THE LINGUISTIC EXPERIENCE OF ITALIANS IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, 1890-1914: LANGUAGE SHIFT AS SEEN THROUGH SOCIAL SPACES

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.