LAEL Public Lecture: Paul Baker
About
The Department of Linguistics and English Language in Lancaster is celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2024. In a series of public lectures, we will showcase our recent research in different areas of linguistics. Everyone is welcome!
Fabulosa! A brief history of Polari, the lost language of camp
Speaker: Professor Paul Baker
Polari was a secret form of language, developing across the 19th and 20th centuries among a queer subculture that newspapers of the time referred to as the "twilight world of the homosexual". In the 1960s Polari became famous when it was used in a popular BBC radio comedy series called Round the Horne but by the 1980s it had all but vanished. Paul Baker has researched Polari for the last 30 years and he tells the fascinating and hilarious story of its rise, fall and rediscovery, charting its fortunes alongside tumultuous changes in British LGBTQ+ representation and visibility. He also reveals some of the secrets behind the words, so you'll learn how to tell your lallies from your luppers. Troll along and vada the palarying screeve-omee for some bona cackle.
For details of the talk and the upcoming programme, please visit our 50th anniversary website.
Location
Margaret Fell Lecture Theatre, Lancaster University
Lancaster, LA1 4YW
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