Date of Award

5-31-2026

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Linguistics, Applied

First Advisor

Panagiota Gounari

Second Advisor

Corinne Etienne

Third Advisor

Heather Sparling

Abstract

This dissertation examines efforts to enhance the status of the Irish language through youth-produced music videos created at an Irish-language immersion program and shared on YouTube. The study investigates how these performances construct Irish as relevant, valuable, and legitimate within contemporary cultural contexts. Drawing on multimodal discourse analysis and Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory, the research analyzes how visual, spatial, aural, gestural, and linguistic modes collaborate to normalize Irish across multiple domains of use. Two dominant performance themes emerge from the analysis: the carnivalesque theme, which frames Irish as associated with youth culture, creativity, and pleasure, and the ritualesque theme, which portrays the language as connected to cultural heritage, reverence, and collective identity. Dramaturgical analysis further demonstrates how performers use staging, choreography, objects, and setting to manage impressions that present Irish as a vibrant, modern language embedded in contemporary life. To examine audience reception, a discourse analysis of YouTube comments is conducted, revealing that viewers frequently respond with admiration, pride, and expressions of solidarity with the language. Together, these findings show how youth-driven digital performances contribute to bottom-up efforts at language status enhancement by reshaping public perceptions of Irish and positioning it as both culturally meaningful and socially relevant.

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