Puerto Rican Discourse
eBook - ePub

Puerto Rican Discourse

A Sociolinguistic Study of A New York Suburb

Lourdes M. Torres

Share book
  1. 160 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Puerto Rican Discourse

A Sociolinguistic Study of A New York Suburb

Lourdes M. Torres

Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

Before conclusions about Spanish in the United States can be drawn, individual communities must be studied in their own contexts. That is the goal of Puerto Rican Discourse. One tendency of previous work on Spanish in the United States has been an eagerness to generalize the findings of isolated studies to all Latino communities, but the specific sociocultural contexts in which people -- and languages -- live often demand very different conclusions. The results of Torres' work indicate that the Spanish of Puerto Ricans living in Brentwood continues to survive in a restricted context. Across the population of Brentwood -- for Puerto Ricans of all ages and language proficiencies -- the Spanish language continues to assume an important practical, symbolic, and affective role. An examination of the structural features of 60 oral narratives -- narrative components and the verbal tenses associated with each, overall Spanish verb use, and clause complexity -- reveals little evidence of the simplification and loss across generations found in other studies of Spanish in the United States. English-dominant Puerto Ricans are able Spanish language narrators demonstrating a wide variety of storytelling skills. The structure of their oral narratives is as complete and rich as the narratives of Spanish-dominant speakers. The content of these oral narratives of personal experience is also explored. Too often in studies on U.S. Spanish, sociolinguists ignore the words of the community; the focus is usually on the grammatical aspects of language use and rarely on the message conveyed. In this study, oral narratives are analyzed as constructions of gendered and ethnically marked identities. The stories demonstrate the contradictory positions in which many Puerto Ricans find themselves in the United States. All of the speakers in this study have internalized, to a greater or lesser extent, dominant ideologies of gender, ethnicity, and language, at the same time that they struggle against such discourse. The analysis of the discourse of the community reveals how the status quo is both reproduced and resisted in the members' narratives, and how ideological forces work with other factors, such as attitudes, to influence the choices speakers make concerning language use. A special feature of this book is that transcripts are provided in both Spanish and English. This volume combines ethnographic, quantitative, and qualitative discourse methodologies to provide a comprehensive and novel analysis of language use and attitudes of the Brentwood Puerto Rican community. Its rich linguistic and ethnographic data will be of interest to researchers and teachers in cultural communication, ethnic (Hispanic-American) studies, sociolinguistics, and TESL.

Frequently asked questions

How do I cancel my subscription?
Simply head over to the account section in settings and click on “Cancel Subscription” - it’s as simple as that. After you cancel, your membership will stay active for the remainder of the time you’ve paid for. Learn more here.
Can/how do I download books?
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
What is the difference between the pricing plans?
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlego’s features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan you’ll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
What is Perlego?
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Do you support text-to-speech?
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Is Puerto Rican Discourse an online PDF/ePUB?
Yes, you can access Puerto Rican Discourse by Lourdes M. Torres in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & Communication Studies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
2013
ISBN
9781136687891

1
The Brentwood Puerto Rican Community

Introduction

For a 3-year period, from 1989 to 1991, I engaged in ethnographic research in Brentwood, participating in and observing public and private interactions in the Puerto Rican community. As a Puerto Rican woman who had lived in Brentwood, Long Island for a number of years as a teenager, I easily gained access to the community. I participated in Latino-focused social, cultural, and political events in the town. These activities afforded me formal and informal contact with the participants in the study and their family and friends. I engaged in the planning of educational, cultural, and political programs and also attended parties and other social affairs. Thus, I was able to observe community linguistic behavior in a variety of situations, ranging from informal family gatherings in homes to formal public meetings and political activities.
Whereas chapter 2 reviews the findings of an anonymous questionnaire on language use and attitudes distributed to over 300 community members, in this chapter I present my insights on the role of the Spanish language in the life of the community based on the ethnographic research in Brentwood with Puerto Ricans; also included are observations made by participants during our conversations. The combination of macro- and micromethodologies in these two chapters yields a complex and multifaceted perspective on language use in the community.

