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"This is the most comprehensive book I’ve ever read about the use of Spanish in the U.S. Incredible research. Read it to understand our country. Spanish is, indeed, an American language."—Jorge Ramos
An American Language is a tour de force that revolutionizes our understanding of U.S. history. It reveals the origins of Spanish as a language binding residents of the Southwest to the politics and culture of an expanding nation in the 1840s. As the West increasingly integrated into the United States over the following century, struggles over power, identity, and citizenship transformed the place of the Spanish language in the nation. An American Language is a history that reimagines what it means to be an American—with profound implications for our own time.
An American Language is a tour de force that revolutionizes our understanding of U.S. history. It reveals the origins of Spanish as a language binding residents of the Southwest to the politics and culture of an expanding nation in the 1840s. As the West increasingly integrated into the United States over the following century, struggles over power, identity, and citizenship transformed the place of the Spanish language in the nation. An American Language is a history that reimagines what it means to be an American—with profound implications for our own time.
Price: $95.00
Pages: 376
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Series: American Crossroads
Publication Date:
24 April 2018
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520297067
Format: Hardcover
"An American Language provides an original discussion of linguistic citizenship and offers insight into the historical racialization of Spanish-speakers. . . . Lozano skillfully garners archival sources to offer an insightful comparative analysis of the changing status of Spanish in the United States, and the role that Spanish-speakers—from treaty citizens to Chicanos—played in refusing second-class citizenship based on their use of Spanish."
Rosina Lozano is Associate Professor of History at Princeton University.
List of Illustrations viii
Introduction 1
PART ONE. A Language of Politics, 1848–1902 19
1. United by Land 21
2. Translation, a Measure of Power 38
3. Choosing Language 67
4. A Language of Citizenship 89
5. The United States Sees Language 111
PART TWO. A Political Language, 1902–1945 135
6. A Language of Identity 137
7. The Limits of Americanization 167
8. Strategic Pan-Americanism 191
9. The Federal Government Rediscovers Spanish 211
10. Competing Nationalisms: New Mexico and Puerto Rico 232
Epilogue 253
Acknowledgments 267
Abbreviations 271
Notes 273
Select Bibliography 333
Introduction 1
PART ONE. A Language of Politics, 1848–1902 19
1. United by Land 21
2. Translation, a Measure of Power 38
3. Choosing Language 67
4. A Language of Citizenship 89
5. The United States Sees Language 111
PART TWO. A Political Language, 1902–1945 135
6. A Language of Identity 137
7. The Limits of Americanization 167
8. Strategic Pan-Americanism 191
9. The Federal Government Rediscovers Spanish 211
10. Competing Nationalisms: New Mexico and Puerto Rico 232
Epilogue 253
Acknowledgments 267
Abbreviations 271
Notes 273
Select Bibliography 333