I am a lecturer at the Chair Linguistics of English and Translation Studies, researcher in the project Socio-cultural Impact on Language Change (SILC) and a PhD student of Prof. Dr. Svenja Kranich.
Contact
h.bruns[at]uni-bonn.de
+49 228 73-6522
Rabinstraße 8, Room 2.059
Office Hours (Summer 23)
Tuesdays, 11 am - 12 pm (Zoom or in person)
Please register for office hours via email and let me know whether you would prefer zoom or an in-person meeting.
Different times can be agreed upon via email.
Research Interests
- Language and Gender
- Language and Sexuality
- Language and Identity
- Critical Discourse Analysis
- Positive Discourse Analysis
- Conceptual Metaphors
- Computer Mediated Communication
- Language Change
- Indian English
Dissertation Project: "Socio-cultural impact on language change: Use of, and attitudes towards, gender-fair language in English and German." [working title]
My PhD project focuses on the development of gender-fair language in the context of recent democratisation processes in Germany, Great Britain, and the USA. For this purpose, I am considering four different parts that influence each other and stand in a direct connection with each other, according to my hypothesis: language use, language attitudes, language structures, and the socio-cultural contexts in which these languages are used. I investigate these connections through a rather complex method triangulation: I use corpora to trace the development of generic masculine and gender-fair forms since the 1960s. Then, I use Discourse Completion Tasks to elicit language use norms in an apparent time study. Lastly, I use questionnaires and interviews to find out about attitudes towards gender-fair language and people’s individual experience with the socio-cultural developments, especially regarding gender-equality, that occurred in the three cultures I investigate. My PhD project is part of a bigger project on Democratisation and Power Structures.
CV
Since 2021:
Researcher and Lecturer, Chair of Linguistics of English and Translation Studies, University of Bonn, Germany
Since 2020:
PhD student, Anglistik/Amerikanistik: Sprachwissenschaft, University of Bonn, Germany
Working title: Address Forms in Varieties of English and German: Socio-cultural impact on language change
2016 - 2019:
M.A. Applied Linguistics, University of Bonn, Germany
Thesis: "It feels very niche, very unique” – A case study of the discursive creation of nonnormative transgender identity in YouTube vlogs (recently published as research paper in the Journal of the Sociology of Language)
August 2015 - December 2015:
English Linguistics, English and Foreign Languages University Hyderabad, India
2012 - 2016:
B.A. English Studies and Art History, Dresden University of Technology, Germany
Teaching
- Summer 2023: Übung "Issues in Language and Communication Studies: Sociolinguistic Approaches to Gender", University of Bonn
- Winter 2022/23: Übung "Language Structures and Functions", University of Bonn
- Summer 2020: Übung "Issues in Language and Communication Studies: Language and Gender", University of Bonn
- Summer 2019: Tutorial "Issues in Language and Communication Studies: Microlinguistic variation between British and American English", University of Bonn
- Summer 2016: Tutorial "Introduction to Synchronic Linguistics", Dresden University of Technology
- Winter 2014/15: Tutorial "Introduction to Diachronic Linguistics", Dresden University of Technology
- Summer 2014: Tutorial "Introduction to Synchronic Linguistics", Dresden University of Technology
Presentations
“Connecting socio-cultural developments and language change: Recent variation in gender-inclusivity in the USA and the UK”. Talk presented at the 18th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA 18), Brussels, Belgium, 09–14 July 2023.
“Democratization effects on nominal address terms – Sir and Guys in 20th and 21st century American English”. Talk presented at the 18th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA 18), Brussels, Belgium, 09–14 July 2023 (with Prof. Dr. Svenja Kranich).
“‘It is a part of who I am’ – Queer identity construction in online discourse”. Talk presented at the 12th Bonn Applied English Linguistics Conference (BAELc12), University of Bonn, Germany, 07–08 July 2023 (with Prof. Dr. Svenja Kranich, Thomas Esser, Ragnhild Hinderling, M.A., Lisa Lubomierski, B.A.).
“Times are changing (?): Factors at play in the use of and attitudes towards gender-fair language in English and German”. Poster presented at the 4th Nachwuchstagung Englische Linguistik (NEL), University of Bonn, Germany, 27 March 2023.
„Ist inklusiver, das mag ich. – Auswirkungen von Geschlecht und Einstellungen zu geschlechtergerechter Sprache auf ihre Nutzung“. Talk presented at the Arbeitsgruppe “Geschlechterbewusste Sprache: Routinisierter Gebrauch und kreative Neuformen“, 45. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft (DGfS), University of Cologne, Germany, 08–10 March 2023 (with Swantje Leiting, B.A.).