Puerto Ricans and Other Latinos in Long Island, NY

The migration of Puerto Ricans to the United States dates back to the mid-1800s and increased substantially when the United States invaded Puerto Rico in 1898. Since then there have been certain periods of intense migration, especially in the 1950s after World War II. Although the migration of Puerto Ricans to the New York City area, where most Puerto Ricans originally settled, has been studied extensively, and some attention has been directed to such other urban Puerto Rican communities as Philadelphia and Chicago, little is known of the Puerto Rican enclaves in other areas. According to the 1992 census, approximately 43% of all Latinos live in suburbia, and this number is dramatically increasing. This statistic alone underscores the importance of focusing on Latino populations in nonmetropolitan areas (Frey, 1993).
Suffolk County, Long Island has the largest Latino community in New York State outside New York City. According to census estimates, in suburban Long Island, from 1980 to 1990, the Hispanic population increased by 62%, growing from 101,975 to 165,238 persons. From 1980 to 1990 Suffolk County's Latino population grew 50% from 58,689 to 87,852. Community leaders claim that the increase is much larger than these figures suggest, because Latinos tend to be undercounted in the census.
The town of Brentwood, site of this study, has the largest Latino population in Suffolk County. According to the 1980 census, 22% of Brentwood's residents were of Hispanic origin, and 78% of that group self-identified as Puerto Rican. By 1990, 15,692 out of 45,218 persons—or 35%—of people in this community, self-identified as Hispanic. Puerto Ricans first settled in Brentwood during the 1930s, encouraged by the promise of inexpensive land, housing, and jobs in agriculture; at $150.00 an acre, many became land owners. Unlike other places where Latino immigration followed other migrants, Puerto Ricans were part of the original settling population in the 22-square mile radius known as Brentwood (Guanil, 1980). In the 1950s, a sizable influx of Puerto Ricans arrived in Brentwood to take jobs in the expanding industries (especially at Pilgrim State Hospital, an expansive state-run mental hospital, and Entenmann's Bakery, a large-scale plant). A lower-middle class and working-class community has continued to grow since then (Long Island Regional Planning Board, 1981). The 1970s again brought a large migration of Puerto Ricans to Brentwood, primarily from the New York City area. According to the 1980 census, approximately one fourth of the Hispanic families in Brentwood can be identified as middle class, whereas 75% are working class or fall below the federally defined poverty line. Whereas new Latino immigrants have changed the dynamics of the community in ways that I develop in forthcoming sections, Puerto Ricans continue to be the largest Latino subgroup in Brentwood.
Of all the immigrants that have made Brentwood their home, Latinos are the only group to establish a thriving ethnic enclave. Puerto Ricans dominate the Latino community in terms of numbers, history in the community, and presence in Latino organizations. Many social, political, and cultural organizations cater to Latino interests and needs, and the Latino community makes its presence felt via a number of highly visible activities. Every Sunday, hundreds of Latinos congregate in local fields to watch as players in a Latin American soccer league compete. Latino vendors work the area selling everything from food to Latino music tapes. Throughout the year local organizations, such as Adelante and the Brentwood Recreation Center, sponsor workshops for children and young adults in Latino dancing and other cultural activities. The second Sunday in June is Latin American Day in Brentwood; a Puerto Rican parade highlights this annual celebration.
The greatest concentration of Hispanics in Brentwood is located in an area known as El Barrio, named after the well-known Puerto Rican neighborhood in New York City. The main avenue that runs through this area is lined with Latino-owned restaurants, grocery stores, botĂĄnicas, barber shops, other businesses, and social clubs. When walking through the area one can always hear Latino music playing from many stores and Spanish spoken everywhere.
Since the 1980s, a large number of Latinos have arrived in Long Island from Central and South America, especially El Salvador, Guatemala, and Colombia; Dominicans from the Caribbean have also added to the rapidly increasing population. This new, often undocumented influx has brought approximately 50,000 to 100,000 persons to Long Island. Many have settled in Brentwood, adding an entirely new dimension to the Latino community.
A mostly poor and uneducated population, the latest Latino immigrants face tremendous obstacles in securing everything from medical care, to education, and to decent housing. Drawn to Long Island during the 1980s when the economy was booming, they responded to the need for unskilled labor. The restaurant business, as well as light industries and factories, have benefitted greatly from the arrival of a large labor force, composed of persons who, because of their dire circumstances, are cheaper to hire than other Long Islanders. Given their status as undocumented workers, they are often reluctant to participate in Puerto Rican-initiated and Puerto Rican-dominated civic and social organizations. Relations between the more established Puerto Rican community and the new Latino immigrants are sometimes strained. Although the social services set up to aid the Puerto Rican community have focused some of their efforts on the special needs of the new undocumented immigrants, mixed feelings abound about their presence in the community. Some Puerto Rican long-time factory workers who have been laid off feel that because business owners can pay undocumented workers less, and because these workers do not participate in union activities or attempts to unionize shops, they are preferred by employers.
Additionally, the housing situation of the recent immigrants draws the ire of some Puerto Ricans who have saved and slaved all their lives for a house in the suburbs. Now they witness absentee landlords in their neighborhoods renting houses or apartments to the newcomers, who sometimes must pool their resources and live together in large numbers in order to afford exorbitant rents. Many Brentwood residents are torn by a desire to help the immigrants and a concern about how their presence affects the property values of the community. One long-time home owner expresses sympathy for the newcomers at the same time that she voices concern for her neighborhood:
HabĂ­a una (casa) de como quince (personas) en una casa, le quitaron la luz, le quitaron el agua, y tĂș veĂ­as, ellos yendo hasta donde estĂĄ las pompas de agua con ollas en la cabeza, ir a buscar agua, y cosas asĂ­ afectan la comunidad hispana, especialmente si la comunidad hispana estĂĄ tratando de superarse, y en Brentwood hay muchos hispanos que adoran a Brentwood, que nunca piensan irse de ahĂ­ y se sienten ofendidos de que nunca van a poder prosperar como un pueblo hispano.
[There was a house with about fifteen people in the house, they turned off the electricity, they turned off the water, and you could see them going up to where the water hydrants are with pots of water on their heads, go to get water, and things like that affect the Hispanic community, especially if the Hispanic community is trying to better itself, and in Brentwood there are many Hispanics who love Brentwood, who never think about leaving and they feel offended because they will never be able to prosper as a Latino community.]
It remains to be seen whether the older and newer communities will eventually merge or grow apart. Although the population dynamics continue to change, most of the Latino organizations in Brentwood are still, as of 1995, predominantly run by Puerto Ricans, who also make up the vast majority of the membership. Some of the leaders of these groups believe that as jobs become scarce, new immigrants will leave Brentwood for New York City or other urban areas where they can find employment; but for now the most recent community members seem determined to make a life for themselves as best they can in Brentwood.

