Hill outlines the differences between the ideologies of the gaffe vs. the slur. Where do you see these ideologies at work here today? How could we use her theory to analyze examples that circulate in the Canadian media? Where else do you see personalist or referential ideologies at work in our popular understandings of how acts of language work and whether they can inflict harm upon others?
Hill’s analysis of Mock Spanish argues that people in the US in the late 20th c. had very different ideologies about what this register meant. Some found it harmless, jocular, and funny; for others, it was deeply offensive. How do we actively create a stance of disdain towards a) the Spanish language and b) the stereotypical image of a person who speaks Spanish? How is engaging in the practices of Mock Spanish one way that Whiteness gets constituted, according to Hill? Can you think of similar practices that we might have today?
