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
Beyond the comfort zone: Monolingual ideologies, bilingual U.S. Latino texts
xii, 206 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Through a Glass Darkly: Ethnic Semiosis in American Literature
Drawing on texts ranging from Chief Joseph's 1887 speech and Henry James' "The American Scene" to Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", this study pursues new paths of ethnic inquiry in the context of semiotics. The author focuses on the question: "Who can predict when the ethnic difference will surface and why?". He answers by approaching American literature with an awareness of the dynamic nature of ethnogenesis, an awareness that views literature not as a mere reflection of ethnically diverse "experiences", but as a productive force that may Americanize and ethnicize readers.