“‘Excuse me, sir’ or ‘Okay, you guys’ – Changes in the use of generic nominal address terms in the 20th and 21st century”. Talk presented at the 9th Biennial International Conference on the Linguistics of Contemporary English (BICLCE), University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, 15–17 September 2022 (with Prof. Dr. Svenja Kranich).
“‘Gendern nein danke‘ or ‘Gendern ist richtig und wichtig‘? The impact of attitudes on the use of gender-inclusive language in German”. Talk presented at the conference Attitudes towards gender-inclusive language. A multinational perspective, Queen Mary University of London, England, 08–09 September 2022 (online conference) (with Swantje Leiting).
“‘Es ist an uns, liebe Freundinnen und Freunde’ – A diachronic study on gender-fair language use in German and English“. Talk presented at the 11th Bonn Applied English Linguistics Conference (BAELc11), University of Bonn, Germany, 24–25 June 2022.
“Socio-cultural impact on language change: Use of, and attitudes towards, gender-fair language in English and German”. Poster presented at the Bonn Diversity Days, University of Bonn, Germany, 30 May 2022.
"'Es gibt keine Norm für diesen Bereich‘ – Ein sprachübergreifender Blick auf die Möglichkeiten der gendersensiblen Sprache“. Workshop presented at the 70th Student Symposium for Linguistics (StuTS), University of Vienna, Austria, 17–20 November 2021 (hybrid conference) (with Lina Rebecca Arnold).
“‘Let’s say, as an example, that gender is binary. L o l.’ – Strategies used to counter the master narrative on transgender identity”. Talk presented at the 11th biennial conference of the International Gender and Language Association (IGALA11), Queen Mary University of London, England, 21–22 June 2021 (online conference).
“Democratization and Recent Changes in Language Use in Varieties of English and German”. Talk presented at the Workshop Demokratisierung und Machtstrukturen, University of Bonn, Germany, 06 May 2021 (online workshop) (with Prof. Dr. Svenja Kranich).
“‘Es ist also eine Frage des Geschmacks, ob Sie das Binnen-I in Texten verwenden wollen‘: Zum aktuellen Diskurs um geschlechtergerechte Sprache”. Talk presented at the Dies Academicus, University of Bonn, Germany, 02 December 2020 (online conference).
“Trans* representation online: How to challenge the prevalent discourse on binary gender.” Talk presented at the 9th Bonn Applied English Linguistics Conference (BAELc9), University of Bonn, Germany, 27 November 2020 (online conference).
“Socio-cultural impact on changing usage of terms of address and person reference”. Talk presented at the 1st LETS PhD/Post-doc Colloquium, University of Bonn, Germany, 19 November 2020 (online conference).
“Ist doch nicht so schlimm - oder doch?: Zur Wissenschaftsethik in der Linguistik”. Workshop held at the 1st Student’s linguistics workshop „Studis für Studis – Linguistik in Bonn“, University of Bonn, Germany, 06–08 February 2020.
"'... or this could be like the gender map and somebody is not even on it': The conceptualization of gender through speech and gesture". Poster presented at the LingCologne 2019 Conference, University of Cologne, Germany, 06–07 June 2019.
“Gender discrimination through language.” Workshop conducted for the 65th Student Symposium for Linguistics (StuTS), University of Cologne, Germany, 23–26 May 2019 (with Sarah Lapacz, B.A.).
“’It feels very niche, very unique’ - A case study of non-conformity to normative ideals in transgender discourse on YouTube”. Talk presented at the 26th Lavender Languages and Linguistics Conference, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, 02–04 May 2019.
"The influence of equivalence and attitudes on the translation of gender-neutral language: 'It is difficult :-)'". Talk presented at the
Second Translation Studies Day (TraSt2), University of Bonn, Germany, 27 March 2019. (
PDF).
“’Did you just say trans AND non-binary?’ – ‘That is me!’: Challenging the normative ideals of transgender discourse”. Talk presented at the 4th DiscourseNet Winter School, University of Valencia, Spain, 16–18 January 2019.
“’It’s also a Cultural Identity Thing’ – The Effect of Ethnolinguistic Threat on Short-Term Phonological Divergence in German Learners of English”. Poster presented at the English as a Global Language Symposium, University of Bonn, Germany, 10 December 2018.
“Effects of democratization on language use”. Talk presented at the English as a Global Language Symposium, University of Bonn, Germany, 10 December 2018 (with Prof. Dr. Svenja Kranich).
