Code-Switching, Code-Mixing And Radical Bilingualism In U.s. Latino Texts

Abstract

My dissertation, Code-switching, Code-mixing and Radical Bilingualism in U.S. Latino texts investigates the nature and significance of Spanish-English code-switching in U.S. Latino texts. I analyze fiction, creative non-fiction, journalistic texts, songs, and social media messages and I carry out a grammatical and sociolinguistic analyses of these texts. Although many of these texts would fall into Torres’ (2007) Radical Bilingualism category, I point out that there are in fact different ways in which a text can be radically bilingual and I show that some of these texts are approaching Auer’s (1999) notion of a fused lect. From a sociolinguistic point of view I consider the local and global functions of code-switching and investigate if it is becoming the unmarked code even in writing among U.S. Latinos. The analyses of the texts and the information gathered through interviews with some of the authors of the texts suggest that code-switching is not perceived as a sign of linguistic incompetence, but as an important part of Latinos’ linguistic and cultural identity.

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