Quechua and Spanish in the Urban Andes: A Study on Language Dynamics and Identity Construction among Peruvian Youth

298 Pages·2012·5.462 MB·

by  Amy Rebecca Firestone

© 2012 Amy Rebecca Firestone
QUECHUA AND SPANISH IN THE URBAN ANDES:
A STUDY ON LANGUAGE DYNAMICS AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION AMONG
PERUVIAN YOUTH

BY

AMY REBECCA FIRESTONE

DISSERTATION

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Spanish
in the Graduate College of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012

Urbana, Illinois

Doctoral Committee:

Associate Professor Anna María Escobar, Chair
Associate Professor Melissa Bowles
Associate Professor Nils Jacobsen
Associate Professor Ellen Moodie
Assistant Professor Jodi Byrd
ABSTRACT
This dissertation analyzes first-generation youth’s linguistic and social practices in the
construction of a new urban Andean identity in Peru. Since the 1940s, socio-economic events
have led to massive migration of Quechua speakers from rural to urban areas. Migration has been
understood as negatively affecting the vitality of Quechua in the cities, where Spanish is the
dominant language. Using an ethnographic approach that is centered on youth’s voices, the
results of this study reveal, however, that Quechua and other cultural traditions are maintained
and revitalized by first-generation youth, especially when parents are not present.
Ethnographic research was carried out among first-generation youth in three families in
Ayacucho and Arequipa, two historically distinct Peruvian Andean cities that have been the
center for migration in Peru. In both cities, the results show that the family's economic practices,
that can take place in rural, urban, and international spaces, are the driving force in determining
the degree of contact that youth have with Quechua and other rural cultural traditions. Quechua
and Spanish use are also found to be on a rural/urban continuum, in which different degrees of
mixture or combinado are found depending on the space/location of the interaction, interlocutors
present, and symbolic value of the language.
My research draws attention to the economic and social dynamics of life in the urban
Andes, represented in the Chakra Model, which helps understand the vitality of Quechua in Peru
in the 21st century. This research moves away from labeling Andeans, and instead focuses on
understanding how first-generation youth construct their urban Andean identity, thus providing a
“bottom-up” perspective to life in the urban Andes.

