Semantics circle: Associative Slurs: Ideology and Valence

Abstract

(joint work with Chris Davis and Gregoire Winterstein)

What we call associative slurs are expressions which depend for their denigrative power on being negatively biased thick terms which, taken together with background ideologies and reasoning, yield slurring of a particular group. Our leading example is "terrorist," which has been compared to lexical slurs like the n-word as being a racial slur, but which doesn't exhibit directly racialized lexical content. Rather, the implication of race-based denigration arises from inference together with a background, racist ideology, which includes the belief that people engaged in terrorist acts are usually of a particular race or religion. The talk then considers some other thick terms with a more positive valence and how they might be analyzed.

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