Exploring Authenticity and Literary Dialect from a New Perspective

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.5960

Keywords:

authenticity, literary dialect, literary fiction, telecinematic fiction, performed language, audience

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical discussion of literary dialect and authenticity and proposes a new approach that will enhance our knowledge of these concepts. It reveals the existence of a gap in the study of literary dialect and authenticity, where most researchers have paid attention to the role of the writer/creator while leaving aside the reader/audience. Scholars interested in the authenticity of literary dialect have traditionally concentrated on assessing how closely literary dialects resemble real-world dialects. However, the idea that authenticity only depends on the linguistic accuracy that the writer/creator lends to the fictional portrayal of dialect has been abandoned. More recent studies have started to examine how readers/audiences authenticate (or deauthenticate) dialect representations. Their focus is on which readers/audiences evaluate a portrayal as authentic and why. This paper is in line with the view that authenticity depends on the readers’/audiences’ evaluations and suggests that the perceived authenticity of literary dialect can be measured using methods similar to those employed in language attitudes research.

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Published

16-01-2025

How to Cite

Díaz-Sierra, S. (2025). Exploring Authenticity and Literary Dialect from a New Perspective. Journal of English Studies. https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.5960

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