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Article published In: Journal of Language and Sexuality
Vol. 9:2 (2020) ► pp.101–126

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Redefining realness

Bringing queer performativity to the English dictionary

 | University of Oxford, UK
Published online: 7 September 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.19012.tur
Abstract
This paper furthers the goal of “queering lexicography” (Nossem, Eva. 2018. Queering lexicography: Balancing power relations in dictionaries. In Queering Translation, Translating the Queer: Theory, Practice, Activism, Brian James Baer & Klaus Kaindl (eds), 172–187. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) by proposing a theoretical approach to analysing dictionary definitions that replaces the traditional descriptive/prescriptive binary with a model of normativity influenced by performativity theory. This is demonstrated by a critical discourse analysis of how entries for lesbian, gay, and homosexual in four contemporary English dictionaries tacitly position homosexual as a neutral term against which lesbian and gay are sociolinguistically marked. The paper also stresses the need for researchers not only to analyse how normativity is embedded in dictionaries, but to recognize the extent to which lay dictionary-users are already aware of the normative potential of lexicography, whether they embrace it or condemn it. This is explored through an incident in which Merriam-Webster’s addition of the word genderqueer to its online dictionary in 2016 became the subject of public scrutiny and contestation on social media.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Moving beyond the binary
  • 3.Lesbian, gay, homosexual, and linguistic legitimacy
    • 3.1Performativity and the periphery
    • 3.2Positioning usage
  • 4.Genderqueer and the heteronormative binary
    • 4.1Co-constructing meaning on social media
    • 4.2Contesting meaning on social media
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (87)
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