Language Choice in U.S. Latina First Person Narrative: The Effects of Language Standardization and Subordination
For a phenomenon that was considered not to exist by the leading expert in bilingualism less than fifty years ago, code-switching has come a long way, baby.2 Actually, it is not the practice of codeswitching, but rather its study, which has flourished over the past quarter of a century. Previously considered a kind of deviant linguistic behavior which indicated a speaker's inability to separate the two languages at her or his disposal, linguists now recognize codeswitching as a functional linguistic behavior which demonstrates the speaker's ability to manipulate the grammar and lexicon of two languages at the same time. John Lipski finds that "[T]here is a certain justice to be found in the fact that the language behavior of a group for so long considered linguistically deficient is now proving to be the most fertile territory for the investigation of all levels of bilingualism" (208). While the study of code-switching is remarkable in its interdisciplinarity, the two fields of literary criticism and socio-linguistics allow for a more thorough exploration of the landscape in which this Spanish-English literary language mixing takes place. This paper investigates the use of Spanish in predominantly English U.S. Latina narratives, focusing on factors which affect language choice (language proficiency and the social
Private language planning: The best of both worlds?
Un aspecto do bilinguismo infantil, que con frecuencia se pasa por alto, e o feito de que, en moitos casos, e o resultado dunha planificacion linguistica privada. Mais en concreto, os chamados "bilingues de elite" (parellas de clase media e con diferentes nacionalidades, emigrantes, intelectuais e membros do mundo universitario que educan os seus fillos nunha lingua foranea, etc.) meditan moito as suas decisions cando se refire a como educar os seus fillos de xeito bilingue, e como levalo a cabo. Este artigo revisa as investigacions en bilinguismo infantil que tratan a planificacion linguistica familiar. O nucleo do artigo trata de investigar as decisions que os pais toman nestes contextos, as ideoloxias que estan detras das decisions e as practicas das que participan, tal como asi o revelan os pais mesmos. Por ultimo, o texto centrase nos resultados conseguidos e na avaliacion destes resultados. Tales resultados suxiren que so unha moi pequena parte dos temas tratados nos discursos publicos (nas investigacions sobre o tema) penetran nos discursos privados (informes dos pais sobre a sua propia planificacion linguistica). En consecuencia, os pais actuan nun contexto social no que cada vez se valora mais o bilinguismo, pero a falta de entendemento da sociolinguistica do bilinguismo con moita frecuencia desilusionaos e encheos de dubidas
Breaking boundaries: Latina writing and critical readings
This is clearly one of those books that not only enhances established work on the field but also initiates new ground by being the first comprehensive effort in "literary criti cism where Latina writers of all these groups are considered simultaneously." The material in Breaking Boundaries is or ganized chronologically by group. The first section focuses on Chicana writing, since this was the first group to establish itself in the historical and literary scene. These writ ers are followed by Puerto Rican, Cuban and Latin Americans from other countries. Each section of the book opens with one of two "testimonios" written by selected writers which direct the attention of the reader to the biographical, experiential, socio historical, political and cultural aspects that inform their particular creative texts. These "testimonios" are then followed by critical essays on specific works, individual writers and/or ethnic group. Flanking this ordering we find an introductory article and a bibliog raphy as well as information on the contribu tors. Clearly the criteria for this book is to focus on established women writers such as Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, Nicholasa M?hr, Dolores Prida, Lourdes Casal and Margorie Agosin, as well as on lesser known ones and to provide a more natural connec tion between the writers conceptual realm and the analytical, evaluative tasks of critics. The editors of Breaking Boundaries envi sioned this text as a cooperative effort to encourage a better understanding of the nat ure of Latina Literary discourse. At the root of such a project lies the question of what specific aspects justify the studying of the various groups within the parameters of one single text. We need to ask if there is really so much in common. Although the editors do not claim that these groups form a ho mogenous body of writers, there is insis tence on the fact that the various groups actually share "socio-historical realities that unite them in literary and political issues." The editors discuss with sensitivity and a broad perspective some of those common factors that unite the various groups. In "At the Threshold of the Unnamed: Latina Lit erary Discourse in the Eighties," their intro ductory essay, the editors state that: "As all of these processes of historical, political, ar tistic, cultural, literary, and feminist con sciousness indicate, the Latina writer is a woman who, first and foremost, recognizes her historical context as a Latina in the U.S.