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Chapter 1. Spatial reconfigurations of Spanish in postmodernity

The relationship to English and minoritized languages

Abstract

In this chapter, I propose four principal ways in which the Spanish language is being spatially reconfigured vis-à-vis English and local minoritized languages in postmodernity: (1) the ideological relocation of Spanish in the global ‘marketplace’ economy; (2) the propagation of English-influenced discursive patterns within the context of late capitalism, e.g., preference for familiar forms of pronominal address (tuteo) in commerce; (3) the incursion of English in public life and education, placing traditionally minoritized languages in sharper relief in the linguistic landscape; and (4) the normativization and normalization of Spanish in cyberspace and in global mass media, where English is hegemonic. I suggest that these ideological phenomena will condition structural and discursive variations in Spanish in the years ahead.

Abstract

In this chapter, I propose four principal ways in which the Spanish language is being spatially reconfigured vis-à-vis English and local minoritized languages in postmodernity: (1) the ideological relocation of Spanish in the global ‘marketplace’ economy; (2) the propagation of English-influenced discursive patterns within the context of late capitalism, e.g., preference for familiar forms of pronominal address (tuteo) in commerce; (3) the incursion of English in public life and education, placing traditionally minoritized languages in sharper relief in the linguistic landscape; and (4) the normativization and normalization of Spanish in cyberspace and in global mass media, where English is hegemonic. I suggest that these ideological phenomena will condition structural and discursive variations in Spanish in the years ahead.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Population migration and contact-induced language change
  5. Chapter 1. Spatial reconfigurations of Spanish in postmodernity 11
  6. Chapter 2. Female migration and its impact on language choice and use among Afro-Costa Rican women 35
  7. Chapter 3. Hard come, easy go 63
  8. Part II. Internal and external factors in pragmatic variation
  9. Chapter 4. Afro-Hispanic contact varieties at the syntax/pragmatics interface 85
  10. Chapter 5. Borrowed Spanish discourse markers in narrative 111
  11. Chapter 6. Hasta perder la última gota de mi sangre 127
  12. Chapter 7. Discourse markers in variation 153
  13. Part III. Morphosyntactic variation and change
  14. Chapter 8. Yo no le conocí a mi abuela 175
  15. Chapter 9. Attitudes toward morphosyntactic variation in the Spanish of Valencian speakers 199
  16. Chapter 10. Stable variation or change in progress? A sociolinguistic analysis of pa(ra) in the Spanish of Venezuela 223
  17. Part IV. Current issues in bilingual variation
  18. Chapter 11. El futuro es perifrástico 249
  19. Chapter 12. L2 Spanish in the U.S. and the question of motivation 279
  20. Chapter 13. Espero estén todos 299
  21. Index 335
Language Variation and Contact-Induced Change
This chapter is in the book Language Variation and Contact-Induced Change
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.340.02lyn

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Population migration and contact-induced language change
  5. Chapter 1. Spatial reconfigurations of Spanish in postmodernity 11
  6. Chapter 2. Female migration and its impact on language choice and use among Afro-Costa Rican women 35
  7. Chapter 3. Hard come, easy go 63
  8. Part II. Internal and external factors in pragmatic variation
  9. Chapter 4. Afro-Hispanic contact varieties at the syntax/pragmatics interface 85
  10. Chapter 5. Borrowed Spanish discourse markers in narrative 111
  11. Chapter 6. Hasta perder la última gota de mi sangre 127
  12. Chapter 7. Discourse markers in variation 153
  13. Part III. Morphosyntactic variation and change
  14. Chapter 8. Yo no le conocí a mi abuela 175
  15. Chapter 9. Attitudes toward morphosyntactic variation in the Spanish of Valencian speakers 199
  16. Chapter 10. Stable variation or change in progress? A sociolinguistic analysis of pa(ra) in the Spanish of Venezuela 223
  17. Part IV. Current issues in bilingual variation
  18. Chapter 11. El futuro es perifrástico 249
  19. Chapter 12. L2 Spanish in the U.S. and the question of motivation 279
  20. Chapter 13. Espero estén todos 299
  21. Index 335
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