Throughout this entire process my blog has changed around quite a bit. This is something that occurs regularly with anthropological studies. One topic or theme can evolve into so many different focuses during the course of research and field work. I personally experienced this evolution during these past few months working on my blog.
My main focus was connecting languages to identity, along with key problems and benefits regarding this connection. There were some aspects of my blog that I couldn't touch on with my interviews such as the loss of traditional indigenous languages in a rapidly modernizing world. New generations feel pressure to adapt to this changing world in order to succeed, this includes not taking interest in traditions, customs, or languages of their ancestors. I do believe that a variation of this idea can be seen in my interview with "M". The high school students would not communicate with her in Spanish because they are adapted to their modern lifestyle here in the US which includes speaking English. The loss of language is not only occurring in Mexico with the indigenous languages but also here in the United States with the Spanish language. Of course there are plenty of examples to show that the Spanish language is used to help people connect and identify with one another. This connection is even stronger when people are in a foreign country without the language skills. People can connect and identify within one another because they are both experiencing the same confusion and stress of not knowing the language. This connection can be seen in my interview with "F" she told me that she always felt more comfortable around other Spanish speakers because they have more in common.
What I expected my blog to be and what my blog ended up being are completely two different things. I did find evidence to support my claim that language ties in with identity, along with the fact that language can unify people together along with creating divisions. I found it is much easier for people to unify and bond over sharing a language, "F" being my main example. What is more of a problem is the divisions that different languages can create, mainly between Spanish and English. The US and Mexico are two different worlds yet we are all the same, we all strive for success. In a perfect world speaking Spanish here in the US wouldn't cause any problems and everyone would take Carlos Fuentes' quote to heart. That is a world that I want to be a part of.
