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Code-switching in relation to gender and social class: The case of an Egyptian TV series

This thesis analyzed stylized performance of Arabic-English code-switching (CS) and its interaction with gender, social class, and social networks in the context of the Egyptian comedy TV series Nelly and Sherihan. The theories of indexicality (Ochs, 1992; Silverstein ,1976), stance (Du Bois, 2007),...

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Main Author: Amin, Ayatallah Mohamed
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2018
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access_status_str Open Access
author Amin, Ayatallah Mohamed
author_browse Amin, Ayatallah Mohamed
author_facet Amin, Ayatallah Mohamed
author_sort Amin, Ayatallah Mohamed
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.
description This thesis analyzed stylized performance of Arabic-English code-switching (CS) and its interaction with gender, social class, and social networks in the context of the Egyptian comedy TV series Nelly and Sherihan. The theories of indexicality (Ochs, 1992; Silverstein ,1976), stance (Du Bois, 2007), and social networks (Milroy, J. & Milroy, L., 1985) were used to answer the research questions: 1) What is the social motivation for Arabic-English CS in relation to social class and gender specifically in the Egyptian TV series Nelly and Sherihan? 2) How do social networks as a variable affect Arabic-English CS of the main character in the Egyptian TV series Nelly and Sherihan? It was found that there is no common stance taken through CS that is typical of the high or the low social class or of a particular gender. Characters who belong to the low social class in Egypt are not portrayed in the TV series as constantly aggressive towards the high social class. They try to disassociate themselves from "localness" and align with the high social class using CS. However, they change their initial stance of alignment only when a salient aggressive disalignment by the high social class takes place. It was found that metalinguistic discourse about or containing CS instances between low and high social classes is always accompanied by a negative disalignment stance. Regarding gender in the TV series, it was concluded that, besides females, the Egyptian low social class males code-switch in an attempt to speak in a more prestigious way to resemble the higher social class and gain their approval. Regarding the frequency of CS in relation to change in social networks, it decreased when the main female character decides to affiliate with her "low social class" side of the family. Finally, the thesis identified a relationship between social networks, social class and stance. Change in social networks results in a change in stance where the direction of the change in the stance depends on the social class that constitutes the new social network.
format Thesis
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institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:42.290Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2018
publishDateRange 2018
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publisher AUC Knowledge Fountain
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spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1457 Code-switching in relation to gender and social class: The case of an Egyptian TV series Amin, Ayatallah Mohamed This thesis analyzed stylized performance of Arabic-English code-switching (CS) and its interaction with gender, social class, and social networks in the context of the Egyptian comedy TV series Nelly and Sherihan. The theories of indexicality (Ochs, 1992; Silverstein ,1976), stance (Du Bois, 2007), and social networks (Milroy, J. & Milroy, L., 1985) were used to answer the research questions: 1) What is the social motivation for Arabic-English CS in relation to social class and gender specifically in the Egyptian TV series Nelly and Sherihan? 2) How do social networks as a variable affect Arabic-English CS of the main character in the Egyptian TV series Nelly and Sherihan? It was found that there is no common stance taken through CS that is typical of the high or the low social class or of a particular gender. Characters who belong to the low social class in Egypt are not portrayed in the TV series as constantly aggressive towards the high social class. They try to disassociate themselves from "localness" and align with the high social class using CS. However, they change their initial stance of alignment only when a salient aggressive disalignment by the high social class takes place. It was found that metalinguistic discourse about or containing CS instances between low and high social classes is always accompanied by a negative disalignment stance. Regarding gender in the TV series, it was concluded that, besides females, the Egyptian low social class males code-switch in an attempt to speak in a more prestigious way to resemble the higher social class and gain their approval. Regarding the frequency of CS in relation to change in social networks, it decreased when the main female character decides to affiliate with her "low social class" side of the family. Finally, the thesis identified a relationship between social networks, social class and stance. Change in social networks results in a change in stance where the direction of the change in the stance depends on the social class that constitutes the new social network. 2018-06-01T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/458 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1457/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Code-switching stylized performance
spellingShingle Code-switching
stylized performance
Amin, Ayatallah Mohamed
Code-switching in relation to gender and social class: The case of an Egyptian TV series
title Code-switching in relation to gender and social class: The case of an Egyptian TV series
title_full Code-switching in relation to gender and social class: The case of an Egyptian TV series
title_fullStr Code-switching in relation to gender and social class: The case of an Egyptian TV series
title_full_unstemmed Code-switching in relation to gender and social class: The case of an Egyptian TV series
title_short Code-switching in relation to gender and social class: The case of an Egyptian TV series
title_sort code switching in relation to gender and social class the case of an egyptian tv series
topic Code-switching
stylized performance
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/458
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1457/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf
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