More than means of communication, languages are integral parts of our cultural identities and feature frequently in intercultural conflict. Language policy has been a thorny issue in federal-territorial relations since the early twentieth century. There is a hallowed place for the Spanish language in Puerto Rican identity. At the same time, Puerto Ricans view English as a critical tool for upward mobility. The tug-of-war between the heart and wallet meant that most Puerto Ricans accepted official bilingualism. Then suddenly, in 1991, the island’s government declared Spanish its only official language. Political expediency was not the point. After all, it was not a popular move. Rather, the political operatives pushing this shift in language policy were involved in a complex game bypassing votes for a much larger political prize.
{"title":"Culture, Identity, and Policy","authors":"A. A. Barreto","doi":"10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.6","url":null,"abstract":"More than means of communication, languages are integral parts of our cultural identities and feature frequently in intercultural conflict. Language policy has been a thorny issue in federal-territorial relations since the early twentieth century. There is a hallowed place for the Spanish language in Puerto Rican identity. At the same time, Puerto Ricans view English as a critical tool for upward mobility. The tug-of-war between the heart and wallet meant that most Puerto Ricans accepted official bilingualism. Then suddenly, in 1991, the island’s government declared Spanish its only official language. Political expediency was not the point. After all, it was not a popular move. Rather, the political operatives pushing this shift in language policy were involved in a complex game bypassing votes for a much larger political prize.","PeriodicalId":142844,"journal":{"name":"The Politics of Language in Puerto Rico","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116955099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Back Matter","authors":"","doi":"10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.30","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.30","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":142844,"journal":{"name":"The Politics of Language in Puerto Rico","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130628371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While the PPD methodically debated the pros and cons of official unilingualism their PNP rivals, who won the 1992 elections, restored bilingualism within weeks of taking office. The PNP’s rush became apparent when Gov. Pedro Rosselló announced the promotion of a new status plebiscite. As Congress took up the status question in 1993, PNP delegates flashed the new language law as a clear sign of loyalty to the US. That move failed to sway many federal lawmakers who repeatedly brought up the connection between the Spanish language and Puerto Rican identity, along with the low rates of English-language fluency on the island. At this juncture English-language activists from the US mainland began interjecting themselves in the island’s status debates during the English-only movement, reiterating the tight bonds between American-ness and the de facto US vernacular. Although out of office, Commonwealth supporters won the 1993 status plebiscite.
{"title":"Restoring Official Bilingualism","authors":"A. A. Barreto","doi":"10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.15","url":null,"abstract":"While the PPD methodically debated the pros and cons of official unilingualism their PNP rivals, who won the 1992 elections, restored bilingualism within weeks of taking office. The PNP’s rush became apparent when Gov. Pedro Rosselló announced the promotion of a new status plebiscite. As Congress took up the status question in 1993, PNP delegates flashed the new language law as a clear sign of loyalty to the US. That move failed to sway many federal lawmakers who repeatedly brought up the connection between the Spanish language and Puerto Rican identity, along with the low rates of English-language fluency on the island. At this juncture English-language activists from the US mainland began interjecting themselves in the island’s status debates during the English-only movement, reiterating the tight bonds between American-ness and the de facto US vernacular. Although out of office, Commonwealth supporters won the 1993 status plebiscite.","PeriodicalId":142844,"journal":{"name":"The Politics of Language in Puerto Rico","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131215411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Appendix 2","authors":"","doi":"10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.20","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.20","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":142844,"journal":{"name":"The Politics of Language in Puerto Rico","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122016119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The PPD’s decision to back unilingualism as a step towards sabotaging congressional support for Puerto Rico’s statehood is based on an assumption that the official narrative boasting American identity’s non-ascriptive nature is inaccurate. Scholars studying American national identity generally fall into one of three schools of thought: the civic, the ethnic, and a civic-ethnic hybrid. Arguably Eric Kaufmann provided the most realistic interpretation of this identity. He suggested that American identity consists of a civic wrapping covering over an ethno-cultural core. Such a duality helps to explain fundamentally different approaches by the PNP and PPD. The former appeals to the public-facing civic side while the PPD, through official unilingualism, sought to animate American identity’s ethnic core. While Puerto Ricans downplay their cultural nationalism, many on the mainland, particularly in Congress, see it as a threat. This is precisely what the PPD was banking on in 1991.
{"title":"Congress and Conflicting Notions of American Identity","authors":"A. A. Barreto","doi":"10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.14","url":null,"abstract":"The PPD’s decision to back unilingualism as a step towards sabotaging congressional support for Puerto Rico’s statehood is based on an assumption that the official narrative boasting American identity’s non-ascriptive nature is inaccurate. Scholars studying American national identity generally fall into one of three schools of thought: the civic, the ethnic, and a civic-ethnic hybrid. Arguably Eric Kaufmann provided the most realistic interpretation of this identity. He suggested that American identity consists of a civic wrapping covering over an ethno-cultural core. Such a duality helps to explain fundamentally different approaches by the PNP and PPD. The former appeals to the public-facing civic side while the PPD, through official unilingualism, sought to animate American identity’s ethnic core. While Puerto Ricans downplay their cultural nationalism, many on the mainland, particularly in Congress, see it as a threat. This is precisely what the PPD was banking on in 1991.","PeriodicalId":142844,"journal":{"name":"The Politics of Language in Puerto Rico","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122665930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Members of all three political parties suggested that Governor Hernández-Colón was primarily interested in sending Congress a message—and a cultural one at that. Such an intent, if true, is still inconsistent with classic assumptions of a political party’s rational behavior. But there is an alternative logical explanation, within the rational choice framework, to Downs’s assumption of vote-maximizing behavior. As George Tsebelis contended, a nested game consists of public-facing game masking another game outside the limelight. Under this proposal a decision, even an unpopular one that costs an election, is logical so long as it furthers an actor’s non-electoral goals. In this case the PPD sought to wave the banner of Puerto Rican identity, even in its soft-core cultural form, to thwart their statehood foes in the one body empowered to change the island’s status—the US Congress.
{"title":"Culture, Policy, and Nested Games","authors":"A. A. Barreto","doi":"10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.13","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx1hsm4.13","url":null,"abstract":"Members of all three political parties suggested that Governor Hernández-Colón was primarily interested in sending Congress a message—and a cultural one at that. Such an intent, if true, is still inconsistent with classic assumptions of a political party’s rational behavior. But there is an alternative logical explanation, within the rational choice framework, to Downs’s assumption of vote-maximizing behavior. As George Tsebelis contended, a nested game consists of public-facing game masking another game outside the limelight. Under this proposal a decision, even an unpopular one that costs an election, is logical so long as it furthers an actor’s non-electoral goals. In this case the PPD sought to wave the banner of Puerto Rican identity, even in its soft-core cultural form, to thwart their statehood foes in the one body empowered to change the island’s status—the US Congress.","PeriodicalId":142844,"journal":{"name":"The Politics of Language in Puerto Rico","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116270407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Power of English","authors":"Frank van Splunder","doi":"10.2307/j.ctvw04h4h.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvw04h4h.9","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":142844,"journal":{"name":"The Politics of Language in Puerto Rico","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114761167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：