Tommaso Milani
I am a critical sociolinguist who is interested in analyzing the interface between language, power and ideology in contemporary societies. My main research interests are: language ideologies, multimodality, and language, gender and sexuality - with a particular focus on same-sex desire and space.
Biography
I am an Associate Professor of Linguistics and Head of Department at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. My research interests include sociolinguistics; language politics; language ideologies; language, gender and sexuality (with a focus on masculinities); Critical Discourse Analysis; multimodality; and performativity theory. I completed his PhD at Stockholm University in 2007 with a thesis entitled "Debating Swedish: Language Politics and Ideology in Contemporary Sweden". The thesis explored the ways in which language politics, language ideology and national identity are entwined in debates over the Swedish language. After Stockholm, I moved to the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom where I was a Post-Doctoral Fellow on a large project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) on the ways in which multilingualism is thematised on a website created by the BBC with the aim of promoting linguistic diversity in the United Kingdom. I am currently involved in a project on language, identity and the racialization of desire in South Africa.Education
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PhD, Stockholm University, 2007
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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Language ideologies, language politics, critical discourse analysis, language, gender and sexuality.
Books
Articles
Queer skin-straight masks: Same-sex weddings and the discursive construction of
Published: May 13, 2015 by Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies
Authors: Milani Tommaso M. and Wolff Brandon
This article showcases an exploratory study of the website of a Cape Town-based company specialising in arranging same-sex weddings. Informed by queer theory, the article deconstructs the discursive strategies – both linguistic and visual – through which same-sex weddings, and the affects attached to them, are represented on the website.
Queer and trans Art-iculations: Decolonising gender and sexualities
Published: Jan 14, 2015 by Agenda: Empowering women for gender equity
Authors: McEwen Haley and Milani Tommaso M.
This introduction aims to present the special issue on queer and trans art-iculations in South Africa. It presents the theoretical tensions around the notion of queer in the South and offers a critical summary of the articles.
The everyday life of sexual politics: A feminist critical discourse analysis of
Published: Jan 02, 2015 by Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
Authors: Edwards Megan and Milani Tommaso M.
This article investigates a corpus of herbalist pamphlets – fairly common, everyday texts found in (South) African cities – which promote the services of traditional healers and promise solutions to a plethora of ailments and life problems.
Querying the queer from Africa: Precarious bodies – precarious gender.
Published: Oct 22, 2014 by Agenda: Empowering women for gender equity
Authors: Milani Tommaso M.
his Article seeks to offer a perspective on the ambivalence of collusion and contestation in relation to the gender binary.
‘It’s time for Afrikaans to go’ or not?
Published: Jun 19, 2013 by Language Matters: Studies in the Languages of Africa
Authors: Shaikjee Mooniq and Milani Tommaso M.
This article argues that rationalisation is present in even the most heated language ideological scenarios, taking several conflicting guises that are particular in nature.