LANGUAGE OF QUEER COMMUNITY: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF DRAG QUEENS SANG (STUDIED ON AMERICAN REALITY SHOW “RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE”)
Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of the linguistic identification features of queer community members, in particular with the slang expressions from the drag queen vocabulary. Scientific research belongs to the category of “lavender” linguistics, which is a young discipline of sociolinguistics and general linguistics, and is popularized among linguists-anthropologists. It was found that the language of the queer community is studied in direct connection with its speakers, the level of their culture, spiritual values, beliefs, gender, preferences, etc. Drag queens slang is defined as a specialization of the national language, that is distinctive for the queer community environment and it is based on a common system of phonetic, grammatical and lexical means of the language. It is determined that among the key linguistic characteristics of drag queens slang is also borrowing from related sociolects which the language of the queer community interacts with, in particular with slang and the Polari language. It was also found that, in addition to borrowing, the most characteristic ways to replenish the vocabulary of the drag community are the transfer of the name in the form and quality of the object, metaphorization, rethinking the quality of the object and transferring its features to a person. The article considers and provides the essence of the terms “queer”, “slang”, “polar”, “drag queens”, the defining of which is accompanied by a list of popular and most frequent slang expressions with a certain pragmatic nature. The analyzed lexical units are based on the material of the modern American reality show “Rupaul’s Drag Race”, which is a key “driver” of queer slang promotion today. Prospects for further study of sociolects as an environment for the development of inclusiveness and channels for the spread of the new in the national language are outlined.
References
2. Baker P. Fantabulosa. A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang. London, New York: Continium, 2002. 242 p.
3. Legman G. The Language of Homosexuality: An American Glossary, in George W. Henry, Sex Variants. New York: Paul B. Hoeber, 1941. P. 1149–1179.
4. Leap W. Beyond the Lavender Lexicon: Authenticity, Imagination and Appropriation in Gay and Lesbian Languages. Newark: Gordon and Breach, 1995. 426 p.
5. Livia A., Hall K. Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. 480 p.
6. Bobeda T. What gay sounds like: The linguistics of LGBTQ communities. WBEZ 91.5 Chicago. Chicago Public Media. 11 June 2012. URL: http://www.wbez.org/series/front-center/whatgay-sounds-linguistics-lgbtq-communities-99994 (дата звернення: 10.02.2021)
7. Carling A. Take a Polari safari. NEWEUROPE, November 24th 2013. URL: https://www.neurope.eu/article/take-polari-safari/ (дата звернення: 12.02.2021)
8. Lowder J. B. Polari, the gay dialect, can be heard in this great short film “Putting on the Dish”. Slate, July 28th, 2015. URL: https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/07/polari-the-gay-dialectcan-be-heard-in-this-great-short-film-putting-onthe-dish.html (дата звернення: 12.02.2021)
9. Umphrey M. The Trouble with Harry Thaw. Queer Studies. An Interdisciplinary Reader. Ed. by R.J. Corber and S.Valocci. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2003. Р. 21–31.
10. Jagose A. Queer Theory: An Introduction. United States: NYU Press, 1997. 153 p.
11. Lauretis T. Queer Theory: Lesbians and Gay Sexualities: An Introduction. Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural studies: 3.2. Summer, 1991. Р. 71–97.
12. Fiol-Matta L. A Queer Mother for the Nation. University of Minnesota Press, Minneaplois, London, 2002. 220 p.
13. Hall S. The Work of representation. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London : Sage, 2003. P. 13–75.
14. Butler J. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York/London: Routledge, 1990.
15. Simmons N. Speaking Like a Queen in RuPaul’s Drag Race: Towards a Speech Code of American Drag Queens. Sexuality & Culture, 2014. № 18. P. 630–648.
16. Бєляєва Т.М. Нестандартна лексика англійської мови. Ленинград : 1985. 234 c.
17. Арнольд И.В. Экспрессивные средства английского языка : сборник научных работ. Ленинград : 1975. 100 с.
18. Taylor V., Rupp L.J. Chicks with Dicks, Men in Dresses, Journal of Homosexuality, 2004. 46:3-4, p. 113–133.
19. Levin S. Who can be a drag queen? RuPaul's trans comments fuel calls for inclusion. The Guardian. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/08/rupaul-drag-racetransgender-performers-diversity (дата звернення: 12.02.2021)
20. Sandoval J. The RuPaul Effect: The Exploration of the Costuming Rituals of Drag Culture in Social Media and the Theatrical Performativity of the Male Body in the Ambit of the Everyday. Theatre Symposium, 2018, 26 (1), 100–117 p.
21. Faye B. Drag Herstory 101: 1800s through the 1920s ‘Pansy Craze’. Qnotes, 2018. URL: https://goqnotes.com/60431/drag-herstory-101-1800s-through-the-1920s-pansy-craze/(дата звернення: 12.02.2021)
22. Pandel L. How RuPaul’s Drag Race Fueled Pop Culture’s Dominant Slang Engine. Wired, 2018. URL: https://www.wired.com/story/rupaulsdrag-race-slang/ (дата звернення: 20.02.2021)
23. Paisley C. What’s The Future Of Gay Slang? The Establishment, 2018. URL: https://theestablishment.co/whats-the-future-ofgay-slang/index.html (дата звернення: 20.02.2021)
ISSN 
.png)
