In this talk, I use discourse analysis informed by queer and trans theory to explain identity construction as it occurs in a conversation between young trans people. In this conversation, the young people describe their experiences of being rendered powerless through misgendering or misrepresentation, revealing cisnormative expectations around trans people’s embodiment. I argue that they resist these expectations by reframing the language used by others to describe their bodies, and that they gain agency as a result.

Dr Lucy Jones is Associate Professor in Sociolinguistics at the University of Nottingham, UK. She is a discourse analyst and linguistic ethnographer working on a range of topics relevant to language, gender and sexuality. Her published research includes normativity and identity construction amongst LGBTQ+ youth, homophobic discourse in relation to same-sex marriage and HIV prevention, analysis of YouTube videos by trans vloggers, and older lesbians’ identity construction. Her current projects include a study of identity and intersectionality in British LGBT+ youth groups and critical discourse analysis of how trans athletes in elite sport are represented within the news media.

Zoom link: https://hku.zoom.us/j/95946877342?pwd=U2dRbEttTXJmekN2U3VRbENxVGI0dz09

Meeting ID: 959 4687 7342
Password: 915082

Livestream will be available at Room CRT-7.45, 7/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU