White Talk, Black Talk
Inter-racial Friendship and Communication amongst Adolescents

A study of relations between black and white adolescents in South London.

Roger Hewitt (Author)

9780521338240, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 23 October 1986

264 pages
23 x 15.4 x 1.8 cm, 0.435 kg

'Sociologists, social psychologists, and linguists will find this detailed examination of styles of dress, play, music and creole speech an insightful and important contribution to our understanding of the subtleties of adolescent group membership and identification.' Shirley Brice Heath

This book studies the relations between black and white adolescents in an urban environment (South London); the processes by which racism is relayed within adolescent communities, and the strategies which subvert or encourage them. More specifically Hewitt examines the sociolinguistic impact of the 'London Jamaican' creole used by young black Londoners on the language and culture of young whites. Basing his work on extensive fieldwork amongst racially mixed groups in youth clubs, schools and 'street corner' contexts. Hewitt is able to examine the way racial attitudes and cultural allegiances are expressed in, and affected by, inter-racial friendships. White Talk Black Talk is a uniquely ethnographic account which places the use of black language forms in the speech of whites firmly in its social and political setting: integrating disciplines in a creative way, Hewitt sites a practical sociolinguistic study within a much wider and systematic sociological context of group interaction. This study will be of special interest within sociolinguistics, the sociology of race relations and of youth culture, and urban anthropology, but its rich and fascinating ethnographic detail will also make it of interest to the non-specialist.

Acknowledgements
Typographical conventions
Introduction
1. Inter-racial friendship in Area A
2. Inter-racial friendship in Area B
3. The language of black youth culture
4. Creole forms in white adolescent speech
5. White creole use in inter-racial contexts
6. Social semiotics and ideology
7. Transmission and intervention: racism and anti-racism in communicative practices
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Ethnic studies [JFSL]