Mock Spanish

Mock Spanish

Mock Spanish is a term sometimes used to describe a variety of usages common in some otherwise monolingual Anglo-American circles. The term has been popularized by anthropologist-linguist Jane H. Hill of the University of Arizona, most recognizably in relation to the catchphrase, "Hasta la vista, baby", from the film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day[1]. Hill argues that the incorporation of pseudo-Spanish terms like "hasty banana" (for hasta mañana), "buenos nachos" (for buenas noches), "el cheapo", "no problemo", "hasta la bye-bye", and other humorous uses constitute a type of covert racism.[2]

Hill found that Mock Spanish was especially prevalent "among middle- and upper-income, college-educated whites".[2] She discovered that many of those who make use of Mock Spanish in their casual speech consider it harmless or even flattering, while native Spanish speakers are likely to find it insulting. She presented an argument that Mock Spanish depends on the covert indexing of negative stereotypes of Spanish speakers, and that it can only be accurately interpreted if negative stereotypes about Hispanophones can be accessed.[3]

In José, can you see?, Ana Celia Zentella describes mock Spanish as one half of a double-standard in which Hispanics are expected to conform to the linguistic norms of English while Anglo-Americans are free to ignore all grammatical aspects of the Spanish language they are borrowing from. According to Zentella, "Latin@s are visibly constrained by rigid norms of linguistic purity, but white linguistic disorder goes unchallenged; in fact, white linguistic disorder is essential to a congenial persona, and passes as multicultural 'with-it-ness.'"[4]

Hill contrasts mock Spanish with two other registers of "Anglo Spanish" that she refers to as "Nouvelle Spanish" (largely used to provide a Spanish flavor for marketing purposes, e.g. "the land of mañana" used to describe the Southwest, or "Hair Casa" as the name of a beauty salon) and "Cowboy Spanish" (loanwords for region-specific objects and concepts, such as coyote, mesa, and tamale).[2]

References

Portal icon Latino and Hispanic American portal
  1. ^ Hill, Jane H. (1993). "Hasta La Vista, Baby: Anglo Spanish in the American Southwest". Critique of Anthropology, 13(2):145-176.
  2. ^ a b c Hill, Jane H. (1995-10-09). "Mock Spanish: A Site For The Indexical Reproduction Of Racism In American English". Language & Culture, Symposium 2. http://language-culture.binghamton.edu/symposia/2/part1/index.html. Retrieved 2008-11-11. 
  3. ^ http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~patrickp/aavesem/aave.sum/Hill95.html
  4. ^ Zentella, Ana Celia (2003). "'José can you see': Latin@ responses to racist discourse". In Doris Sommer. Bilingual Games. New York: Palgrave Press. ISBN 978-1403960122. http://www.ethnicstudies.ucsd.edu/faculty/zentella_article1.pdf. 

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mock auction — A Mock auction is a scam usually operated in a street market, disposal sale or similar environment, where cheap and low quality goods are sold at high prices by a team of confidence tricksters. In 19th Century New York, mock auctions revolved… …   Wikipedia

  • Spanish profanity — Joder redirects here. For the community in Nebraska, see Joder, Nebraska. This article is a summary of Spanish profanity, referred to in the Spanish language as lenguaje soez (low language), maldiciones (curse words), malas palabras (bad words),… …   Wikipedia

  • Vanessa Mock — is a German radio journalist currently working as a Brussels correspondent for Radio Netherlands. She is the author of highly acclaimed radio stories such as the EU condom regulation story.She was born Vanessa Dunya Chaieb in Marly la Ville in… …   Wikipedia

  • The Water of Life (Spanish fairy tale) — The Water of Life is a Catalan fairy tale collected by D. Francisco de S. Maspous y Labros, in Cuentos Populars Catalans . Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book . [Andrew Lang, The Pink Fairy Book ,… …   Wikipedia

  • ham|mock — ham|mock1 «HAM uhk», noun. a hanging bed or couch made of canvas or netted cord. It has cords or ropes at each end for hanging it between uprights, such as two trees or posts. ╂[earlier hamaca < Spanish < Arawak (West Indies) hamaka,… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Hispanophobia — (from Latin Hispanicus , Spanish + Greek + φοβία ( phobia ), fear ) is extreme or irrational fear, aversion, or discrimination regarding Hispanic persons. As a historical phenomenon it is considered to have had three main stages, originating in… …   Wikipedia

  • Maquinna — For the underwater mud volcano, see Maquinna (volcano). Chief Maquinna, Mowachaht Chief Maquinna (also transliterated Muquinna, Macuina, Maquilla) was the chief of the Nuu chah nulth people of Nootka Sound, during the heyday of the maritime fur… …   Wikipedia

  • No problemo — is a slang expression used in North American English to indicate that a given situation does not pose a problem. It has roughly the same meaning as the expression no problem, but is rarely heard as a response to I m sorry. The expression is… …   Wikipedia

  • Chinook Jargon — chinuk wawa, wawa, chinook lelang, lelang Spoken in Canada, United States Region Pacific Northwest (Interior and Coast) Native speakers – Language fami …   Wikipedia

  • Kaiju Big Battel — Big Battel sticker on Houston in New York City …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”