syllabus

course info

In this course, we will study the multifaceted nexus of language, sex, sexuality and erotic desire. We will examine linguistic and other semiotic resources and strategies people use to construct and perform their sexual subjectivities and identities. The course will provide a forum for an ongoing critical analysis of ways in which sex and sexualities are discursively elaborated, socially valorized and subjected to policing and control. Moving beyond the usual issues of how non-heterosexual orientations/identities are expressed in language (the recurrent question of gay/lesbian/queer ‘language’), we will also deal with ways of indexing ‘straightness’, as well as with the verbal expression of erotic desire. The perspective introduced by various case-studies throughout the course will be interdisciplinary and cross-cultural. This course will give you an opportunity to enhance your critical thinking skills and raise your awareness of sexuality-related issues of power, domination, control, subjugation, racism, inequality, and discrimination.

We will occasionally deal with ‘strong language’ throughout this course. The course is not suitable for those who may find such content objectionable. There will be no pornography in this course!


How do we speak the unspeakable? How do we talk about sex? Why do we talk about it the way we do? And why do we not talk about it when we don’t? Why is sex often taboo?… How do we construct our sexual subjectivities and how do we perform our sexual identities through language-in-use?… Do gays and lesbians have their own language(s)? What are the ‘labels’ that have been applied to non-conformist sexual choices and non-heterosexual orientations throughout history? How have they changed? How and why do some of them get reclaimed and re‑appropriated by the very same people they were intended to offend and discriminate against? And how are some other offensive labels resisted and rejected? What are the main socio-cultural and political significances of these linguistic interventions? What does language have to do with identity politics? What are the main achievements of the sexual-political movements? And what are their shortcomings?… How do we verbalize our erotic desire?… How do we represent our sexuality online, and how do we construct discursively what/whom we want, or do not want?… Why are sexual jokes and innuendoes funny and/or provocative and socially disruptive even when not a single ‘bad word’ is used?

These are among the questions we’ll be asking throughout this course by examining a wide range of examples from around the world. We will critically reflect on insights and concepts from sociolinguistics, sociology, anthropology, discourse analysis, conversation analysis, literary criticism, media studies and related social sciences and humanities with the aim of developing an integrated and interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological toolbox which we’ll apply when analyzing the linguistic and discursive aspects of human sexuality.

The course will provide ample opportunities for you to get hands-on experience by analyzing and discussing real-life language data. You will be expected to do all the assigned readings on time and actively participate in our in-class discussions.

topics

Some of our main topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Let’s talk about sex – intro-to-course
  • Is gay okay? – from being a “pervert” to becoming LGBTQQxyz…
  • ‘Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common’ – the discursive construction of sexuality
  • 50 shades of ‘No’ – sexuality, desire, and performativity
  • What’s your safeword? – negotiating desires
  • Act cute – language and heterosexual femininities
  • Dude! – language and heterosexual masculinities
  • Do I sound gay? – everything you ever wanted to know about ‘queer tongues’
  • Finding the white guy, or why some Japanese women learn English
  • Grindring & Tindering… and a bit of sexting – desire going online
  • ‘No Blacks, no Asians! It’s just a preference…’ – sexuality and racism
  • What’s love got to do with it? – language, desire and – believe it or not – emotion!
  • Let’s not talk about sex! – coming… to an end

learning objectives

This course aims to

  • help you develop a theoretical and methodological toolkit for studying discursive construction and verbal expression of sexualities and erotic desire from a sociolinguistic and discourse analytic perspective;
  • provide you with a forum to re-examine critically the legacy of earlier (‘traditional’) approaches to studying the ways language can be used to express and index non-heterosexual orientations and identities;
  • examine ways in which heterosexualities are indexed through language;
  • engage you with some of the latest literature on language and sexuality and have you critically evaluate its contributions and shortcomings;
  • introduce a cross-cultural perspective by drawing on a range of relevant and diverse illustrative examples from different socio-cultural contexts around the world;
  • give you an opportunity to conduct research on a topic pertaining to the overall theme of the course, and present your results in an engaging multimedia format.

learning outcomes

By the end of this course, if you invest fully in it, you will be able to restate, define and explain in your own words the terms and concepts discussed in class and the assigned readings. You will be able to apply these concepts when analyzing and discussing various historically conditioned and socially constructed aspects of the relationship between language and sexuality. You will demonstrate your understanding of the most relevant issues by comparing, contrasting and discussing a number of cross-cultural and cross-linguistic examples. You will engage critically with the growing body of academic writing in the field of ‘language and sexuality’. You will produce a solid academic essay in response to a question or set of questions related to the theme of the course. In doing so, you will demonstrate the ability to support your argument by adequately using and citing relevant academic references. Finally, as part of a team, you will conduct research and present your results in an engaging format (video) aimed at a wider, non-academic audience.

