Translingual Englishes, participatory hip-hop and social media in Nepal

Abstract

This article discusses some key functions and features of English in participatory popular culture and social media in Nepal. Analytical attention is paid to how English use in rap battles is entangled with other local languages and semiotic modes to create translingual practices and how online metapragmatic comments about the rap battles give rise to diverse language ideologies. The study shows that by creating their social life offline and online, Nepali young adults project themselves as individuals who have access to niche Englishes via popular culture. English use by Nepali youth functions not only as an instrument to understand Western popular culture but also as a symbolic resource to index a range of such social identities as ‘educated’, ‘civilized’ and ‘competent’. The article concludes by arguing that Nepali young adults create new subjectivities that are often suggestive of social transformation.