Actitudes lingüísticas hacia el criollo limonense
Fecha
2024
Autores
Chinchilla Jiménez, María Daniela
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Resumen
La provincia de Limón, Costa Rica, se caracteriza por su gran diversidad cultural y lingüística, ya que, por décadas, ha recibido oleadas de migrantes nacionales, provenientes de las otras seis provincias del país (San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago Puntarenas y Guanacaste), así como de otras partes del planeta, mayormente de las Indias occidentales, en especial de Jamaica. Por consiguiente, la provincia se ha convertido en cuna de variados grupos étnicos: entre otros, los indígenas talamanqueños, los hispanodescendientes, los chinos y, por supuesto, los afrodescendientes que se integraron a la vida de Limón. Todos estos grupos han mantenido sus lenguas en mayor o menor medida. Sin embargo, el español es la lengua oficial y prestigiosadel país. Las otras lenguas son lenguas minoritarias, en muchas ocasiones estigmatizadas, cuyas valoraciones suelen ser negativas como consecuencia de estereotipos u opiniones desfavorables por parte de otros grupos, así como también por parte de sus mismos hablantes. Como resultado, los hablantes de las lenguas minoritarias, desplazadas por la lengua prestigiosa, prefieren no utilizarlas, ya sea porque no las consideran necesarias para la movilidad social o porque simplemente no se identifican con ellas al tener una autoimagen negativa. Este es el caso del criollo limonense, el cual es una lengua de base léxica inglesa vinculada a grupos migratorios provenientes de Jamaica. Ese grupo de jamaiquinos fue contratado por el estadounidense Minor Keith para la construcción del ferrocarril (San José-Atlántico) en 1872. En esa época el gobierno no tenía control de la provincia; eran los norteamericanos quienes regían Limón. Así, las lenguas utilizadas eran el inglés y el criollo jamaiquino, las cuales eran entidades separadas. Una vez terminada la construcción del ferrocarril, algunos jamaiquinos se quedaron en la provincia a trabajar en la United Fruit Company, responsable de la comercialización del banano, y en otras plantaciones. Consecuentemente, el criollo jamaiquino dio origen al criollo limonense. Con la salida de la United Fruit Company, el gobierno tomó el control y en 1948 les dio la ciudadanía a los jamaiquinos que habitaban Limón, pero esto trajo consigo políticas homogenizantes y de castellanización, con procesos graduales de aculturación y adquisición de nuevos valores lingüísticos, conocidos como actitudes y por mucho tiempo las asignadas a la lengua criolla fueron negativas. Por lo tanto, esta tesis aborda el tema de las actitudes lingüísticas hacia el criollo limonense por parte de dos grupos de afrocostarricenses con el fin de actualizar el panorama esbozado en investigaciones previas. Para tal propósito, se procedió a sistematizar las actitudes de acuerdo con las variables género y generación, siguiendo una metodología cualitativa con enfoque descriptivo y utilizando el método indirecto conocido como pares ocultos (matched-guise). Se contó con la participación de cuatro mujeres y cuatro hombres de veinte a cuarenta años y con cuatro mujeres y cuatro hombres de cincuenta años en adelante, quienes fungieron como jueces evaluadores al calificar sendas grabaciones de dos hablantes, una en español, otra en inglés y una última en criollo. El principal hallazgo consiste en que, de acuerdo con la variable género, fueron los hombres quienes calificaron a los(as) hablantes más favorablemente y, en lo relativo a la variable generación, fue el grupo de mayor edad quien siguió esta tendencia. Se parte de la premisa de que, al evaluar positivamente a los hablantes de una lengua, indirectamente se está evaluando positivamente la lengua en sí. A partir de los resultados, se concluye que las actitudes lingüísticas hacia el criollo limonense por parte de los jueces fueron mayoritariamente positivas. Un segundo hallazgo apunta a que el criollo fue calificado mejor que el inglés y el español, lo cual aporta a la conclusión de que las actitudes hacia la lengua criolla se mostraron como favorables, a diferencia de estudios previos en los que se ha encontrado que estas, en su mayoría, son negativas.
