{"id":163,"date":"2009-10-17T10:15:33","date_gmt":"2009-10-17T08:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elanguage.net\/blogs\/booknotices\/?p=163"},"modified":"2010-07-21T10:20:58","modified_gmt":"2010-07-21T08:20:58","slug":"racism-and-discourse-in-spain-and-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/?p=163","title":{"rendered":"Racism and discourse in Spain and Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"
Racism and discourse in Spain and Latin America.<\/strong> By Teun A. van Dijk<\/strong>. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2005. Pp. 197. ISBN 9027227047<\/a>. $126.<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Sara McElmurry<\/strong>, Northeastern Illinois<\/em> University<\/em><\/p>\n

In an age when being politically correct is politically correct, Teun A. van Dijk\u2019s Racism and discourse in Spain and Latin America <\/em>examines the racist undertones that still readily permeate elite discourse in Spain and several Latin American nations. D synthesizes examples from a variety of sources\u2014including the press, political commentary, popular culture, education, and everyday conversation\u2014to explore racist \u2018us\u2019 versus \u2018them\u2019 themes stemming from both generations-old historical structures and recent immigration trends in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. D also draws from examples of racist discourse in Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Peru.<\/p>\n

In Ch 1, \u2018Racism and discourse\u2019 (1\u201312), D opens with a reflection on racism, recognizing that although racism may present itself in discourse, its manifestations\u2014including discrimination, marginalization, violence, and exclusion\u2014extend far beyond the scope of discourse or language. Furthermore, D argues that discourse is often to blame for the reproduction of racism: \u2018we all learn to be racist (or antiracist) through children\u2019s literature, movies, TV programs, textbooks, conversations with friends, news reports and opinion articles, and so on\u2019 (9).<\/p>\n

D maintains that racism in its varying forms stems from polarized beliefs about ingroups (\u2018us\u2019) and outgroups (\u2018them\u2019). In Spain, as outlined in Ch. 2, \u2018Elite discourse and racism in Spain\u2019 (13\u201382), \u2018us\u2019 is a group of elite whites, while \u2018them\u2019 has traditionally included a Muslim, Arab, and Roman\u00ed (gitano<\/em>) minority group. More recently, \u2018them\u2019 also includes new groups of immigrants from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Racism is particularly highlighted in regions such as Catalonia and Andalusia, where immigration is considered a threat to autonomous identity, language, and culture.<\/p>\n

In Ch. 2, D presents an analysis of discourse taken from the Spanish mass media, politicians, employers, academia, and the Catholic Church and concludes that while most discourse may not be blatantly racist, racism exists in most domains of society, especially toward new immigrant groups. Discourse surrounding immigration focuses on illegal<\/strong> immigration (rather than \u2018regular\u2019 immigration), crime, stereotypes, and cultural differences.<\/p>\n

In Ch. 3, \u2018Elite discourse and racism in Latin America\u2019 (83\u2013163), D reveals that the same racist trends hold true in Latin America, but the target of the racism in these countries is not new immigrants (with the exception of Koreans in Argentina). Rather, analysis of discourse from a variety of sources reveals underlying racist statements toward various indigenous groups, along with blacks in Brazil. Indigenous and black sources are rarely cited in newspapers; these groups are often associated with crime and are readily portrayed as victims in media coverage and in popular culture. In many Latin American countries, race is intertwined with class, with the latter often used by elites to justify inequalities in their countries.<\/p>\n

While D holds politicians, the media, and academia responsible for eliminating racism in Spanish and Latin American society, he also calls for more research in the areas of discursive racism and ethnic relations. According to D, only a combined effort can effectively combat racism across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Racism and discourse in Spain and Latin America. By Teun A. van Dijk. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2005. Pp. 197. ISBN 9027227047. $126. Reviewed by Sara McElmurry, Northeastern Illinois University In an age when being politically correct is politically correct, Teun A. van Dijk\u2019s Racism and discourse in Spain and Latin America examines the racist undertones […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":903,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}