Language, Race, And Identity In Pedro Henriquez Urena S Dominican Oeuvre: A Study On Language Ideologies

Resumen del Libro

In this dissertation, I have advanced an analysis of the complex interaction between the apparently ideologically neutral vision of Dominican Spanish produced by Pedro Henriquez Urena and contemporary discourses of national identity in which race was a central theme. This type of contextualization (inspired by the school of critical linguistic historiography and language ideological research discussed in chapter two) is necessary if we are to fully understand the meaning and implications of the linguistic component of the great Dominican intellectuals oeuvre. As he engaged in the study of Spanish in Dominican Republic, he unquestionably made a major contribution to Dominican historiography and Spanish Americas linguistic history. However, it is crucial to understand that, in the process, he also engaged in the erasure of certain aspects of that reality and in the production of an iconic representation of Dominican Spanish consistent with what the dominant intellectual tradition viewed as the most important component of its national culture: Hispanicness.