Modern Literature Commons^™

Southern Encounters In The City: Reconfiguring The South From The Liminal Space, Eveljn Ferraro

Modern Languages & Literature

In Il pensiero meridiano, sociologist Franco Cassano claims that the cultural autonomy of the South hinges upon a radical redefinition of the relationship between South and North. Dominant representations of the South as a “not-yet North”1 (Cassano viii), always imperfectly mimicking a more advanced North, found themselves on the idea of a linear transition from backwardness to development where the differences are often reduced to a matter of time. If Gramsci, in The Southern Question, deconstructed the Italian North/South binarism by suggesting potential alliances among non-dominant groups (namely, Northern workers and Southern peasants), Cassano proposes a spatial rethinking of the …

U.S. Latinos’ Use Of Written Spanish: Realities And Aspirations, Laura Callahan

Modern Languages & Literature

This paper reports on an investigation of writing in Spanish in the lives of U.S. Latinos. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with informants recruited from among students and former students of high school and college Spanish courses. The interviews were transcribed and coded for concepts and emergent themes (Rubin & Rubin, 2005; Bogdan & Biklen, 1992). Some themes that emerged relate to what U.S. Latinos do with written Spanish and what they would like to be able to do; other themes include classroom experiences, extra-academic avenues of acquisition, the social position of varieties of Spanish, language maintenance, and intergenerational loss. …

Carlos Fuente's "The Two Shores": Between Counterfactualism And Cultural Allegory, Alberto Ribas-Casasayas

Modern Languages & Literature

A literary criticism of the short story "The Two Shores," which appeared in the 1992 book "The Orange Tree," by Carlos Fuentes. The plot and characters of the story are described, particularly the narrator, Jerónimo de Aguilar, a dead man who was held captive by the Mayans. The story is a contribution to the reconsideration of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, particularly Mexico. The idea that the story may present a counterfactual historiography, an idea created by critic Niall Ferguson, is considered.

El Uso Del Acento Ortográfico En El Español De Los Estados Unidos, América Latina Y España: Normas Periodísticas, Laura Callahan

Modern Languages & Literature

El acento ortográfico es uno de los aspectos del español escrito más difíciles de dominar para los hablantes nativos y los hablantes del español como lengua de herencia. Si bien algunos acentos ortográficos sirven para distinguir persona y tiempo verbal, y para diferenciar homógrafos, el acento escrito tiene una carga funcional relativamente baja. Sin embargo, la colocación incorrecta del acento estigmatiza al escritor, quien puede ser juzgado como menos inteligente que la persona cuya escritura muestre un dominio perfecto de aspectos mecánicos. Tales escritores reciben calificaciones más bajas en asignaturas universitarias, y los textos que producen resultan menos competitivos en …

Spanish/English Codeswitching In Service Encounters: Accommodation To The Customer's Language Choice And Perceived Linguistic Affiliation, Laura Callahan

Modern Languages & Literature

This paper reports on data collected in service encounters in New York and California. Assuming the role of customer, fieldworkers visited businesses and addressed service workers in Spanish. In the majority of 715 encounters, accommodation to the customer's language choice came at the first turn. That is, in the worker's next turn after having been addressed in Spanish, he or she commenced to speak in that language. In a minority of instances the worker maintained English throughout the exchange, even as the customer continued to speak only Spanish. In other encounters, the worker engaged in codeswitching between Spanish and English. …

La République Des Lettres: Ses Écrivains, Ses Critiques, Ses Limites, Jimia Boutouba

Modern Languages & Literature

L’article se propose d’étudier le rôle de la critique littéraire française et étrangère, ses incertitudes et ses dérives à propos de la littérature « beur » (terme désignant les Français issus de l’immigration maghrébine)

The author looks at the position of French and stranger literature criticism, its ambiguity and departure from “beur” creative writing.

English Or Spanish?! Language Accommodation In New York City Service Encounters, Laura Callahan

Modern Languages & Literature

Speech accommodation theory refers to an individual's adaptation of his or her speech to more closely approximate that of an interlocutor. A change to the interlocutor's language is one of the most obvious and observable forms of accommodation. Language choices are shaped by the linguistic proficiency of both speaker and interlocutor, the ingroup or outgroup status of each, and the situational norms for the setting in which an exchange takes place. Language choices in the workplace are further influenced by company policies and by the asymmetrical power dynamic in worker-customer interactions.

This paper reports on data from service encounters with …

Student Perceptions Of Native And Non-Native Speaker Language Instructors: A Comparison Of Esl And Spanish, Laura Callahan

Modern Languages & Literature

The question of the native vs. non-native speaker status of second and foreign language instructors has been investigated chiefly from the perspective of the teacher. Anecdotal evidence suggests that students have strong opinions on the relative qualities of instruction by native and non-native speakers. Most research focuses on students of English as a foreign or second language. This paper reports on data gathered through a questionnaire administered to 55 university students: 31 students of Spanish as FL and 24 students of English as SL. Qualitative results show what strengths students believe each type of instructor has, and quantitative results confirm …

Native Speakers' Attitudes Toward The Use Of Spanish By Non-Native Speakers: From George W. To J. Lo, Laura Callahan

Modern Languages & Literature

This investigation of native speakers' attitudes toward the use of Spanish by non-native speakers considers the following questions: Do native speakers consider the public use of Spanish by non-native speakers to be inappropriate? Do Latino non-native speakers provoke a more favorable response? Do native speakers believe Latinos have an obligation to know Spanish? What factors correlate with native and heritage speakers' attitudes toward ethnicity and language choice? Data were collected via a questionnaire distributed to students at post-secondary institutions in ten states. The findings provide insights into the attitudes of native and heritage speakers, a rapidly growing population in the …

Codeswitching In Antonio Muñoz Molina’S Carlota Fainberg: Determiner Gender And Noun Phrase Status, Laura Callahan

Modern Languages & Literature

El canvi de codi entre determinant i nom, allà on l'idioma del determinant senyala el gènere i el del nom no ho fa, ofereix una oportunitat per a un dels dos idiomes de demostrar-ne el domini. Malgrat els estudis que indiquen que l'ús de l'article masculí és el que s'usa per defecte en casos de determinant espanyol + nom anglès, el corpus d'aquest estudi demostra una preferència clara per una estratègia de traducció: el determinant en espanyol i altres modificadors concorden amb el gènere de la paraula traduïda a l'espanyol.

Codeswitching between determiner and noun in which the language of …

Forms Of Address In The Popular Press: A Comparison Of Spain, Mexico And The United States, Laura Callahan

Modern Languages & Literature

Address pronouns and their semantic implications have been the subject of numerous studies since Brown and Gilman (1960). Forms of address reflect relationships of asymmetry and symmetry, and advertisers' practices in regard to second-person pronoun usage hold interest for at least two reasons. First, they can serve as evidence for changes in speech community norms. Second, they can show how advertisers attempt to manipulate consumers through metaphoric appeals to the domains and contexts associated with each form of address. A comparison of forms of address in magazines and newspapers in Spain, Mexico, and the United States reveals certain correlations with …