37th Annual Student Research Conference
Systems Speaking: What Strategies Do Members of Plural Systems Use to Establish a Voice of Their Own in a Body With One Voicebox?
Andrew E. Stephens
Dr. Douglas Ball, Faculty Mentor
The dominant concept of identity is one identity per body, but this does not apply to everybody. The plural community is a loose coalition of folks with multiple identities per body, with a single body inhabited by multiple identities referred to as a system. The aim of my study is to summarise the linguistic strategies system members use to distinguish themselves from the other people they share their bodies with when speaking out loud. I'm using an open-ended questionnaire advertised to both systems and non-systems through Tumblr and PluralHub. I provide an account of which strategies have been most effective for conveying individual identity according to my respondents.
Keywords: Plurality, Multiplicity, Neurodivergence, Sociolinguistics, Indexing, Identity, Systemhood, Neuroqueer
Topic(s):Linguistics
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: 406-4
Location: MG 1000
Time: 2:45