Language ideologies in a transnational world

What is it about?

This article is about indexical meanings of language in transnational Communities of Practice. The communities are based on Salsa dancing and in some, it is important to learn Spanish in order to belong. Sometimes, Spanish is seen as representing 'authentic' ethnic belonging. Such language ideologies can be described as modernist. For others, Spanish represents a way to construct cosmopolitan identity. Such language ideologies can be described as 'second modern', where traditional concepts (like the idea that there is a language that is Spanish and that this indexes belonging to a particular ethnic group) are appropriated to form new social boundaries. Yet, both language ideologies are interlocked and exist side-by-side. In the final section, I discuss how the presence of interlocked, modernist and second modern ideologies, as they also apply to other contexts, complicates an understanding of second modern orders in contexts of multilingualism, translingualism and the like as necessarily emancipatory.

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Why is it important?

The article is important as it contributes to ongoing discussions on language ideologies and the politics of language in a globalising world.