Dissertation Research: Texas Czech: An Ethnolinguistic Study

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The purpose of this project is to conduct fieldwork on Czech language use among third, fourth, and fifth generation Texas Czechs in order to explore its significance for ethnic identity. This research will contribute to our understanding of the place of language change and language loss in the process of redefining what it means to be a Texas Czech. It aims to reassess historically motivated perceptions of Czechness among the descendants of Moravian immigrants, and provide insight into their reasoning about discontinued language transmission and shifting definitions of Czech speakers. Such ethnolinguistic study is especially timely because the current--and perhaps last- -adult generations of Texas Czech speakers experienced the most concerted attempts at purposeful public language revival, allowing the researcher to examine its impact on their self- and other-perceived identity, as well as their language skills and attitudes. In order to retrieve community members' own views, participant observation will combine discourse-centered and sociolinguistic methods, using audiotaping of naturally occurring and elicited speech, and ethnographic notes. This project will contribute a new linguistic-anthropological perspective to the study of the place of immigrant languages in American ethnic communities.