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Dedicated to my mother, Beverly Honig Firestone (1948-2006) and my
grandmother, Stella Honig (1910-2000), who made many sacrifices in life, but
never left behind their language and culture.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation represents a long academic and personal journey that has led me to
many different familiar and foreign places. During my travels, my eyes remained open, my ears
listened for the sounds around me, and my hand was out ready to shake other hands, all while I
encountered many new and challenging situations. The words in this dissertation are an imprint
of the meaningful personal and professional relationships that I have been fortunate to have
during this time. Now that I have finally landed, I would like to acknowledge the many people
who served as more than just “passengers” on my journey.
My first trip to the Andes was 10 years ago in 2002. I traveled to La Paz, Bolivia to work
as an undergraduate summer intern at the U.S. Embassy. This experience changed my outlook on
Latin America and taught me about the human bonds that are in our power to create and
embrace. As a twenty-year-old student intern at the U.S. Embassy, I considered myself to be
among the privileged few to meet and mingle with several Bolivian ex-presidents and dozens of
politicians. Of course, along with politics, comes the press. In Bolivia, I was interviewed on live
national television, and one time, I found my photograph in the lifestyle section of the national
newspaper. However, during this time, another newspaper I opened caught my attention even
more. I remember picking up the Aymara section of the national newspaper and trying to
decipher the enormously long words with my new Aymara friends, the domestic workers who
worked for the American diplomat whose house I stayed at in La Paz. María and Rosemary
Yujra, thank you for befriending me ten years ago in La Paz. You have inspired me to carry out
this project.
When I returned from Bolivia, I decided to devote my studies to my newfound passion
for indigenous languages and culture of the Andes. I am very fortunate to have found so much
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academic support from my undergraduate professors at the College of William and Mary, and
later, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where I completed my master’s degree in
Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and now, my doctoral degree in Spanish sociolinguistics.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my academic advisor and dissertation
chair, Professor Anna María Escobar. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work
with you over the past seven years and learn from your expertise in sociolinguistics of the Andes.
Your exceptional mentorship has helped me stay focused and motivated to accomplish my goals,
especially during many challenging moments. During the past eight years, I have also had the
privilege of working with Professor Nils Jacobsen, who originally encouraged me to travel to
Huamanga in 2005. I have greatly benefitted from your guidance and expertise in the Andean
region, and I sincerely appreciate you for always encouraging me to reach for my highest goals.
In my first year as a master’s student, I fondly remember when Professor Ellen Moodie, whom I
did not know at the time, approached me at a department reception just to ask me how things
were going; thank you for always keeping in touch with students like myself, and also, for all of
your support for my work. I would also like to thank Professors Jodi Byrd and Melissa Bowles
for contributing their different areas of expertise to enhancing my dissertation.
At the University of Illinois, I have had the unique opportunity to study both Quechua
and Aymara with two Andean language experts. I feel honored to have been a student of
Quechua professor, Clodoaldo Soto, to whom I am indebted to for all of his help throughout the
years, and especially for his assistance with the difficult audio recordings. Anchata riqsikuykuy! I
would also like to thank my Aymara professor, Miguel Huanca, for his dynamic language classes
in which I have greatly improved my Aymara skills. Miguel, you will appreciate knowing that
this dissertation was written walja willampiwa- wiñay wiñay ukhamaniwa.
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I am also indebted to the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) for
all of their support for my preliminary research in Peru with the Tinker Foundation field grants
and for several Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships for Quechua and
Aymara. At CLACS, I would like to thank the following individuals, not only their hard work
and dedication to student such as myself, but also, for being positive and friendly staff at the
Center: Associate Director, Angelina Cotler, Alejandra Seufferheld, and Gloria Ribble.
I am very privileged and honored to receive generous funding from the Inter-American
Foundation (IAF) Grassroots Development Fellowship (2009-2010) to support my dissertation
research in Peru. I would like to acknowledge my IAF academic committee advisers, Dr. Kevin
Healy, Dr. Jan Knippers-Black, and former Ambassador Thomas J. Dodd, Jr. for their invaluable
feedback on the early stages of my doctoral research during our meeting at the IAF mid-year
conference in Mexico City. I also give many thanks to Ms. Christiana Kasner of the Institute of
International Education for all of her assistance while I was in Peru.
This dissertation research would not have been possible without the support from all the
young people and students in Ayacucho and Arequipa, Peru. I am very grateful for you, my
lifelong friends who generously opened your home to me and gave me a space in your lives. I
especially thank Professors Walter Pariona and Georgina Icochea for their warm hospitality and
academic support in Huamanga. I also thank my colleague and friend in Huamanga, Roberto
Ayala Huaytalla, for all of the academic references and meetings.
Some people are just fellow passengers on your journey, but others stay along for the
entire trip, come rain or shine. Kyan Mulligan, you have been my resident at La Casa, my
Poquoson Plan guru, my editor-in-chief, and more important, my very close friend. I respect you
for all of your talents that you will take to many places, and thank you for always being close by,
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no matter how far away I was. Another one of my former residents at La Casa, Graham Nessler,
is now a doctor, a doctor of Latin American history. I’m very fortunate for our close friendship
that has continued while we have been living in different states and continents. As you know,
neither one of us was quite cut out for economics, but we both find high value in our friendship
that continues as we write the next chapters.
Kristina Pittman smiles when she reminds me that we first met in 2007 at a TA
orientation in a large auditorium on the University of Illinois campus. I am forever grateful for
you Kristina, for embracing my colors, and for being there for me more than anyone could ever
ask for, in both the most exciting and difficult of times. I would also like to acknowledge my
fellow sociolinguist and friend, Dr. Claudia Holguín, who with great strength and determination,
a path for those of us to follow in Spanish sociolinguistics at Illinois. I’m not sure what I would
have done in Illinois without Fabio Manda and Andy Myo. You always remind me that you take
the word, “friend” seriously, and I cherish the many meals and laughs we will continue sharing
Acknowledgements go to Fabio Manda for designing the maps in chapter 3.
Many times I traveled abroad without knowing a single person at my destination.
However, I am very fortunate that the following strong women appeared in my path in Peru. In
2009, I met Michaela Callaghan, another curly redhead doing research in Huamanga. Michaela, I
am grateful for our smooth jazz café breaks, the papas fritas, and moments of laughter with some
“black magic” in Huamanga and Lima. I would also like to recognize GeGe Coleman for the
difference she is making in the lives of so many children at Kids at the Crossroads- Acuchimay. I
thank you for your friendship and companionship in Peru. Thanks also goes to my partner in
crime in Cusco, Dr. Elizabeth Sumida Huaman. Liz, I’m very honored to have you as my
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academic cheerleader over the years, and I, likewise, will keep rooting for your important work
on indigenous education in Peru and the U.S.
And while I was traveling the world and studying far away from home, my casa of 29
years was always waiting for me in Northern Virginia. When I arrived home, I found relief and
comfort thanks to my sister, Jessica, and to my very furry companions of 15 and 10 years,
Mittens and Ziggy. Gerri and George Koser have known me long before Mittens and Ziggy were
born, so they can recall all of the miles this journey took. I know this would not have been
possible without your presence and voice, and I cannot express how grateful my siblings and I
are to you both. Last, but far from least, I would like to acknowledge my dear friends, Margaret
Meyer and her amazing children, Amy and Meyer Kachel. I deeply admire your courage and
perseverance to conquer all the challenges that this world brings us. I cannot express how blessed
I feel that the universe brought us together again. At sea level or at 10,000 feet, I owe my
strength to my mom, who will never read these words, but now knows that I finally
accomplished my goal. Thank you for giving me an appreciation and curiosity for this farmisht
world I will continue to fully embrace as I continue my journey upwards and onwards.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 1
1.1 Identity construction and linguistic markets ...................................................... 2
1.2 Spaces .............................................................................................................. 3
1.3 Social networks ................................................................................................ 6
1.4 Migrants ........................................................................................................... 8
1.5 The rural/urban continuum .............................................................................. 10
1.6 Quechua language in the Peruvian Andes........................................................ 16
1.7 Language contact in the Peruvian Andes ......................................................... 25
1.8 Ethnographic approaches ................................................................................ 27
1.9 Research questions ......................................................................................... 28

