Identity in the bilingual couple: Attitudes to language and culture

Abstract

The article focuses on identity in bilingual couples by investigating their attitudes to language and culture. The research question asks how they make sense of their linguistic and cultural duality. Based on the data from in-depth interviews, I concentrate on the notion of identity in bilingual couplehood. I analyze excerpts of interviews produced by 24 couples of Poles with their foreign partners who reside in Poland. I investigate these couples’ talk with regard to their interpretations of identities resulting from their individual life histories and private ideologies about language and culture. My data suggest that attitudes to language and culture relate to the mutual understanding in the couple. I found evidence for differences and similarities as subjectively assessed by partners, higher metalinguistic awareness, an altered perception of one’s self and redefined national stereotypes. The results reveal that the couples’ attitudes are geared to jointly create and negotiate identities in interaction. The article views identity from a new perspective by giving voice to bilingual couples. The novelty relies on the less studied Polish context and, in general, the explicit evaluation of one’s own socialization to a different language and culture. The qualitative lens of the presented study contributes to our understanding of how individuals in intercultural couples use language to convey dual identity and accomplish social goals.

Keywords

• bilingual couples
• identity
• language attitudes
• intercultural communication
• qualitative interviews