The #BamaRush trend introduced followers to the annual recruitment process for National Panhellenic Conference sororities, specifically at the University of Alabama. The trend included not only the posts of women participating in #BamaRush but also parody videos made by people glued to the unfolding events.
Kathryn Cunningham, an assistant professor of theatre at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, noticed the parody videos were fixated on the original creators’ “thick” and “heavy” accents. Most mockery of Southern accents underestimates the linguistic diversity of the South and creates the false perception that Southern accents are all the same. In addition, research shows that most accent imitations are not especially accurate.
Cunningham explains the ins and outs of a #BamaRush Southern accent and the cost of satirizing it. Read the full article on The Conversation.
UT is a member of The Conversation, an independent source for news articles and informed analysis written by the academic community and edited by journalists for the general public. Through our partnership, we seek to provide a better understanding of the important work of our faculty.
—
CONTACT:
Lindsey Owen (865-974-6375, lowen8@utk.edu)