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Article published In:
Language & Citizenship
Edited by Tommaso M. Milani
[Journal of Language and Politics 14:3] 2015
► pp. 382–405

‘They look into our lips’

Negotiation of the citizenship ceremony as authoritative discourse

| University of Leicester |
| University of Birmingham |

The British citizenship ceremony marks the legal endpoint of the naturalisation process. While the citizenship ceremony may be a celebration, it can also be a final examination. Using an ethnographically-informed case study, this article follows one candidate, ‘W’, through the naturalisation process in the UK. W is a migrant Yemeni at the end of the naturalisation process. Bakhtin’s notion of “ideological becoming” offers an analytic orientation into how competing discourses may operate. This article focuses on the role of what Bakhtin describes as “authoritative discourse” in the citizenship ceremony, in particular the Oath/Affirmation of Allegiance which citizenship candidates are required to recite. Success in the ceremony is dependent on how individuals negotiate authoritative discourse. This study follows W and highlights the complexities and negotiations of authoritative discourse in a citizenship ceremony.

Keywords: citizenship, citizenship ceremony, authoritative discourse;, ideological becoming; Bakhtin
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The Historical Context Of British Citizenship
  • 3.Citizenship Ceremonies
  • 4.Becoming
  • 5.Methodology
  • 6.Becoming British: Application Process And Citizenship Ceremony
    • 6.1Waiting to become British
    • 6.2‘They look into our lips’ – The ceremony
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 21 August 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.14.3.04kha
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