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The Talk of Tamils in Multilingual Montreal: A Study of Intersecting Language Ideologies in Nationalist Quebec
Type of resource | |
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Author/collaborator |
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Title |
The Talk of Tamils in Multilingual Montreal: A Study of Intersecting Language Ideologies in Nationalist Quebec
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Abstract |
The author argues that in Montreal, racial, caste, socioeconomic, and gender inequalities are often masked as neutral-seeming linguistic differences of dialect, register, and accent. These sociolinguistic hierarchies are upheld by intersecting language ideologies, or essentialised beliefs about language use and ethnic identity. She points out that Quebec nationalist and multicultural policies endorse language ideologies of linguistic purity and sociolinguistic compartmentalisation to depict a cohesive nation while maintaining its racial and ethnic distinctions. Similarly, Montreal Tamil diaspora leaders encourage different Tamil-speaking groups to participate in sociolinguistically segregated domains to preserve purist linguistic standards and maintain socioeconomic, caste, and gender distinctions. Heritage language programmes reproduce these language-based distinctions for differentiating between types of Québécois citizens, while Montreal Tamil youth selectively challenge or endorse such prescriptions to produce a range of social identities and linguistic practices that correspond to their experiences as ethnic and racial minorities.
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Publication |
Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism
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Volume |
Vol. 8
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Issue |
no. 2
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Pages |
230-247
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Date |
September 2008
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Language |
en
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Citation |
Das, Sonia Neela. “The Talk of Tamils in Multilingual Montreal: A Study of Intersecting Language Ideologies in Nationalist Quebec.” Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism Vol. 8, no. 2 (September 2008): 230–247.
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