1. (Dis)citizenship constructed in same-sex wedding narratives.
- Author
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Williams, Serena A.
- Subjects
- *
CITIZENSHIP , *SAME-sex dating , *NARRATIVES , *SOCIOLINGUISTICS , *SOCIAL participation , *CONSTRAINTS (Linguistics) - Abstract
Citizenship as institutional participation includes marriage and weddings, and the lack of rights to legal marriage constructs dis-citizenship. Not only are hierarchies reproduced through language, but individuals who are affected by such processes negotiate (dis)citizen-identities through talk. Through sociolinguistic interviews with couples about their weddings, this research examines that negotiation as two same-sex couples construct identities that produce authenticity and legitimacy for their participation in officially recognized couplehood. Mark and Javier (married in 2010) index social, financial, and legal constraints surrounding their legally-recognized wedding, and Barb and Heidi (married in 2000) index tradition, thus constructing legitimacy despite their ceremony that was not legally recognized. Both couples navigate constraints and possibilities in the ways they linguistically construct their coupled identities in these conversations about their weddings, thus producing (dis)citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
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