Code-switching in the media: Identity negotiations in a Gujarati diaspora radio program

Abstract

AbstractThis article aims to explore the construction of post-diasporic, hybrid local identities in communicative practices of the younger British Gujarati community. It focuses on the host of a popular BBC Asian Network radio show as a prominent voice of this community, who simultaneously embodies and creates linguistic community values through the use of Gujarati-English code-switching. In doing so, it highlights the role of the media in shaping a space for the linguistic negotiation of local and transnational influences. On a methodological level, the article argues for the combination of data from different domains in the context of transnational identity negotiations, such as linguistic behavior, narrative language biographies, private and public meta-linguistic commentary, indications of language status and attitudes towards alternating language use.