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A Family Matter Asymmetrical Metonymy and Regional LGBT Discourse in Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2020

Caterina Fugazzola
Caterina Fugazzola*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Chicago [[email protected]]
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Abstract

In this project, I use the LGBT movement in Italy as a case study to investigate how social movements in culturally diverse social environments strategically employ contentious language to develop discourses that maximize cultural and policy outcomes without encountering discursive fragmentation. My research shows that supporters of LGBT civil rights in different Italian regions relied on a tactical use of particular words in order to respond to regionally specific norms of cultural expression regulating the boundaries drawn around the concept of family. Taking a cultural and linguistic approach to the study of social movements, I present the mechanism of asymmetrical metonymy as an example of the strategic use of polysemic language to achieve discursive convergence through culturally specific tactics, and I argue that discourse and rhetorical analysis offer a way to understand how movements make sense of different cultural limitations in a fragmented social environment.

Résumé

Dans cet article, le mouvement LGBT en Italie est utilisé comme cas d’étude pour enquêter sur la manière dont les mouvements sociaux, dans des environnements sociaux culturellement variés, utilisent de façon stratégique un langage controversé pour développer des discours qui maximisent les résultats culturels et politiques tout en limitant les risques de fragmentation discursive. Ma recherche montre que les défenseurs des droits civiques des LGBT, dans différentes régions italiennes, se sont appuyés sur l’utilisation tactique de mots spécifiques afin de répondre à des normes régionales spécifiques d’expression culturelle régulant les démarcations autour du concept de famille. En adoptant une approche culturelle et linguistique pour l’étude des mouvements sociaux, l’article discute le mécanisme de la métonymie asymétrique comme exemple d’utilisation stratégique du langage polysémique destiné à atteindre la convergence discursive à travers des tactiques spécifiques à chaque culture. L’article affirme par ailleurs que le discours et l’analyse rhétorique permettent de comprendre comment les mouvements sociaux donnent sens aux différentes limitations culturelles associées à un environnement social fragmenté.

Zusammenfassung

In diesem Projekt nutze ich die italienische LGBT-Bewegung als Fallstudie, um zu untersuchen, wie soziale Bewegungen in kulturell unterschiedlichen sozialen Umgebungen ganz bewusst eine umstrittene Sprache einsetzen, die es erlaubt, Diskurse zu entwickeln, die kulturelle und politische Ergebnisse maximieren und gleichzeitig das Risiko einer diskursiven Fragmentierung mindern. Meine Forschungsarbeit zeigt, dass die Anhänger der LGBT-Bürgerrechte verschiedener italienischer Regionen bestimmte Wörter taktisch bewusst verwandt haben, um auf regional spezifische Normen kultureller Ausdrucksformen des normierten Familienbegriffs zu reagieren. Anhand eines kulturellen und sprachlichen Ansatzes zur Erforschung sozialer Bewegungen stelle ich den Mechanismus der asymmetrischen Metonymie vor, beispielhaft für den strategischen Einsatz polysemischer Sprache, die durch kulturspezifische Taktiken zu einer diskursiven Konvergenz führt. Der Beitrag behauptet, dass Diskurs und rhetorische Analyse einen Lösungsansatz darstellen, um aufzuzeigen, wie Bewegungen unterschiedliche kulturelle Grenzen in einem fragmentierten, sozialen Umfeld für sich sinnvoll nutzen können.

Keywords

LGBTItalycivil rightscontentious discourselanguagecultureLGBTItalieDroits civilsControverseLangueCultureLGBTItalienBürgerrechtekontroverser DiskursSpracheKultur
Type
Varia
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 60 , Issue 3 , December 2019 , pp. 351 - 382
Copyright
Copyright © A.E.S. 2020 

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