The province of Limón in Costa Rica is distinguished by its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, a result of successive waves of internal migration from the nation's other six provinces (San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago, Puntarenas, and Guanacaste), as well as international migration, predominantly from the West Indies, particularly Jamaica. Consequently, Limón has emerged as a locus of convergence for diverse ethnic groups, including indigenous Talamanca peoples, Hispanic descendants, Chinese immigrants, and notably, Afro-descendants, all of whom have integrated into Limón's societal life. Despite the preservation of each group’s respective language, Spanish maintains hegemonic status as the official language of the nation, relegating other languages to peripheral, minority positions. Such minority languages often endure stigmatization, characterized by negative stereotypes and perceptions, both externally (other linguistic groups) and internally (their own speaker) within their respective linguistic communities. This phenomenon has engendered a certain reticence among speakers of minority languages to actively utilize them, driven either by a perceived lack of pragmatic utility for social advancement or by an internalized sense of marginalization. A pertinent case in point is Limonese Creole, which exhibits a lexical foundation rooted in English. Notably, the influx of Jamaican migrants in 1872, contracted by the American entrepreneur Minor Keith for the construction of the San José-Atlantic railway, served as a seminal event in the genesis of Limonese Creole. During this epoch, governance of Limón was largely in the hands of Americans, fostering an environment where English and Jamaican Creole held sway. Following the completion of the railway, a segment of the Jamaican labor force chose to remain in Limón, contributing to the workforce of the United Fruit Company, a dominant entity in the banana trade, and other agricultural pursuits. However, the withdrawal of the United Fruit Company marked a transition in governance, with the Costa Rican government assuming control. Subsequently, in 1948, citizenship was conferred upon Jamaicans residing in Limón, accompanied by policies aimed at cultural assimilation and the promotion of Spanish, thereby precipitating a gradual acculturation process and the assimilation of new linguistic norms. This shift in governance heralded a transformation in attitudes toward Limonese Creole, hitherto burdened by negative societal perceptions. To elucidate contemporary perspectives, this study endeavors to examine linguistic attitudes toward Limonese Creole among two cohorts of Afro-Costa Ricans (four women and four men aged twenty to forty, and four women and four men aged fifty and older). Employing a qualitative methodology, attitudes were subjected to analysis through the prisms of gender and generational disparities, utilizing the matched-guise technique. Findings reveal a predilection among male participants to favorably evaluate speakers, with older generations exhibiting a similar predisposition. The positive appraisal of Creole speakers correlates with a broader favorable disposition toward the language itself, diverging from earlier studies that frequently depicted attitudes toward Creole languages in a negative light. Consequently, it is discerned that the linguistic attitudes toward Limonese Creole among the participants of this study lean distinctly toward the affirmative, signifying a divergence from historical perspectives.
The province of Limón in Costa Rica is distinguished by its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, a result of successive waves of internal migration from the nation's other six provinces (San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago, Puntarenas, and Guanacaste), as well as international migration, predominantly from the West Indies, particularly Jamaica. Consequently, Limón has emerged as a locus of convergence for diverse ethnic groups, including indigenous Talamanca peoples, Hispanic descendants, Chinese immigrants, and notably, Afro-descendants, all of whom have integrated into Limón's societal life. Despite the preservation of each group’s respective language, Spanish maintains hegemonic status as the official language of the nation, relegating other languages to peripheral, minority positions. Such minority languages often endure stigmatization, characterized by negative stereotypes and perceptions, both externally (other linguistic groups) and internally (their own speaker) within their respective linguistic communities. This phenomenon has engendered a certain reticence among speakers of minority languages to actively utilize them, driven either by a perceived lack of pragmatic utility for social advancement or by an internalized sense of marginalization. A pertinent case in point is Limonese Creole, which exhibits a lexical foundation rooted in English. Notably, the influx of Jamaican migrants in 1872, contracted by the American entrepreneur Minor Keith for the construction of the San José-Atlantic railway, served as a seminal event in the genesis of Limonese Creole. During this epoch, governance of Limón was largely in the hands of Americans, fostering an environment where English and Jamaican Creole held sway. Following the completion of the railway, a segment of the Jamaican labor force chose to remain in Limón, contributing to the workforce of the United Fruit Company, a dominant entity in the banana trade, and other agricultural pursuits. However, the withdrawal of the United Fruit Company marked a transition in governance, with the Costa Rican government assuming control. Subsequently, in 1948, citizenship was conferred upon Jamaicans residing in Limón, accompanied by policies aimed at cultural assimilation and the promotion of Spanish, thereby precipitating a gradual acculturation process and the assimilation of new linguistic norms. This shift in governance heralded a transformation in attitudes toward Limonese Creole, hitherto burdened by negative societal perceptions. To elucidate contemporary perspectives, this study endeavors to examine linguistic attitudes toward Limonese Creole among two cohorts of Afro-Costa Ricans (four women and four men aged twenty to forty, and four women and four men aged fifty and older). Employing a qualitative methodology, attitudes were subjected to analysis through the prisms of gender and generational disparities, utilizing the matched-guise technique. Findings reveal a predilection among male participants to favorably evaluate speakers, with older generations exhibiting a similar predisposition. The positive appraisal of Creole speakers correlates with a broader favorable disposition toward the language itself, diverging from earlier studies that frequently depicted attitudes toward Creole languages in a negative light. Consequently, it is discerned that the linguistic attitudes toward Limonese Creole among the participants of this study lean distinctly toward the affirmative, signifying a divergence from historical perspectives.