Pia's research explores discourse and intersectional gender identity in talk; language & social class, ethnicity, race
Dr Pia Pichler is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics and Programme Convenor of the MA Sociocultural Linguistics in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, at Goldsmiths, University of London. Since joining Goldsmiths in 2004, Pia has dedicated herself to promoting linguistics and, in particular, the study of language, society and culture at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Pia’s research focuses on the discursive construction of intersectional identities in the spontaneous talk of young people, in particular on intersections of language and gender with social class, ethnicity and race, but also on indexicality, humour, double-voicing and authenticity. Pia’s work frequently crosses disciplinary boundaries, as for example in a recent project on the construction of Black fatherhood in the spontaneous talk of young southeast London men. She has written extensively on the talk of young British women, including London public school and British Bangladeshi girls.
Academic qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy, PhD Linguistics, University of Surrey, Roehampton 2003
Magistra of Philosophy, English and Italian, University of Salzburg, Austria 1996
Teaching and supervision
BA:
• Language and Gender
• Sociolinguistics: Language use, Variation and Identity
• Discourse and Society
• Varieties of English
MA:
• Discourse and Identity in Spoken Interaction
• Language in its Sociocultural Context
• Intercultural Discourse and Communication
Current PhDs:
• Gender in a London Primary School (CHASE)
• Linguistic ethnography of young masculinities in China
Hipsters in the hood: authenticating indexicalities in young men’s hip hop talk
In this collaboration with one of her former MA students, Pia explores the classed and raced practices and identity performances that emerge in the self-recorded talk of the young Black men from southeast London. The young men authenticate when they talk about ‘hipsters’ moving into the ‘hood’, ‘white posh girl’ appropriating ‘world star’ hip hop culture, and South London gangs displaying violence and bling.
‘I’ve got a daughter now’: Heteroglossic and intersectional constructions of fatherhood
This study explores the young men’s use of voices for their positioning in a range of fathering discourses which are shaped by and shape intersectional and hegemonic masculinities. The group balance traditional discourses of fathers as providers, protectors and moral guides with contemporary models of intimate and involved fatherhood, but also competing discourses of virile masculinity and bad boy identity.
Talking Young Femininities
This project explores the spontaneous, self-recorded talk of adolescent British girls from different socio-cultural backgrounds, including girls from a prestigious private school, the British Bangladeshi community and the East End in London. The project explores the girls’ conversations about friends, friendships, boys, parents, music, drugs, school, sex, (arranged) marriage and social class.
‘You are stupid, you are cupid’: affectionate expression in the talk of a young London couple
The research focuses on the playful switching of frames, voices, codes and personas which emerges as central to the affectionate practice in the spontaneous talk of a young multi-cultural London couple. It argues that quantitative interview studies based on an a-priori understanding of affection are unable to capture many of the idiosyncratic and creative ways in which speakers express their affection for one another in their intimate talk.
Featured publications
2017:
Pichler, Pia (2017) ‘You are stupid, you are cupid’: playful polyphony as a resource for affectionate expression in the talk of a young London couple.
2018:
Pichler, Pia (2021) ‘I’ve got a daughter now man it’s clean man’: heteroglossic and intersectional constructions of fatherhood in the spontaneous talk
2008:
Coates, Jennifer and Pia Pichler (eds.) (2011) Language and Gender. A Reader. Second Edition. Oxford: Blackwell.
2007:
Pichler, Pia (2009) Talking Young Femininities. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
2011:
Pichler, Pia (2011) ‘Hybrid or in between cultures: traditions of marriage in a group of British Bangladeshi girls’ in Coates and Pichler (eds.) 2011
Coates, Jennifer and Pichler, Pia. 2023. Gender and discourse analysis. In: Michael Handford and James Paul Gee, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis, 2nd edition. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 187-202. ISBN 9780367473839
Pichler, Pia. 2015. Language, gender and identity. In: Nancy Bonvillain, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 191-205. ISBN 9780415834100
Pichler, Pia and Preece, Siân. 2011. Language and Gender. In: Annabelle Mooney; Jean Stilwell Peccei; Suzanne LaBelle; Berit Engøy Henriksen; Eva Eppler; Anthea Irwin; Pia Pichler and Siân Preece, eds. Language, Society and Power: An Introduction, Third Edition. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 91-112. ISBN 9780415576598
2021:
“I got a daughter now man it’s clean man”: heteroglossic and intersectional constructions of fatherhood in the talk of young southeast London men
International Gender and Language Association (IGALA) Conference 11, Queen Mary, University of London June 2021.
2016:
‘You are stupid, you are cupid’: alternative expressions of affection in couple’s talk’.
Sociolinguistic Symposium, Murcia, Spain, June 2016.
2019:
‘Hipsters in the hood: authenticating indexicalities in young men’s hip hop talk’.
DiscourseNet Congress, Bremen University, September 2019.
2017:
‘I am not being funny but you don’t half look like Lionel’: humour, hair and fashion style in a group of young South London men.
Invited paper, Humour and Identity Panel, International Pragmatics Association, Belfast, July 2017
2018:
Gender and Language
Performing Power symposium, co-organised by Theatre Company Fire Exit and Glasgow Women's Library. Invited discussant with representatives from the arts, business and academia
‘Interactional positionings of ethnic (multi)culture in a UK minority group’
Roundtable discussion Language, gender and migration. Invited discussant with Dr Erez Levon (QMUL), at the Gender, Identity and Migration Seminar, King’s College, London, October 2016.
2016:
‘Rapport in three ethnographic studies of language and gender in private contexts’.
Invited paper at Ethnographies of Language, Gender & Sexuality Conference, Goldsmiths, April 2018.
Departmental, University and Disciplinary Service
Departmental Roles:
Chair, Research Ethics and Integrity Sub-Committee, English and Creative Writing
Programme director and Admissions Tutor, MA Sociocultural Linguistics
Postgraduate Deputy Senior Tutor (with special focus on international students)
University Roles:
Representative of School of Arts and Humanities, Research Ethics and Integrity Sub-Committee (REISC), Goldsmiths, 2015- 2020
Editorial board membership:
Gender and Language, Equinox
Sociolinguistic Studies
The Open Applied Linguistics Journal, Bentham Science Publishers
Journal manuscript review:
Language in Society; Gender and Language; Text & Talk; Discourse Studies; Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development; Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Sociolinguistic Studies; Journal of English for Academic Purposes.
Grant application review: ESRC; Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
Professional affiliations:
BAAL Special Interest Group (SIG) on Language and Gender (from early 2000s - 2021)
Scientific Committee of CALA (Conference on Asian Linguistic Anthropology) and COMELA (Conference on Mediterranean and European Linguistic Anthropology) and Global Association of Linguistic Anthropology (invited 2019)
