Language ideologies in the writing of nonstandard varieties: the case of written British Creole

This paper examines the use of Caribbean-English lexicon Creoles in two British novels: Zadie Smith’s White Teeth and Andrea Levy’s Small Island. Creole languages have traditionally been considered ‘broken’ English dialects and their socio-historical background determines their strong symbolic value. Creoles are markers of identity and establish associations with social groups; for example, British Creole usage in London has become the symbol of Black Britishness. The paper carries out a quantitative analysis on Creole orthography and spelling choices, and the aim is to demonstrate the preservation and/or subversion of stereotyped, ideological ideas about Creole and its speakers.