”. Retrieved from [URL]
Schneider, K. P. (2014). Pragmatic variation and cultural models. In M. Pütz, J. A. Robinson, & M. Reif (Eds.), Cognitive Sociolinguistics: Social and cultural variation in cognition and language use (pp. 107–32). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). Cultural Linguistics: The state of the art. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), Advances in Cultural Linguistics (pp. 1–28). Singapore: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stefanowitsch, A. (2006). Corpus-based approaches to metaphor and metonymy. In A. Stefanowitsch, & A. T. Gries (Eds.), Corpus-based approaches to metaphor and metonymy (pp. 1–16). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya. (2019). Homepage. Retrieved from [URL]
Vanita, R., & Kidway, S. (2006). Same-sex love in India: Readings from literature and history. New York: Palgrave.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. (1997). Understanding cultures through their key words: English, Russian, Polish, German, and Japanese. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wittenburg, P., Brugman, H., Russel, A., Klassmann, A., & Sloetjes, H. (2006). ELAN: a professional framework for multimodality research. In Proceedings 5th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC 2006) (pp. 1556–1559). Retrieved from [URL]
Wolf, H.-G. (2006). Religion and traditional belief in West African English. A linguistic analysis. In T. Omoniyi, & J. A. Fishman (Eds.), Readings in the sociology of language and religion (pp. 42–59). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wolf, H.-G., & Polzenhagen, F. (2009). World Englishes. A cognitive sociolinguistic approach. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zenner, E., Backus, A., & Winter-Froemel, E. (Eds.). (2019). Cognitive Contact Linguistics: Placing usage, meaning and mind at the core of contact-induced variation and change. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Finzel, Anna
2025. Cultural conceptualisations and the cultural model of fertility and infertility in Nigerian English. World Englishes DOI logo
Jowitt, David & Kingsley O. Ugwuanyi
2025. Nigerian English research: Developments and directions. World Englishes DOI logo
Latić, Denisa, Frank Polzenhagen, Hans‐Georg Wolf & Arne Peters
2024. A research bibliography for world Englishes and Cultural Linguistics. World Englishes 43:3 ► pp. 523 ff. DOI logo
Mahmood, Ansa & Kim Ebensgaard Jensen
2024. Women have no honour of their own. International Journal of Language and Culture 11:1 ► pp. 95 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue