Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This ethnographic study examines how Spanish is invoked in social settings and interactions by non-native Spanish-speakers in a coastal Southern California town. Utilizing LangCrit, an offshoot of Critical Race Theory, this study interrogates whiteness in order to understand Spanish as a racialized language in a process actively utilized by whites. Using ethnography, this study presents Spanish within the context of whiteness that is particular to this area. The findings reveal that Spanish is used in the racialization of Latin@s in the United States, while also being a symbol used by whites in order to minimalize the experiences of Latin@s, Spanish-speakers, and the immigrant community. As a consequence of this action, Spanish is appropriated and coerced by whites through the use of Mock Spanish. In response to the coercion of Spanish by whites within this context, this research also reveals how denying whites access to Spanish is a defensive measure taken by Spanish-speakers in order to challenge the imposing presence of whiteness.
Author: Aaron Fitz Fitzpatrick
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2584646120