CHAPTER 2: SOCIAL AND LINGUISTIC ECOLOGIES ........................................... 31
2.1 Sociolinguistic background on Quechua in Peru ............................................. 31
2.2 Ayacucho, Peru .............................................................................................. 38
2.3 Arequipa, Peru ................................................................................................ 49
2.4 Linguistic characteristics of language contact ................................................. 58

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 75
3.1 Role of researcher ........................................................................................... 75
3.2 Language knowledge ...................................................................................... 79
3.3 Research participants in Ayacucho.................................................................. 82
3.4 Research participants in Arequipa ................................................................... 98
3.5 Data collection and instruments .................................................................... 107
3.6 Transcription and coding of data ................................................................... 111
3.7 Challenges to a collaborative participatory ethnographic approach ................ 112

CHAPTER 4: “TÚ COMBINAS BIEN EL QUECHUA…” (‘YOU COMBINE
QUECHUA WELL…’): YOUTH COMBINADO TALK AND IDENTITY IN
HUAMANGA, AYACUCHO, PERU ......................................................................... 118
4.1 Spaces .......................................................................................................... 120
4.2 Rural: the chakra in Chiara ........................................................................... 120
4.3 Feria del ganado .......................................................................................... 125
4.4 At home in Huamanga .................................................................................. 152
4.5 Neighborhood ............................................................................................... 165
4.6 Mother’s store............................................................................................... 170
4.7 Other city spaces........................................................................................... 177
4.8 Cell phone conversations .............................................................................. 178
4.9 Lima and language attitudes .......................................................................... 181
4.10 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 184
4.11 Summary of findings .................................................................................. 187

CHAPTER 5: TWO OTHER CASES OF QUECHUA:
AYACUCHO AND AREQUIPA ................................................................................ 188
5.1 Carmen Alto, Ayacucho: Martínez family ..................................................... 191
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