Polari, a vibrant language born out of prejudice

For this week's blog post, I read an article entitled "Polari, a vibrant language born out of prejudice" which was published in the San Francisco Guardian on May 24, 2010. The article's author, Paul Baker, discusses Polari, a language largely associated with gay British males of the 20th century. This language was born from the need to communicate among gay males (and to a lesser extent, other members of the LGBT community) in a time when homosexuality and the gay culture and community was not accepted as part of mainstream society.

Polari is an example of a language that came when there was a need, and left when there was no longer a need. In a way, Polari is an anti-language, a term coined by Michael Halliday in 1978 to describe how oppressed and stigmatized communities develop language in order to communicate, speak openly and comfortably with one another (without fearing harassment and discrimination), and to "reconstruct reality according to their own values." Thus, Polari was widely used in the gay British subculture from roughly 1900-1970, when homosexuality was deeply separated from mainstream society. In 1970, homosexuality was decriminalized, and the use of this created language, Polari, became less necessary. Eventually, as gay men became more integrated and accepted into regular society, Polari became a dead language.

The reason for the development and usage of the Polari language- a secret way to communicate internally- is reflected in the lack of print and tape recordings of Polari from the time it was used. Because of its presence in subcultures and the community and language's efforts to truly remain underground, Polari was simply passed on by word of mouth, which led to the creation of many versions of the language. It is only now that scholars have gone back to analyze the different components of the language and to determine its roots and its functions.

Due to the interactions between many different communities and individuals that were on the outside of society (that all fell within the gay male subculture in Europe), the Polari language has incorporated some Parlyaree, the Italian-derived language used by various people such as entertainers and beggars, Cockney rhyming slang, backslang (pronouncing a word as if it is spelt backwards), Yiddish, Lingua Franca (words from sailors slang), American air force slang and the vernacular of drug users. This diverse combination of both languages and slang have led to the development of this unique language and reflects the many connections between various sectors of society in the early 20th century.

In order to supplement this article, I also read a book written by the article's author, Paul Baker, titled "Polari: the lost language of gay men." This book contained a chapter called "Polari as a language system" and provided a closer, more in depth view on the scientific, linguistic aspects of the language. The language, while it incorporates vocabulary and linguistic characteristics from many other language and slang systems, is fundamentally a language rooted in English with many key words replaced by Polari equivalents. There is currently debate about how much Polari classifies as a unique language- the answer to which I am still wondering about (and would assume that more work/research must be done to establish that). Like other subculture lexicons, Polari also includes two sets of vocabulary: core and fringe vocabulary. Core vocabularies are known to most everyone (with Polari's case, words like bona, vada, and eek), while fringe vocabulary are much larger but are only known by select, very skilled language speakers. In a very mini experiment, Paul Baker tested seven Polari speakers' knowledge of the Polari vocabulary. Of the seven, each speaker could identify between 35 and 78 words, with 20 words considered "core vocabulary" because they were known by every interviewee.

Overall, I found this article and book fascinating as they discussed the role of the development of a language in a very new context for me. Rather than being tied solely to national origins, family history, or generational differences (like texting), Polari is tied to the need of a specific community- the British gay male community- to communicate and express themselves freely in a time when their identity was being attacked, or the very least, looked down upon, by mainstream society. The use of language (more specifically, a new language that reflects the intersections and interactions between many communities) as a tool for coping with societal injustice/oppression and building community was very compelling and inspiring to learn about.

Sources:

Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/24/polari-language-origins

Book: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yxHz97AvesUC&oi=fnd&pg=PP9&dq=polari+language&ots=-QxnuEFAsi&sig=OGCPzx7mX5igrxfEM-5BdrTV9ak#v=onepage&q&f=false