“Conyo talk”: the affirmation of hybrid identity and power in contemporary Philippine discourse

Abstract

The Philippine linguistic and cultural phenomenon “coño talk” (a mix of predominantly Spanish and English with tagalog) is a type of discourse that purportedly identifies and differentiates people of ‘power’ from the common masses, and arose from the impact of Spanish and American colonization. This paper examines how web discussion forums embody these social tensions through ethnomethodological discourse analysis (Tate 2007) and Bhabha’s (1990) third space to demonstrate the patent cultural hybridity in the Philippine society. Analysis demonstrates how participants as conyo speakers position themselves, and discusses the socio-cultural implications of these presentations. Results show participants instinctively and/or intentionally use this type of discourse and position themselves to construct or establish their own identities. Implications for cultural hybridity and the constraining, facilitating or subjectification effects of this type of discourse on Philippine society are discussed

Keywords

• cultural hybridism
• ethnomethodology
• discourse analysis
• coño talk
• 21st century Philippine society