Haciendo y deshaciendo la lengua – Funciones simbólicas del español en Belice: entre el predominio demográfico, la política nacional, el estatus de clase baja y el prestigio global

Abstract

In this article, I discuss the role of Spanish in the Central American nation of Belize. I show partly paradoxical indexical functions of Spanish in Belize that have their roots in social, linguistic and political conditions and ideologies, which impact on language attitudes and language choice, and on the construction of Spanish as a ‘foreign’ language, despite its demographic dominance. Spanish is indexically linked to various social groups of different social standing within Belize and therefore has different symbolic functions at the same time. Despite the widespread use of Spanish, negative attitudes towards the language lead to Spanish being partly invisible in public discourses and individual perceptions. The data I use to support my claims has been collected in a linguistic ethnographic field study in a small Belizean village, in which observational material, field notes from participant observation, quantitative study of language attitudes and qualitative interviews supplement each other.