Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With this vivid socio-linguistic study and dictionary, Stavans brings Spanglish out of el barrio and into the academy, where he has been "livin' la jerga loca" since he first taught a much-hyped course called "The Sounds of Spanglish" in the late '90s. Professor of Latin American and Latino culture at Amherst College, Stavans has made it his project to codify, analyze and celebrate the slang he defines as the "encounter between cultures that is also a record of abundant past transactions." The result is this pan-Hispanic reference work, which includes a lively introduction and a lexicon of 4,500 words. In his introduction, Stavans, a Jewish Mexican immigrant, details how he fell in love with the rich, complex language. He compares Spanglish to jazz, Ebonics and Yiddish, peppering his analysis with anecdotes and slang as he considers the jargon's significance in terms of class and Latino identity. Stavans's introductory essay examines the historical context of Spanglish, tracing it to the U.S. annexation of Mexican territories in the early to mid-19th century. (The essay also offers a brief history of Spanish in the New World and of Spanish-language lexicography.) As for the debate over this evolving language (critics say it indicates a "broken frame of mind," hinders successful assimilation, and desecrates a noble language, while celebrants view Spanglish as "a positive manifestation of the Hispanic spirit") Stavans emphatically lands in the latter camp. From abajar (to descend) to zumear (to zoom), the entries in the dictionary include pronunciation, part of speech, gender, translation, Spanish or English root, and the occasional illustrative sentence. Stavans also includes his controversial Spanglish translation of the first chapter of Don Quixote. This volume should prompt spirited discussion among students of linguistics and Latin American studies. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Review by Library Journal Review
Stavans (Latin American culture, Amherst Coll.), the author of many well-respected books of fiction, translation, cartoons, anthologies, literary editions, and criticism, has spent a decade studying the verbal encounters between the Anglo and Hispanic cultures. In this provocative work, he establishes the variety, vitality, and complexity of the resulting language-Spanglish. In an introductory essay, he describes the sources and uses of the language, its social and economic consequences, and the controversies surrounding it. The bulk of the book is taken up with the first serious lexicon of this new language. It is the result of years of fieldwork and library research (only terms that have been documented or tape-recorded from three sources are included). The lexicon contains over 2000 entries, each of which includes pronunciation, alternative spellings, part of speech, language of origin, and, in some cases, the national group or state where the term began. In a few cases, the date of first appearance is also given. Rounding out the volume is the author's Spanglish translation of the first chapter of Don Quixote. This intriguing first real attempt to describe Spanglish will be a useful purchase for academic and large public libraries.-Paul D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
