Norms, personae, and identity: Musical genres as predictors of dialectal trait use in the albums of Québécois singers

Abstract

Whereas previous work established the link between linguistic features, norms, identity, and personae, little is formalized regarding the extent to which speakers use linguistic variables that are already socially indexed. This article aims to clarify how one socially indexed phonetic feature is used to create linguistic norms and personae by Québécois singers. Music offers a unique context in which to probe these interactions because singing is independent from yet based on speech, and, moreover, because singers put on personae in performance. I hypothesize that singers form personae by using linguistic variants that index the identities in speech with which they wish to associate themselves and their music; these identities are dictated by their genre affiliation because genres and identity are closely intertwined.