Nouran Tarek Soliman

Transitivity, verbal humour and the construction of identity in Trevor Noah’s narratives

Authors: Nouran Tarek Soliman, Rabia Abdul-Salim Madhi

Publisher: Insights into Language, Culture and Communication (ILCC), Academy Publishing Center (APC), Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT)

DOI: 10.21622/ILCC.2024.04.2.1058

Abstract: The aim of this research paper is to analyze Son of Patricia’s stand-up comedy show and Born a Crime memoir by Trevor Noah to find out how the experience of racial discrimination, identity, social commentary, and personal anecdotes have been manifested in Noah’s language choice. This descriptive study uses an eclectic approach combining Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), discourse analysis, and humor studies. The data from both genres was analyzed using the Hallidayan Transitivity model and the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH). The research combines qualitative and quantitative data. The results highlight the distinct uses of transitivity processes in both excerpts, with the stand-up comedy employing more dynamic verbs, denoting action, while the memoir uses more relational processes. The GTVH analysis revealed that humor in the stand-up comedy often challenges racial stereotypes more directly than in the memoir. The discussion pinpointed that Noah’s strategic use of language not only constructs his racial identity but also critiques societal norms. The study concludes that the combination of transitivity and humor effectively unveils deeper layers of identity and societal commentary, suggesting a powerful interplay between language use and personal narrative in Noah’s work.

Investigating language ideologies and attitudes toward dubbing Disney movies into Arabic

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

This study analyzes the online discussions surrounding the dubbing of Disney movies into two Arabic varieties: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA). The objective is to uncover the language ideologies and attitudes taken by Disney Facebook commenters and verbal-guise technique (VGT) participants online. The study employed stance-taking to analyze the metalinguistic comments made by Facebook users about the use of these two Arabic varieties in the context of Disney. The findings showed the differences in language attitudes between Maghreb, Mashreq, and Arab Peninsula countries. Moreover, ECA competes with MSA in prestige and pleasantness. MSA is seen as the thread that connects the Arab World and is admired for its connection with the Arab heritage, religion, and education. However, it is less favored for its rigidity, unintelligibility, and unnaturalness as a spoken variety. Finally, ECA is favored for its simplicity, humor, closeness, familiarity, intimacy, naturalness, and entertainment.

Language Ideologies and Attitudes Towards Dubbing Disney Movies into Arabic

Publisher: AUC Knowledge Fountain

This research delves into the analysis of online discussions surrounding the dubbing of Disney movies into two Arabic varieties: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA). The objective is to uncover the language ideologies and attitudes taken by Disney fans online. Dubbing Disney movies into these two varieties has sparked numerous debates on social media, particularly on Facebook. The findings provided valuable insights into how Arab social media users' stances are influenced by their ideologies and attitudes. The VGT experiment provided another perspective on how Arabs evaluate MSA and ECA in the context of Disney movies and how they express their indirect language attitudes. The findings showed the differences in language attitudes between Maghreb, Mashreq, and Arab Peninsula countries. Mashreq and Peninsula countries revealed closer language attitudes than those of the Maghreb countries.