Language Use in Public Domains

Spanish is generally heard in the businesses and shops that line Fifth Avenue, the heart of the Latino commercial district in Brentwood. In the bodegas, restaurants, liquor stores, and jewelry stores, most of the employees and customers are Latinos, and Spanish, for the most part, is the language of commerce. Adults are always addressed in Spanish, although teenagers and children are spoken to in English by those employees who speak English. When I asked why they address young people in English, several employees indicated that often the young people are reluctant to converse in Spanish. One grocer remarked, "ellos entienden, yo sé que entienden, pero no lo quieren hablar y por eso yo les hablo en inglés." ["They understand it, I know that they understand but they don't want to speak it and that's why I speak to them in English."]
Latino men often congregate in front of the small shopping centers where conversations are frequently in Spanish with some code-mixing. The Latino adults are from many backgrounds: Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Central Americans. Women also converse outdoors, but usually in front of homes and often in the company of children. The older women tend to communicate in Spanish and code-mixing, whereas younger women speak English, or code-mix, and less often speak Spanish. Some of the young adults do not speak Spanish unless they are interacting with Spanish monolinguals.
Social service organizations, such as La UniĂłn HispĂĄnica, are other public places where Spanish is frequently heard. La UniĂłn HispĂĄnica is a large referral agency that services the community by helping Latinos find employment, affordable housing, legal aid, immigration assistance, English classes, prenatal care, and other services. The majority of the employees at La UniĂłn are Puerto Rican, and all are bilingual; most are English-dominant, and a small percentage is Spanish-dominant. The clients, on the other hand, are primarily Spanish monolingual or Spanish-dominant; among themselves and in their interactions with employees they speak Spanish. Young Puerto Ricans who are employed at social service agencies such as La UniĂłn explained to me that because of their work they experience a reactivation of Spanish language skills that they may have allowed to become passive. One 25-year-old woman commented:
Estoy mejorando mi español desde que empecé a trabajar aquí, es una de las cosas que mås me gusta de este trabajo. Personalmente, me gustaría hablar el español perfectamente.
[I am improving my Spanish since I began to work here, it is one of the things that I like best about this job. Personally, I would like to speak Spanish perfectly.]
Churches are another site where Spanish is often heard, particularly in the evangelical churches. A 1980 survey reported that 75% of all Latinos are affiliated with a church and 35% of these regularly attend services in Spanish (Rosenberg, 1981). In fact, church functions are the community activities most frequented by Latinos in Brentwood. Spanish-speaking churches are vibrant, busy places in the community. Although most of the participants in the churches are monolingual, first generation adults, the Spanish-speaking churches do make an effort to incorporate youngsters in their activities; they conduct many of these functions geared toward children in Spanish. Afew of the churches even have Spanish language classes for children and young adults. Thus, the church serves as an important site for Spanish language maintenance. This is not the case for the Catholic churches in Brentwood, which conduct masses exclusively in English. Although a few of the more progressive Catholic churches do provide some religious services in Spanish, it is the evangelical churches that specifically serve the Spanish-speaking population. Many of these are led by Latino (primarily Puerto Rican) ministers, who make an effort to reach out to Latinos by providing a wide range of programs in their language. In addition to holding religious services in Spanish, some provide child care, counselling services, immigration help, English classes, food distribution, and other services.
