Cultural appropriation in online spaces: the "woke" case study

This thesis examines language as a powerful but socially shaped tool that can both challenge and reinforce inequalities. Drawing on sociolinguistic theories, this work pays particular attention to cultural appropriation, understood as the adoption and transformation of cultural and linguistic forms outside their original context. This dynamic is exemplified by the semantic trajectory of the term “woke”, which originated as a marker of racial awareness within the African American community and was later repurposed in global digital discourse, progressively losing its socio-political roots. The primary objective of this thesis is therefore to analyze the processes through which the term has been decontextualized and reinterpreted by wider audiences, with a specific focus on the role of social media in accelerating semantic shift. Moreover, through a research proposal, it aims to investigate young Italians’ perceptions of the term. This thesis is structured as follows: Chapter I establishes the theoretical foundations of cultural appropriation and sociolinguistic change; Chapter II traces the historical background and semantic shift of “woke”; Chapter III proposes a methodological framework to explore contemporary perceptions of the term and suggests directions for further research on linguistic cultural appropriation in digital contexts.