1001 nights, or how do I get an A?

Assessment is based on the 1001-points system. Here’s your grade at a glance 🙂

150   Let’s have a kiki!

100   Y.M.C.A.

200   It’s raining men

100   I will survive

200   I feel love

251   Brave

And here is what this means:
Let’s have a kiki! – 150 points (throughout the course)
Our class is our kiki. You are expected to attend regularly and participate actively having read all the preparatory readings. So, this is your participation grade. In addition to active class participation, you are required to engage with the material on this course website – you are requested to submit at least 3 brief analytic comments (other than your own postings), either on your classmates’ posts or on the additional readings which I will be posting occasionally.
Y.M.C.A – 100 points (weeks 5-10)
This is an Instagram assignment. You will submit one photo contribution together with an appropriate analytic comment for our course Instagram account. Your contribution should be relevant to the overall theme of the course and illustrate some concrete aspect(s) of it. In the caption, you will briefly describe and analyze the photo, explain its relevance and, if applicable, indicate the sources on which you drew.  Feel free to use hashtags.The deadline to complete this task is the end of week 10.
I will survive – 100 points (end of week 7)
Your first blog post – your critical engagement with media content. You should make a contribution to our course website based on some online material that is relevant to the theme of the course (this should be your critical reaction to a journalistic article, column, opinion piece, blog post, website, Youtube video, etc.). In your essay, provide a brief analytic comment (500-700 words) drawing on our readings and in-class discussions, and make sure to include the link to the material you are analyzing. Optionally, you may draw on other academic and non-academic sources.
I feel love – 200 points (end of week 9 – Sunday, 25 Mar)
Your second blog post (hypermedia essay). This is a ‘take-home exam’ which you will work on during our recess week. By the end of week 7, I will give you several questions, from which you will choose one and write an academically informed blog post of 1000-1500 words which you need to submit to our course website by the end of recess week. Your answer has to be grounded in relevant literature. You are expected to have at least 3 (three) academic references which must come from outside the assigned course readings (which, of course, you are free to draw on as well). Academic references include books, monographs, edited volumes, academic articles published in peer-reviewed journals… Internet and print sources such as newspaper articles, blogs, Wikipedia articles, various web pages, videos, etc. are not considered academic sources. You may still use them (which I encourage you to do)  and refer to them properly, but only in addition to your main three academic sources. You will have a week to work on this essay – manage your time wisely and try to make the best out of our recess week. To ensure that you observe the rules of academic writing (no plagiarizing, proper quotation and references, etc), you will also need to submit your essay to Turnitin. As for your writing style, think of this as a piece intended for a general, non-expert readership.
It’s raining men – 200 points (week 11)
This is an in-class test in week 11.
Brave – 251 points (end of week 12)
This is your group project. Together with five other classmates, you will conduct research and prepare an academically informed video (10-15min), in which you will present and discuss the topic of language, sexuality and/or desire in a specific geographic context: Africa, Australia, Latin America, Middle East, or Southeast Asia. Each group is to work on a different region. In consultation with me, and if you find that there are enough recourses for you to work on, you may narrow down your topic to a specific country (for example, Israel, or Indonesia). You are expected to present the results of your research in an engaging format aimed at a non-academic audience. Your research, however, will have to be academically solid and grounded in relevant literature – you must draw on at least 5 (five) relevant academic sources. You need to submit your video by the end of week 12. In week 13, we’ll have the in-class screenings of your videos, each followed by a short Q&A session.

A+   851-1001
A     801-850
A-    751-800
B+   701-750
B     651-700
B-    601-650
C+   551-600
C     501-550
D+   451-500
D     401-450
F        0-400

readings

Our main textbook for this course is

Cameron, Deborah & Don Kulick (2003) Language and Sexuality. Cambridge University Press.

Other articles, book chapters, and relevant online material will be available on this site, or, occasionally, through the i-NTULearn course page. Printed sources include, but are not limited to:

  • Baker, Paul (2008) Sexed Texts: Language, Gender and Sexuality. Equinox Publishing.
  • Boellstorff, Tom & William Leap (2004) Speaking in Queer Tongues: Globalization and Gay Language. University of Illinois Press.
  • Cameron, Deborah & Don Kulick (eds.) (2006) The Language and Sexuality Reader. Routledge.
  • Ehrlich, Susan, Miriam Meyerhoff & Janet Holmes (eds.) (2014) The Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality (2nd ed). Wiley Blackwell.
  • Levon, Erez & Ronald Beline Mendes (eds.) (2016) Language, Sexuality, and Power: Studies in Intersectional Sociolinguistics. Oxford University Press.
  • Takahashi, Kimie (2013) Language Learning, Gender and Desire: Japanese Women on the Move. Multilingual Matters.

recommended journal: Journal of Language and Sexuality