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UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles the Mexican Diaspora UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles The Mexican diaspora: On constructing and negotiating mexicanidad in Mexico City A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages & Literatures by Armando Guerrero Jr. 2018 © Copyright by Armando Guerrero Jr. 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Mexican diaspora: On constructing and negotiating mexicanidad in Mexico City by Armando Guerrero Jr. Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages & Literatures University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor Antonio C. Quícoli, Chair The ethnic identity of Mexicans in the diaspora is starkly at odds with the identity ascribed to them in Mexico. In Mexico, nationality plays a central role in construction of a mexicanidad, or a Mexican ethnic identity; while in the United States, mexicanidad is constructed and negotiated on a continuum of ethnic authenticity. In the current study, I first set out to describe the typology of a speech community of heritage speakers temporarily living in Mexico City by analyzing their social recognition of non-standard linguistic variables. I supplement the quantitative data with participant observations; these shed light on the relevant linguistic resources speakers use to navigate totalizing ascriptions of identity. I elicited data with a social recognition questionnaire, sociolinguistic interview and careful participant observations. The participant pool includes eighteen second generation Spanish heritage speakers who enrolled in an education abroad program at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México !ii (UNAM) through the University of California. I categorized participants’ evaluations of non- standard variables into three nested fields, as described in Santa Ana & Parodi (1998). The field notes of my observations were collected throughout six-month. The results demonstrate a unique typology among the select speech community, which contrasts the evaluative behavior of Mexican Spanish monolingual speakers. The observations illustrate the unique linguistic resources that become available to speakers for navigating the social landscape and to effectively perform mexicanidad through the variable use of linguistic style. Interestingly, among the stylistic resources are the non-standard variables characteristic of their variety of Spanish. The findings show that variables with a tendency to stereotype speakers are repurposed by heritage speakers, who value the variables in the stylistic practice of performing and reaffirming a Mexican ethnic identity, or mexicanidad. !iii The dissertation of Armando Guerrero Jr. is approved. Ji Young Kim Héctor V. Calderón Adriana J. Bergero Antonio C. Quícoli, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2018 !iv DEDICATION Dedico mi trabajo de tesis doctoral A mi mamá y a mis hermanas, Erika y Marele— por siempre alimentar mi curiosidad y nunca dejar de tener fe en mí & A Jesús Muñoz Estrada— por tu amor indefectible y por enseñarme cómo ser una mejor persona te amo, te pienso ¡A México, y a la diáspora que no se raja! Con mucho cariño, Armando !v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures ................................................................................................................x List of tables ...............................................................................................................xiii Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................xiv Vita .............................................................................................................................xvi Chapter 1 | Introduction ................................................................................................1 1.1. Research questions ...............................................................................................................................5 1.2. Dissertation outline ..............................................................................................................................8 Chapter 2 | Literature Review ......................................................................................11 2.1. Theoretical background .....................................................................................................................12 2.1.1. Language & dialect contact ...........................................................................................................14 2.1.2. Speech community & indexical order .............................................................................................24 2.1.3. Stylistic practice .............................................................................................................................31 2.2. The social context of Spanish ..........................................................................................................34 2.2.1. Spanish in the United States .........................................................................................................34 2.2.2. Spanish in Los Angeles ................................................................................................................38 2.3. The intersection of Spanish & relevant social variables ..............................................................43 2.3.1. Spanish & heritage speakers .........................................................................................................44 2.3.2. Spanish & Latina/o identity .......................................................................................................47 !vi Chapter 3 | Methodology ............................................................................................53 3.1. Participants ..........................................................................................................................................54 3.1.1. Sample selection criteria .................................................................................................................54 3.1.2. Recruitment ...................................................................................................................................56 3.2. Procedures ...........................................................................................................................................57 3.2.1. Sociolinguistic interview .................................................................................................................59 3.2.2. Social recognition questionnaire: Non-standard Spanish variables ..................................................61 3.2.3. Ethnography: Language & ethnic identity .....................................................................................66 3.3. The sites ...............................................................................................................................................67 3.3.1. Sociolinguistic interview & questionnaire .......................................................................................67 3.3.2. Participant observations .................................................................................................................68 Chapter 4 | Social recognition of non-standard Spanish ............................................69 4.1. The typology of a speech community: Heritage speakers in Mexico City ................................72 4.1.1. Rural and popular Spanish ...........................................................................................................73 4.1.2. Mexican Spanish colloquialisms ....................................................................................................75 4.1.3. English loanwords in United States Spanish .................................................................................78 4.2. Heritage speakers in Los Angeles & Mexico City .........................................................................80 4.2.1. Social recognition of non-standard Spanish: Mexico City & Los Angeles .....................................80 4.3. The influence of Mexico City on heritage speakers: Arrival & departure ................................83 4.3.1. Rural and popular Spanish ...........................................................................................................84 4.3.2. Mexican Spanish colloquialisms ....................................................................................................86 4.3.3. English loanwords in United States Spanish .................................................................................89 4.4. Discussion ...........................................................................................................................................92 !vii 4.4.1. The typology of a speech community: Heritage speakers in Mexico City .........................................93 4.4.2. Heritage speakers in Los Angeles & Mexico City ........................................................................98 4.4.3. Arrival & departure: A comparison .............................................................................................99 Chapter 5 | Language & ethnic identity ....................................................................102 5.1. The Mexican community in the United States ............................................................................104 5.1.1. The diaspora in the United States: Demographics, cultural expression, and socioeconomic status ...107 5.1.2. Latina/o in the diaspora & ethnic identity .................................................................................119
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