Youths Speak Back

This project investigates youths' lived experiences and the role of language in their life.

Aim

The primary objective of this project is to investigate the contemporary use of, discourses about, and attitudes towards the contact-based speech style known as “kebabnorsk” (Kebab Norwegian), associated with youth in multicultural urban neighbourhoods. By engaging young people in doing research, in doing citizen sociolinguistic science (cf. Svendsen 2018; Svendsen & Goodchild 2023, 2024), the project investigates the recontextualisation of this speech style, i.e. how it is employed today, by whom, in which contexts, and with what social and affective impact. Further, it explores the lived experiences of minoritised young people, particularly self-proclaimed speakers of “kebabnorsk”, how they potentially deal with ‘ethnic Othering’ in (social) media discourse as well as in mundane (digital) interactions where language is used as a subtle mechanism for social differentiation. Finally, the project investigates the individual and scientific impacts of citizen engagement in research.

The project applies a so-called extreme citizen science project, involving the young people in multiple phases of the project, in defining the research questions relevant for them regarding the role of language in their social life, in deciding on the methodology, in data colletcion, in the analysis of the data as well as in dissemination (se e.g., here: Potet eller kebab – hvem snakker norskest i landet her? | Demokratidagene - YouTube).

Created Nov. 27, 2023, 10:40 a.m.

Updated Nov. 27, 2023, 11:24 a.m.

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