THE CATCHINESS OF CODE-SWITCHING: PLURILINGUALISM IN “CATCHY” (A ROMANIAN WOMEN’S E-ZINE)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbphilo.2022.4.09Keywords:
code-switching, (women’s) e-zine, discourse analysisAbstract
The Catchiness of Code-Switching: Plurilingualism in Catchy (A Romanian Women’s E-Zine). This case study investigates code-switching as a salient feature of women’s online magazines. The corpus is made up of textual material posted on catchy.ro, self-proclaimed “the only premium-luxury-e-zine in Romania which privileges editorial content”. In the first instance, Daniela Hăisan will look into the plurilingualism which characterises the structure and site map of the online magazine, and then into the plurilingualism which singularises the (feature) articles as narratives about identity, filtered through subjective experiences of everyday life. Four major criteria are taken into account when analysing the corpus: visual embeddedness, preferred embedded language(s), types of code-switching (tag-switching, inter-sentential switching, and intra-sentential switching), and morphology of the embedded language. The main conclusions are that code-switching is used in order to make a statement about the writer’s identity while fostering a rapport with the target group of readers, and that it is less a sign of language decline as it is of a gradual movement towards informality.
Article history: Received 3 August 2022; Revised 16 October 2022; Accepted 28 October 2022; Available online 20 December 2022; Available print 30 December 2022.
REZUMAT. Caracterul proliferant al schimbării de cod: Plurilingvismul din Catchy (o revistă românească online pentru femei). Prezentul studiu de caz investighează schimbarea de cod ca trăsătură distinctivă a revistelor online pentru femei. Corpusul este alcătuit din texte postate pe catchy.ro, autoproclamată “singura revistă online românească premium-luxury în care conținutul editorial este primul cel prețuit”. Într-o primă instanţă, vom analiza plurilingvismul care caracterizează structura şi harta site-ului revistei, apoi plurilingvismul care particularizează articolele şi editorialele ca naraţiuni despre identitate, filtrate prin experienţele subiective ale vieţii de zi cu zi. Patru criterii majore sunt luate în considerare în analiza corpusului: integrarea grafică a elementelor din limba engleză, limba/limbile secundare preferate, tipuri de schimbare de cod (tipul tag, intra- şi inter-propoziţionale) şi aspecte morfologice ale limbii secundare. Principalele concluzii privesc folosirea schimbării de cod ca declaraţie şi afirmare a identităţii scriitorului online dar şi ca modalitate de a stabili o relaţie de afinitate cu grupul-ţintă de cititori; schimbarea de cod este interpretată nu atât ca simptom al deteriorării limbii, cât mai ales al unei deplasări treptate către registrul informal.
Cuvinte-cheie: schimbare de cod, revistă online (pentru femei), analiza discursului
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