DIGITAL RACIOLINGUISTICS: THE PERFORMANCE OF IDENTITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY AMONG PAKISTANI MULTILINGUAL VLOGGERS

Abstract

In this study, one would explore the modern day digital space in Pakistan as a space of contestation and negotiation in terms of language, and how postcolonial anxieties, class boundaries, and ethnolinguistic identities clash in this market. Traditionally, English and standardised Urdu have been over-emphasised and given a greater symbolic and socioeconomic status than indigenous regional languages (Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, etc.) which have been institutionally marginalised and caricatured in the mainstream media. A qualitative digital ethnographic research design is used in this paper to analyse a sample of vlogs and music videos of six major multilingual creators in Pakistan: Irfan Junejo, Ali Gul Pir, Tamkenat Mansoor, Adnan Zafar (Ken Doll), Babar Mangi and Irfan Khan. The study, using Pierre Bourdieu's notions of ‘linguistic capital', ‘habitus' and the ‘linguistic market' and Carol Myers-Scotton's ‘Matrix Language Frame Model' maps how these creators use code switching, accent stylization and visual-linguistic semiotics to subvert post-colonial hierarchies. The results show that these digital performances are not only engaged in overt political resistance, such as criticizing feudalism and patriarchy but also in covert advocacy, such as producing a high-status regional habitus that is associated with marginalized dialects with global luxury and modern youth subcultures. But, such a digital democratization is hindered by the digital divide and also by active policing of the audience, often leading to trolling and political backlash of creators. In conclusion, the present study reveals that digital spaces can enable a counter-hegemonic ‘plurilingual habitus' which is an important step in decolonizing the post-colonial linguistic space in Pakistan.