“Living under the trans-umbrella – First insights into normative ideals and non-conformity”. Poster presented at the 2nd Nachwuchtagung Englische Linguistik (NEL-2), University of Giessen, Germany, 16 November 2018.
“Effects of democratization on language use”. Talk presented at the Humboldt Netzwerktagung, University of Bonn, Germany, 15 November 2018 (with Prof. Dr. Svenja Kranich).
“Requests across varieties and cultures: Norms are changing (but not everywhere in the same way)”. Talk presented at the Anglistentag 2018, University of Bonn, Germany, 23–26 September 2018 (with Prof. Dr. Svenja Kranich and Elisabeth Hampel, M.A.).
“The ‘Alternative für Deutschland’ between claims of moderatism, and xenophobic discourse – The case of National Socialist metaphors”. Poster presented at the 14th Association for Language Awareness conference (ALA), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands, 04–07 July 2018. [Winner „Best Poster Presentation“.]
“Changes in the modal domain in different varieties of English: Effects of democratization?” Talk presented at the 39th Annual Conference of the International Computer Archive for Modern and Medieval English (ICAME), University of Tampere, Finland, 30 May – 03 June 2018 (with Prof. Dr. Svenja Kranich and Elisabeth Hampel, M.A.).
“’Scheint ein bösartiges Geschwür am Volkskörper zu sein’ - National Socialist Metaphors in the discourse of the ‘Alternative für Deutschland’”. Poster presented at the 62nd Studentische Tagung Sprachwissenschaft (StuTS), Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Netherlands, 23–26 November 2017.
“Why the study of LAnguage MAtters in school – ein Wissenschaftsblog bringt Schüler*innen und Studierende zusammen”. Talk presented at the Dies Academicus, University of Bonn, Germany, 17 May 2017 (with Timo Brede, Dr. Stefanie Pohle and Pawel Sickinger, Dipl. Trans.).
“Indirectness and politeness strategies in requests – Comparing German and Indian students in situations of low power distance versus high power distance”. Poster presented at the 6th Bonn Applied English Linguistics Conference (BAELc6), University of Bonn, Germany, 12–13 May 2017.
Publications
Research Papers
Bruns, H. (2023). “That’s all it takes to be trans”: counter-strategies to hetero- and transnormative discourse on YouTube. International Journal of the Sociology of Language (online first), 1-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2023-0002
Bruns, H., & Kranich, S. (2022). Terms of address: A contrastive investigation of ongoing changes in British, American and Indian English and in German. Journal of Contrastive Pragmatics, 3(1), 112-143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/26660393-BJA10025
Kranich, S., Bruns, H., & Hampel, E. (2021). Requests across varieties and cultures: Norms are changing (but not everywhere in the same way). Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies, 32(1), 91-114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33675/ANGL/2021/1/9
Bruns, H. (2020). National Socialist metaphors in the discourse of the Alternative für Deutschland: Exploring a leaked WhatsApp chat. metaphorik.de 30/2020. Available at https://www.metaphorik.de/de/journal/30/metaphorikde-302020.html
Kranich, S., Hampel, E., & Bruns, H. (2020). Changes in the modal domain in different varieties of English as potential effects of democratization. Language Sciences, 79, 1-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2020.101271
Other Publications
Bruns, H. (2021). ‘The freedom and power to choose our response’ – The peer-review process as emotional work [blog post]. Scholarly Peers Blog, 10 December 2021. Available at https://scholarlypeers.weebly.com/blog-posts/the-freedom-and-power-to-choose-our-response-the-peer-review-process-as-emotional-work
Bruns, H. (2020). Von Sensibilität, “unnatürlichen“ Eingriffen und einem vorerst nicht endenden Kampf [Interview by Sascia R. Joßberger]. Karola - Magazin für feministische Hochschulpolitik, 1, 16-18. Available at https://www.blochuni.org/karola/
Bruns, H. (2018). “Das sind tollwütige Tiere” (“They are rabid animals”): How metaphors can be used to de-humanise immigrants. [blog post]. Researching Digital Media, 02 July 2018. URL: http://www.researchingdigitalmedia.com/das-sind-tollwutige-tiere-they-are-rabid-animals-how-metaphors-can-be-used-to-de-humanise-immigrants/
Bruns, H. (2017). “You cannot possibly be that arrogant!” – Impoliteness in The Big Bang Theory. [blog post].
Language Matters! – Exciting insights into the realm of Applied Linguistics, 18 July 2017. URL:
http://lama.hypotheses.org/1371
Facebook
