El español en las películas estadounidenses. Aproximación discursiva

Abstract

Nowadays, Hispanics – many of them Spanish-speaking, however on different knowledge levels and with different varieties – constitute about 12,5% of the population of the United Sates (without Puerto Rico). Hispanics have become the largest minority in the United States and Spanish has thus de facto become the second national language. The mass culture bears witness to this fact: in films, television, music, publicity, fast food etc. the Spanish language can be found in many forms. This article focuses on movies as one manifestation of mass culture and explores the use of the Spanish language from a discursive perspective in US films starting in the 80s. One aim is to analyze the different functions of the representation of spoken Spanish of both Latino and angloamerican protagonists. In addition to studying its use as an index of Hispanicity, the article also assesses symbols of interculturality, namely shared communicative and cultural spaces between Anglos and Hispanics.