The Netflix television series “Orange is the New Black” has been commended for its diversity and complex representation of various ethnic groups through characters who are either inmates or staff in a women’s federal prison. A unique feature of the series is that it frequently includes entire scenes of dialogue in Spanish, or that switch between Spanish and English. While there are other characters and scenes that show bilingual code switching with other languages such as Russian and German, the show includes more than five main Latina characters whose focal narratives are portrayed in Spanish and English, so I will focus on bilingualism in relation to the Spanish speaking characters. In her master’s thesis, Millette states that the dialogue of Latina characters in “Orange is the New Black” realistically reflects elements of code switching such that it is “always presumed to be a conscious choice by the speaker” and is “crucial” to “the relationship between language and identity” such that it exemplifies “performance of identity” (Millette). …show more content…
Accuracy of multicultural linguistic portrayal and operation is important because scenes and relationships positioned around bilingualism give English viewers of the show insight into cultures and identities that exist within their community but that they may otherwise misunderstand or find irrelevant. Additionally, it expands the way bilingual speakers, in this example specifically Latina Spanish and English speakers, are represented by tackling issues and realities prevalent in their
Tanya Barrientos explained her struggle with her identity growing up in her writing “Se Habla Español”. Barrientos describes herself as being “Guatemalan by birth but pure gringa by circumstance” (83). These circumstances began when her family relocated to the United States when she was three years old. Once the family moved to the states, her parents only spoke Spanish between themselves. The children learned to how read, write and speak the English language to fit into society at that time in 1963. (83) Barrientos explained how society shifted and “the nation changed its views on ethnic identity” (85) after she graduated college and it came as a backlash to her because she had isolated herself from the stereotype she constructed in her head. She was insulted to be called Mexican and to her speaking the Spanish language translated into being poor. She had felt superior to Latino waitresses and their maid when she told them that she didn’t speak Spanish. After the shift in society Barrientos wondered where she fit it since the Spanish language was the glue that held the new Latino American community together. Barrientos then set out on a difficult awkward journey to learn the language that others would assume she would already know. She wanted to nurture the seed of pride to be called Mexican that her father planted when her father sent her on a summer trip to Mexico City. Once Barrientos had learned more Spanish and could handle the present, past and future tenses she still
Rodriguez’s parents emphasize a large separation of their Mexican heritage from that of “los gringos.” The family speaks Spanish to each other, and the transition to speaking English symbolizes that person being spoken to is an outsider, not one to be trusted, an “Americano.” The language of Spanish, therefore, is a symbol of trust, acceptance, as being part of the family. When “Ricardo” gives up Spanish for English, although he is urged to do so by his parents, he feels he is betraying his family for “los gringos.”
Gloria Anzaldúa was a Texas-born, lesbian, Latina, feminist, that wrote about many of her personal experiences and views of the diverse background she grew up in. Growing up a certain culture at home and being in a country with a different culture, brings along a lot of self-identifying issues. Gloria Anzaldúa uses various strategies and languages to write this powerful piece by code-switching, quoting others, diction, and rhetorical questions. Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” speaks about the social issues that Latinos face involving identity, language, and sexism.
Rodriguez defines bilingualism as he elaborates on his story of learning English. Arriving to the US and only speaking Spanish challenged him and his family. Their home illuminated a safe place, a place where he could speak Spanish. At school, his teachers would call on him purposefully trying to make him speak/learn English. In despair he mumbled, until the day his safe place disappeared when his parents began to speak English at home. Now with no outlet, he attempts to raise his hand in class and communicate with others. This monumental shift of avoiding speech to trying to communicate helps Rodriguez explain “Sound and word were thus tightly wedded” (23). The liberating moment where he can comfortably communicate with others without such a big effort rewards Rodriguez, for he can fit in with society: “And the point was not self expression alone but to make oneself understood by many others” (21). To talk comfortably with others provides a source for community and self expression. Although Rodriguez had a difficult time learning another language, he views bilingualism as someone who can fit in with multiple communities and has a balance of public and private life.
