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The Linguistic Experience of Italians in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1890-1914: Language Shift As Seen Through Social Spaces ______

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The Linguistic Experience of Italians in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1890-1914: Language Shift As Seen Through Social Spaces ______ THE LINGUISTIC EXPERIENCE OF ITALIANS IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, 1890-1914: LANGUAGE SHIFT AS SEEN THROUGH SOCIAL SPACES ________________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board ________________________________________________________________________ in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ________________________________________________________________________ by Maria Italiano-McGreevy January 2013 Examining Committee Members: Augusto Lorenzino, Dissertation Advisor, Spanish and Portuguese Jonathan Holmquist, Examination Committee Chair, Spanish and Portuguese Paul Toth, Internal Reader, Spanish and Portuguese Gabriella Romani, External Reader, Italian Studies, Seton Hall University ! ABSTRACT From 1890-1914, Argentina received a large influx of Italian immigrants who wanted to “hacer la América”, or live the American dream of economic prosperity. With Italian immigrants representing nearly half of all immigrants entering Argentina, the government strived to create a new sense of Argentine pride and nationalism. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate and analyze the linguistic experience of Italian immigrants in Buenos Aires, Argentina, applying Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social space and linguistic markets, and contact language theories to explain the attrition and shift of the Italian language. This study identifies three relevant social spaces that contributed to the linguistic experience of Italian immigrants in Buenos Aires: 1). conventillos or immigrant housing 2.) school community, and 3.) mutual aid societies. Within each social space thrived a linguistic market which language played a key role in the way people interacted and identified with each other. First, the conventillos were part of an alternative linguistic market in which cocoliche, a transitional language, thrived as a way for Italians to communicate with immigrants from different countries. Second, the school community formed part of the legitimate linguistic market because education was mandated by the government. Third, the mutual aid societies formed part of the alternative linguistic market that not only helped immigrants adjust to their new home, but it also fostered a sense of common identity by renewing their traditional ties to their home country in ! ""! ! addition to teaching standardized Italian to Italian immigrants who often spoke their own regional dialects. A comparison of the three social spaces and the role that the linguistic markets play in each of them shows that all three spaces, whether legitimate or alternative linguistic markets, were integral in the linguistic experience of the Italian immigrants and important factors in the attrition and shift of Italian to Spanish. !"""! ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to Dr. Augusto Lorenzino for his endless patience and encouragement throughout this project. His guidance and persistence were crucial in the completion of this project and I would not have come this far if it weren’t for his unwavering support. I would like to thank the committee members, Dr. Jonathan Holmquist, Dr. Paul Toth, and Dr. Grabiella Romani, for their spot on comments that helped me create a final dissertation that I am proud of calling mine. Thank you to my family. Grazie to my parents, Salvatore and Elena, who never stopped believing in me. To my husband, Cieran, for understanding how important this is to me. And to my children, Ciaran, Salvatore, and Brigid, there are no limits to what you can accomplish. To all of you who have believed in me, a big thank you! Lastly, I dedicate this dissertation to my Nonna, Maria Culmone, who will always continue to be a source of inspiration for me. You are missed. !"#! ! TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii PREFACE ………………………………………………………………………………. ix INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………....... xi CHAPTER 1. LANGUAGE CONTACT IN BUENOS AIRES. ........................................................... 1 Language Shift. ........................................................................................................ 2 Impact of Language Interference ............................................................................. 7 Types of Language Interference .............................................................................. 9 Speech Communities ............................................................................................. 13 Concluding Remarks.... ......................................................................................... 14 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................. 16 Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Habitus .................................................................... 17 Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Social Spaces ........................................................... 19 Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Social Capital .......................................................... 37 Immigration ........................................................................................................... 40 Assimilation of the Italian Immigrant ................................................................... 44 Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................. 46 ! #! ! 3. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 48 Census Information ............................................................................................... 49 Social Space1: Los Conventillos ............................................................................ 58 Social Space2: School Communities ..................................................................... 64 Social Space3: Mutual Aid Societies ..................................................................... 72 Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................. 75 4. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................ 77 Social Space1: Conventillos ................................................................................... 78 Cocoliche .......................................................................................................... 79 Bourdieu and the Conventillos ......................................................................... 87 Concluding Remarks on Social Space1 ........................................................................................... 93 Social Space2: Education ....................................................................................... 93 Law 1420 .......................................................................................................... 95 El Monitor de la Educación Común ................................................................. 98 Concluding Remarks on Social Space2 ........................................................................................ 100 Social Space3: Mutual Aid Societies ................................................................... 101 Role of Newspapers in Mutual Aid Societies ................................................ 107 Concluding Remarks ........................................................................................... 108 5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 111 Summary .............................................................................................................. 111 Future Studies ...................................................................................................... 115 REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................... 119 !#"! ! LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1 Typical Conventillo ............................................................................... 25 Figure 2 Regional Map of Italy ........................................................................... 43 Figure 3 1887 Census of Buenos Aires ............................................................... 50 Figure 4 National Censuses of 1869 and 1895 .................................................... 51 !#""! ! LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1Italian Immigration to Argentina, 1861-1920 ........................................... 6 Table 2 Comparing Residents of 300 Block of Calle Perú ................................. 27 Table 3 Italian Immigration to Argentina, 1876-1915: Leading Regions of origin by Decade (Regions with 5 Percent or More of Total Immigration) ........ 42 Table 4 Nationality of Teachers and Aides According to the Census of 1895 ..................................................................................................................... 52 Table 5 Illiteracy in Buenos Aires According to the Censuses of 1869
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