Language and Political Consciousness: Explorations from the Philippines at the 'fin de siècle

De Gruyter Mouton. Available from: Walter de Gruyter, Inc. 121 High Street, Third Floor, Boston, MA 02110. Tel: 857-284-7073; Fax: 857-284-7358; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.degruyter.com

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20

Colonialism; Multilingualism; Language Maintenance; Official Languages; Native Language; Linguistic Theory; Political Attitudes; Political Influences; History; Foreign Countries; Social Change; Democracy; Spanish; English (Second Language); Malayo Polynesian Languages; Periodicals; Tagalog; Language Usage; North Americans; Foreign Policy; Trust Responsibility (Government); Literature; Social Differences; Language Attitudes; Language of Instruction

10.1515/multi-2020-0167

0167-8507
1613-3684

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Philippine archipelago transitioned from nearly 400 years of colonial occupation under the Spanish to imperial occupation under the Americans. This analysis interrogates the dynamics through which the heterogeneous languages of the Philippine archipelago were maintained alongside state-sanctioned languages that over time came to create and sustain various "forms of consciousness" potentiated around the nexus of language. Using a theoretical foundation that intertwines Gramsci and Bakhtin's understanding of the heteroglossic nature of language, the ways in which the interanimation of languages emerges as a potential site for the realization of certain forms of political consciousness is explored. This analysis interrogates the tensions emergent in forms of discourse linked to the question of language that gave rise to the contemporary linguistic situation in the Philippines today, both "from above" as well as "from below" at the "fin de siècle."

As Provided

2023

EJ1361997