In Richard Rodriguez's essay , “ Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood ” he writes about how he struggled as a child who only spoke Spanish but lives in a society where the “public” language is English . He believes that speaking proper English will somehow help him fit into society and find his identity. Throughout the essay he contrast the Spanish language identity and English language identity. As a young boy, Rodriguez finds consolation and safety in his home where they only speak Spanish. He feels that he only has a true identity when he is at home surrounded by those who speak the same language as him
The George Lopez show is truly one of a kind. Only two sitcoms in the history of television have been completely cast by Hispanic Americans, “The George Lopez Show” and “Greetings From Tuscan.” The two shows combined account for 44% of all Latino characters in prime-time television, an enormous number considering the amount of shows that air every week. Only 4% of Hispanics make up the cast of prime-time television shows, a miniscule amount considering that
Gloria Anzaldua has always been aware of her progressive self, an inner self that emerged as lesbian, Mexican American, and oppressed. In Borderlands/La Frontera, the power of Anzaldua’s native tongue emanates from her resistance to Anglo-enforced conventions about culture and gender. She stresses the criticism of biculturalism in How To Tame A Wild Tongue, arguing that Anglo Americans subjugate Mexican Americans, because they might fear inferiority. As a Mexican American woman, her gender defies the normative patriarch, and her ethnicity infringes on Anglo preeminence -- untamed feats that reassert the power of her tongue. Anzaldua exposes the entitled behaviors of Anglo Americans by speaking Spanish against their silencing impositions, while simultaneously broadcasting the language and culture of her people and upholding her bicultural identity.
The First World War was a global war centred in Europe that lasted 4 years. More than 9 million soldiers and 7 million civilians died as a result of the war, a casualty rate aggravated by the technological and industrial sophistication of the nations at war. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history. Trenches and life within them have become a lasting topic since World War One. Throughout the war, millions of soldiers experienced and endured the horrors of trench warfare.
“Their eyes say, ‘You may speak Spanish but you`re not like me’” shows how even though she might look Mexican and speak Spanish, she still doesn’t belong (Nye,
Anzaldúa recounts her experience growing up in a community where her Chicana culture wasn’t widely accepted. She would be punished for speaking the language her culture influenced to create a language, which corresponds to a way of life. In Gloria Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” the variety of languages helps her compare, contrast and define her argument of the distinguished languages concerning her Chicana identity.
World War One was a war that didn’t seem to end: it was four years of fighting throughout Europe, people dying on the sides of both the Allied and Central powers. For about half of the war, the two opponents reached a stalemate. There was no clear winner during battles and there was no progress on either side. The Allied powers, including Great Britain, needed to find a way to add more power into their armies. Perhaps they needed more people who were passionate about winning the war and defeating the Germans and the other Central powers.
Barrientos starts with sharing her embarrassment to sign up for Spanish classes—the language used by her parents to communicate. Society’s expectation on her fluency of Spanish based on her Latina appearance causes self-questioning: where do I fit in? However, Barrientos initially refused to face her ethnicity as a Latina, beginning at a young age. The poor reputation on Spanish Americans causes Barrientos to isolate herself from the stereotype, by speaking English instead of Spanish. However, society changed: different
The Chicano Spanish people are a discriminated group of people in a society where they felt rather ashamed of their language. In the essay of what Anzaldua wrote about the Chicano Spanish were discriminating themselves of being a marginalized group that their language was socially inferior to the dominant discourse, the English language in America. The Chicano, or the Spanish people, in American society’s goal was that they wanted to get rid of their cultural language in order for the Chicanos to become “ Americanized” by speaking the dominant language. Eventually, the Chicano Spanish people, then felt uncomfortable that their traditional language by speaking Spanish to Americans and other people who speak Spanish as well as they were making low assumptions of them; therefore, the Spanish people resort by speaking English as a neutral language for them to communicate to the people of society without feeling embarrassed. In spite of using the dominant language as a source of communication, they require a distinct language for them to communicate themselves rather than speaking the English language. For the Chicano Spanish that they were the complex, heterogeneous people as they spoke in many variety of different languages” (28). From school, the media, and the job situations, I’ve picked up standard and working-class English. From
Gonzalez opens this chapter with, conceivably, the harshest narrative he could find to support his claims: He writes of a Latina mother forced by a judge to speak English to her daughter at home if she wanted to retain custody (Gonzalez 206). He continues on to describe the three categories of people affected by the
Theories in Criminal Justice Michael Robertson The University of Southern Mississippi Criminology is the study of reason or explanations as to why people choose to either commit a crime or why they do not commit a crime. In criminology there seems to be two broad explanations, natural explanations and spiritual explanations. Spiritual explanations as to why people choose to commit a crime usually come from supernatural concepts or outer worldly figures. For example, people used to believe that if someone was to commit a murder, that the murderer was possessed or forced to commit this crime by supernatural forces.