#AuPairsInGermany: Contesting Precarity through the Mediatization of Emotions and Lived Experiences of Filipino Au Pairs in Germany
Au pairing is typically characterized as a unique form of mobility that revolves around cultural exchange and emotional labor. This project investigates how Filipino au pairs in Germany strategically position themselves in the globalized affective labor landscape using sociolinguistic resources. While previous research has been overwhelmingly critical of au pairing as a site of precarity, little has been done to examine how au pairs strategically position themselves amid structures of inequality. Thus, this project analyzes how Filipino au pairs construct and depict their emotions and experiences on social media and how these platforms reflect and impact their daily lives. Through an examination of social media content (e.g. Tiktok reels and interactions) produced by, and qualitative interviews with, Filipino au pairs, this project aims to unpack how a sociolinguistic investigation of the mediatization of emotions and experiences can develop critical insights into precarity and suggest sociolinguistic interventions for sustainable international relations between Germany and the Philippines.
Raymund Vitorio
Vita
Raymund Vitorio is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Applied Linguistics at De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines. He holds a joint PhD in Language Studies from the National University of Singapore and King’s College London. As a sociolinguist, he critically examines the intersections of language, mobility, and identity, particularly within the contexts of citizenship, tourism, and political discourse. His research has been published in leading sociolinguistic journals, such as Language in Society, Multilingua, Social Semiotics, World Englishes, and Sociolinguistic Studies. He recently completed a Visiting Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity. He is currently writing a monograph provisionally titled Reflexivity, Emotions, and Citizenship: The Discursive Construction of New Citizenship in Singapore.
Forschungsschwerpunkt
Sociolinguistics
Linguistic Ethnography
Discourse Analysis
Metapragmatics
Globalization
Migration
Citizenship
Tourism
Emotions
Publikationen (Auswahl)
Valdez, P. and Vitorio, R. (2024). Philippine English and commodity formation. World Englishes, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12684.
Vitorio, R. (2023). New citizenship and the negotiation of the global/local interface: Emotions, reflexivity, and metapragmatics. Multilingua, 42(6), 875-895. https://doi.org/10.1515/ multi-2022-0095.
Merminod, G. and Vitorio, R. (2023). (Un)Doing regimentation in reflexive practices: On-site processes of sociolinguistic differentiation. Multilingua, 42(6), 797-807. https://doi.org/10.1515/ multi-2023-0113.
Vitorio, R. and Valdez, P. N. (2023). The taming of the shrewd: Technologies of the self, emotions, and the rebranding of Philippine tourism. Sociolinguistic Studies, 16(4), 505-524. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.23527.
Vitorio, R. (2022). The discursive construction of new citizen identities in Singapore. Language in Society, 52(3), 387-408. https://doi.org/10.1017/S004740452200001X.
Vitorio, R. (2020). Language, affect, and carnivalesque: Tourism encounters and transgressive narratives on a party island. Social Semiotics, 31(5), 773-787. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 10350330.2020.1810548.
Vitorio, R. (2019). Postcolonial performativity in the Philippine heritage tourism industry. Language and Tourism in Postcolonial Contexts. Eds. A. Mietzner and A. Storch. Bristol: Channel View Publications. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781845416799-009.
Hiramoto, M. and Vitorio, R. (2019). Linguistic landscapes of language and sexuality. The Oxford Handbook of Language and Sexuality. Eds. K. Hall and R. Barrett. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190212926.013.47_update_001.
