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Koreans in Paraguay: language, identity and (re)migration

  • Jinny Choi EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: February 14, 2022
International Journal of the Sociology of Language
From the journal International Journal of the Sociology of Language Volume 2022 Issue 274

Abstract

This article focuses on the concept of globalization and its effect on linguistic and cultural identities. Modern migration patterns related to globalization generally provide migrants with increased access to resources, while at the same time placing them in a multiplicity of sociocultural encounters within numerous and diverse linguistic contexts. In this article, I turn to the concept of superdiversity to analyze the Korean community’s transformation from a traditional and homogeneous generation to one that is characterized by transnational mobility; economic fluidity, both local and global; issues of multiple linguistic and ethnic belongingness; and dynamic social connections in Paraguay. I also demonstrate that identity construction of contemporary migrants is a unique and complex process that emerges from individualized experiences.

Keywords: English; Korean; Paraguay; Spanish; superdiversity; transnationalism
Corresponding author: Jinny Choi, University of Texas, Arlington, TX, USA, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the Korean community in Paraguay, especially the participants in the study for their time and generous sharing of their personal experiences and views. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to the editor of the journal and two anonymous reviewers who graciously took time to provide their suggestions on the earlier version of the manuscript. This paper is much improved because of their constructive comments. All remaining errors, of course, are my own.

Appendix A

Informants

Informants’ initials Generation Age Languages (N=native; H=heritage)
1. JSC 1 64 Korean=N; Spanish
2. IL 1 56 Korean=N; Spanish
3. JSN 1 70 Korean=N; Spanish
4. KYP 1 68 Korean=N; Spanish
5. KYC 1 78 Korean=N; Spanish
6. YHK 1 72 Korean=N; Spanish
7. JSC 1 64 Korean=N; Spanish
8. KYC 1 75 Korean=N; Spanish
9. KHK 1 70 Korean=N; Spanish
10. MRW 1 71 Korean=N; Spanish
11. MSW 1 65 Korean=N; Spanish
12. SSM 1 67 Korean=N; Spanish
13. SL 1.5 40 Korean=N; Spanish
14. AL 1.5 37 Korean=N; Spanish
15. HRK 1.5 47 Korean=N; Spanish
16. SSY 1.5 29 Korean=H; Spanish=N; English
17. HSL 1.5 44 Korean=N; Spanish
18. JHY 1.5 42 Korean=N; Spanish; Portuguese; English
19. JSK 1.5 42 Korean=N; Spanish
20. KYC 1.5 44 Korean=N; Spanish; English; Portuguese
21. MSK 1.5 44 Korean=N; Spanish
22. HSL 1.5 49 Korean=N; Spanish
23. JAK 1.5 42 Korean=N; Spanish; English
24. JSK 1.5 39 Korean=N; Spanish; English
25. SHL 1.5 50 Korean=N; Spanish; Portuguese
26. ABL 1.5 41 Korean=N; Spanish=N; English
27. JK 1.5 53 Korean=N; Spanish
28. AL 1.5 40 Korean=N; Spanish; English
29. SL 1.5 55 Korean=N; Spanish
30. BL 2 20 Korean=H; Spanish=N; English
31. AL 2 22 Korean=H; Spanish=N; English
32. BYL 2 20 Korean=H; Spanish=N; English
33. AHK 2 24 Korean=N; Spanish; English
34. ASK 2 20 Korean=H; Spanish=N; English
35. HJL 2 35 Korean=N; Spanish=N
36. CSP 2 27 Korean=N; Spanish; English
37. ASK 2 29 Korean=H; Spanish=N

Appendix B

Interview questions:

  1. What languages do you speak? Korean, Spanish, Guarani? Do you speak any other languages? How fluent are you in _____________?

  2. Do you think it’s important to speak and maintain Korean, and why? If you have children, do you want your children to speak Korean? Why/why not?

  3. Do you think it’s important to speak and maintain Spanish, and why? If you have children, do you want your children to speak Spanish? Why/why not?

  4. Do you think it’s important to speak and maintain Guarani, and why? If you have children, do you want your children to speak Guarani? Why/why not?

  5. Do you think it’s important to maintain Korean heritage, and why or why not? Do you consider yourself Korean, Paraguayan or Korean-Paraguayan? What does it mean to be Korean to you? What does it mean to be Paraguayan to you?

  6. Where were you born? Or how old were you when you moved to Paraguay? What was your experience of growing up in Paraguay? What’s your experience of being a Korean descendant in Paraguay?

  7. What was your family’s immigration story? What was the reason why your family came to Paraguay?

  8. Where did you go to school? What do you think about the educational system in Paraguay? How about education in Korea? What opinion do you have about education in other countries?

  9. Do you work? Where do you work? What’s the current economic situation in Paraguay?

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Received: 2020-11-02
Accepted: 2021-10-26
Published Online: 2022-02-14
Published in Print: 2022-03-28

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2020-0115
Keywords for this article
English; Korean; Paraguay; Spanish; superdiversity; transnationalism

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. What is “Language Making”?
  3. Scholars and their metaphors: on Language Making in linguistics
  4. Language Making of Creoles in multilingual postcolonial societies
  5. New speakers and Language Making: conscious creation of a colloquial Basque register in the city of Bilbao
  6. Teachers as foreign Language Makers: on standard language ideology, authenticity and language expertise
  7. Translating into an endangered language: filling in lexical gaps as Language Making
  8. Varia
  9. Koreans in Paraguay: language, identity and (re)migration
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