Theories of Reclamation

Luvell Anderson (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)

The Slurring Terms Across Languages (STAL) network (https://sites.google.com/view/stalnetwork/home), an international and interdisciplinary network whose primary aim is to promote work on slurs, pejoratives, expressives and evaluative terms from less studied languages, invites you to the first talk of the 2025-2026 academic year to be given by Luvell Anderson (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), entitled "Theories of Reclamation". The event will take place online on Monday, OCTOBER 17, 14:30-16:00 Central European Time (CET), and is part of the of STAL network seminar series (program here: https://sites.google.com/view/stalnetwork/seminar). If you want to participate, please write to [email protected] for the Zoom link. Below you can find the abstract of the talk.

All welcome!

ABSTRACT:

Slurs are a complex linguistic phenomenon that requires attention to both linguistic and non-linguistic features for their understanding. One aspect of slurring language that highlights this attention is reclamation. Linguistic reclamation—at least, the version philosophers tend to speak about—refers to the practice of reappropriating slurs for non-derogatory purposes. It is pretty common for members of an oppressed group to reclaim slurs as an act of resistance. Some have attempted to provide theories that account for this phenomenon in general terms. In this talk, I argue that socio-historically specific accounts, rather than general ones, provide more accurate analyses of reclamation.