Compared to other public spaces, it was at activities sponsored by the evangelical churches where I most frequently heard interactions in Spanish, even among the children and young people. Although female church participants predominate, male participants are also centrally involved in church related activities. One 24-year-old Puerto Rican man explained to me that it was through his involvement with the church that he began to use Spanish again, after distancing himself from the language in his adolescence. He claimed that he was not unique; many of his friends also spoke Spanish more often once they became integrated in the church. This enthusiastic young man stated that his Spanish-speaking church was so attractive that even English speakers attended services there; bilingual Puerto Rican young people sit by them and translate for them, or else Anglos attend weekly programs where the church teachings are explained in English. When I asked him why English monolingual Americans would attend his church, he replied:
Bueno es bien claro porque, you know, yo estaba hablando con una muchacha que vino y se quiere quedar en el program de español, entonces yo le dije por quĂ©, por quĂ© tĂș no vas a una iglesia en inglĂ©s—no, no la tratan con el cariño que los puertorriqueño le tratan, so entonces hay un acercamiento entre loh latinos que no se encuentra en ningĂșn otro sitio.
[Well it is very clear why, you know, I was speaking with a girl who came and she wants to stay in the Spanish program, then I said why, why don't you go to an English church—they don't treat her with the kindness that the Puerto Ricans treat her with, so then there is a closeness among Latinos that one can't find in any other place.]
The church is thus a strong force in the Brentwood community and one of the institutions that actively supports the use and maintenance of Spanish. Many church leaders express the opinion that children and young people should learn about Latino culture and traditions and they feel the Spanish language is an important element in this endeavor.
In contrast, in the social and cultural public meetings of all the Latino organizations I observed, most business is conducted in English. In the meetings I attended and observed, an average of 90% of all the participants were Puerto Rican; interestingly, Spanish and code-mixing were heard only occasionally, in private conversations between individual members. Sometimes a "Buenas noches" initiates the meetings but then English predominates. Even Puerto Ricans who are obviously Spanishdominant speak exclusively in English when addressing the entire group. These persons tend to speak Spanish among themselves, but always accommodate English speakers who join their conversation. I asked a Spanish-dominant woman at a political event why all the speakers who were Puerto Rican were addressing the entirely Puerto Rican audience in English. She responded, "Es que aunque la mayoría de la gente habla españnol, hay algunos que no lo entienden bien, y por cortesía se tiende a hablar en inglés. Pero creo que también deberíamos hablar mås en español" ["It is that although the majority of the people speak Spanish, there are a few that don't understand it well and we tend to speak English out of courtesy. But I think also that we should speak Spanish more."] It seems clear that English is the implicitly agreed on language of official business in formal public places.

Latino/Latina Language-Related Community Activism

Brentwood is home to many Latino/Latina political organizations such as Long Island Hispanic Forum, a chapter of the National Congress of Puerto Rican Women, Hispanic Outreach Committee, and organizations designed to provide services to the Latino community, such as La Union Hispanica, Los Latinos de Long Island, and Adelante. For many years, Latino organizers have run Hispanic candidates in local elections. When the traditional Democratic and Republican parties have refused to sponsor particular Latino candidates, talk of initiating a Latino Political Party has emerged. However, few Hispanics have won political office on Long Island. A Puerto Rican woman who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Town Supervisor was later appointed head of the Human Rights Commission. Other Latino politicians continue to make a difference for the Latino community through their involvement in Long Island politics at the grassroots level.
In recent years, Brentwood has faced two important situations that have focused attention on language rights. The controversies surrounding bilingual education and the introduction of an English Only Bill served to inspire Puerto Rican political activity at many levels. The Latino community was divided in its analysis of these que...

Table of contents