Conflicted Selves

Abstract

A central tenet of recent sociolinguistic theorizing is the belief that individual subjectivity—and hence observed social and linguistic practice—results from the intersection of multiple potentially conflicting identifications. This chapter focuses on the issue of identificational conflict and, in particular, how it gets materialized through language. The discussion is based on a case study of the intersection of sexuality and religion in Israel. Data is drawn from an interview with “Igal,” a forty-year-old Orthodox Jewish man who is married, has children, and also engages in sexual and romantic relationships with other men. The focus is on Igal’s use of creaky voice throughout the interview. Based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of topic-conditioned style shifting, the chapter argues that Igal uses creaky voice as a way of negotiating the conflict between his sexual and religious identifications, and materialize what has been termed a multidimensional understanding of self.

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