Date Approved
2017
Degree Type
Open Access Senior Honors Thesis
Department or School
English Language and Literature
First Advisor
Eric Acton
Second Advisor
T. Daniel Seely
Abstract
This work explores America's love-hate relationship with African American English (AAE). As Linguist Geneva Smitherman points out, AAE is both stigmatized and superficially celebrated in the U.S. Focusing on White pop artist Meghan Trainor, I examine the role of AAE in her music and interviews and how her use of AAE relates to her image, the content of her songs, and how she is viewed. Even though some people benefit from its commodification, AAE and its native speakers continue to be discriminated against in most contexts. This work explores AAE's status in American society through Trainor's commodification of the language variety.
Recommended Citation
Davis, Sovoya, "All about Dat Bass or linguistic blackface: White pop artists and African American English" (2017). Senior Honors Theses and Projects. 530.
https://commons.emich.edu/honors/530