Division of Humanities Seminar - Speaking Diversity: Gender and Sexuality in the Thai Language

Abstract:

The relationship between gender, sexuality, and language has been thoroughly studied in various contexts, but research on this relationship in the Thai language remains quite limited. In this talk, I will explore how we can understand this relationship in the Thai language from linguistic perspectives. I will discuss how various linguistic elements in Thai are used to refer to gender and sexual diversity. Additionally, I will examine how Thai speakers of different gender and sexual identities use these linguistic resources to express and index their identities. The research discussed will draw from both variationist and discourse analysis approaches.

Biography:

Pavadee Saisuwan received her PhD in Linguistics from Queen Mary University of London. She is currently the Chair and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. She is also a member of the Center of Excellence in Southeast Asian Linguistics at Chulalongkorn University. Her research focuses on sociolinguistics, language variation, linguistic landscape and the intersections of language, gender and sexuality. Her work includes studies on the language of Thai men who identify with non-normative male roles and the presence of Thai LGBTQIA+ people in linguistic landscape.