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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DigitalCommons@Florida International University Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 11-13-2015 The Linguistic Market of Codeswitching in U.S. Latino Literature Marilyn Zeledon Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FIDC000191 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Ethnic Studies Commons, Latina/o Studies Commons, and the Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons Recommended Citation Zeledon, Marilyn, "The Linguistic Market of Codeswitching in U.S. Latino Literature" (2015). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2295. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2295 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida THE LINGUISTIC MARKET OF CODESWITCHING IN U.S. LATINO LITERATURE A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in SPANISH by Marilyn Zeledón 2015 To: Dean John Stack School of International and Public Affairs This dissertation, written by Marilyn Zeledón, and entitled The Linguistic Market of Codeswitching in U.S. Latino Literature, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Asunción Gómez _______________________________________ Phillip Carter _______________________________________ Melissa Baralt, Co-Major Professor _______________________________________ Erik Camayd-Freixas, Co-Major Professor Date of Defense: November 13, 2015 The dissertation of Marilyn Zeledón is approved. _______________________________________ Dean John Stack School of International and Public Affairs _______________________________________ Dean Lakshmi N. Reddi University Graduate School Florida International University, 2015 ii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my husband Diego for his constant words of support and encouragement. Thank you for your patience. I couldn’t have done it without you. I also dedicate this thesis to my children Álvaro and Juan Diego; you were the source of my inspiration. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to thank the members of my committee for their continued guidance during this project. I am particularly grateful to my Major Professor for his firm direction and for his confidence in my ability to complete this project. I am also very grateful to all the members of the Department of Modern Languages for their support, and for the opportunity to develop and teach courses as a Teaching Assistant. iv ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION THE LINGUISTIC MARKET OF CODESWITCHING IN U.S. LATINO LITERATURE By Marilyn Zeledón Florida International University, 2015 Miami, Florida Professor Erik Camayd-Freixas, Co-Major Professor Professor Melissa Baralt, Co-Major Professor This dissertation is a multidisciplinary study that brings together the fields of literature, sociolinguistics, and cultural studies in order to understand the motivation and meaning of English-Spanish codeswitching or language alternation in Latino literature produced in the United States. Codeswitching was first introduced in Latino literature around the time of the Chicano Movement in the 1970s and has been used as a distinctive feature of Latino literary works to this day. By doing a close linguistic analysis of narratives by four different authors belonging to the largest Latino communities in the country (Chicano, Puerto Ricans, Dominican Americans, and Cuban Americans), this study examines whether codeswitching is used as a mere decorative element to add ethnic flavor, performs a mimetic role of oral codeswitching, or responds to a political strategy. To reach representative conclusions, the political, social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds of each community are studied in order to establish commonalities or differences in the experiences of these immigrant communities in the United States and how these experiences inform their writing. Considering the negative views held by v speakers of both English and Spanish regarding the use of oral codeswitching, the need to study its use in literature is compelling. To that end, I have adopted social, and sociolinguistic theories to identify whether codeswitching operates as linguistic and symbolic capital in Latino literature, which authors may profit from to advance a Latino agenda. This work concludes that how codeswitching is used in Latino literature and the goals it ultimately achieves—if any—hinge on the positioning of the authors vis-à-vis hegemonic English monolingualism and their own experience as members of the Latino community to which they belong. Thus, the role of codeswitching may indeed be solely ornamental or ethnic or it may be a political one; that of expanding the space in which Latinos are allowed to operate. The narratives studied include Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima (1972), Esmeralda Santiago’s When I was Puerto Rican (1993), Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban (1992), and Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007). vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 1. CHICANOS: LEADING THE WAY ............................................................................28 1.1. INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................28 1.2. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF CHICANO LITERATURE.. .....................29 1.3. MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS, MEXICAN AMERICANS, AND CHICANOS ....................................................................................................33 1.4. THE CHICANO RENAISSANCE .................................................................36 1.5. CHICANO LITERATURE AS A POLITICAL ARM OF EL MOVIMIENTO .........................................................................................39 1.6. BLESS ME ULTIMA AND ITS PUBLICATION BY QUINTO SOL .........42 1.7. SUMMARY AND THEMES OF BLESS ME ULTIMA ..............................44 1.8. CODESWITCHING IN BLESS ME ULTIMA .............................................47 1.9. TYPOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION OF CODESWITCHING IN BLESS ME ULTIMA .....................................................................................51 1.10. CODESWITCHING AS A LITERARY DEVICE IN BLESS ME ULTIMA .......................................................................................................54 1.11. CODESWITCHING AS AN ELEMENT OF POWER IN BLESS ME ULTIMA .......................................................................................................61 1.12. PARTIAL FINDINGS ..................................................................................67 2. NUYORICANS: NEITHER HERE NOR THERE .......................................................70 2.1. INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................70 2.2. PUERTO RICANS, BORICUAS, NUYORICANS: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................72 2.3. THE LANGUAGE OF NEW YORK PUERTO RICANS .............................79 2.4. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF NUYORICAN LITERATURE ..................83 2.5. CODESWITCHING IN NUYORICAN LITERATURE ...............................88 2.6. WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN: SUMMARY AND THEMES .................91 2.7. CODESWITCHING IN WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN ...........................96 2.8. TYPOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION OF CODESWITCHING IN WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN .................................................................104 2.9. CODESWITCHING AS A LITERARY DEVICE IN WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN..........................................................................................106 2.10. PARTIAL FINDINGS ................................................................................109 3. THE CUBAN CONDITION: IMMIGRATION OR EXILE.......................................114 3.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................114 3.2. EXILE, DIASPORA, OR IMMIGRATION? ...............................................116 3.3. THE LANGUAGE OF CUBAN AMERICANS ..........................................122 3.4. CUBAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE ........................................................126 vii 3.5. CODESWITCHING IN CUBAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE .................133 3.6. SUMMARY AND THEMES OF DREAMING IN CUBAN ......................137 3.7. CODESWITCHING IN DREAMING IN CUBAN .....................................141 3.8. TYPOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION OF CODESWITCHING IN DREAMING IN CUBAN .............................................................................149 3.9. PARTIAL FINDINGS ..................................................................................151 4. DOMINICAN AMERICANS: UN PIE AQUÍ Y EL OTRO ALLÁ .........................156 4.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................156 4.2. IMMIGRATION OF DOMINICANS TO THE UNITED STATES ...........158

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