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Imposed Identity and Linguistic Strategies

Psychology Dept., University of Natal, Durban, South Africa

Howard Giles

Psychology Dept., University of Bristol, U.K.

The aim of this paper is to investigate intragroup variability and its effect on social identity. Based on assumptions of power differentials within groups, and the attempts of the relatively more powerful to impose their notion of group membership on the relatively less powerful, a set of theoretical propositions regarding identity and dissent is formulated. These propositions deal with instances of congruence between the notions of identity held by the powerful and the powerless, instances of incongruence between the notions of these two subgroups, and possible reactions of the powerless in the latter instances. The role of language in these attempts at identity imposition, and reactions to it, is examined in detail.

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