Introduction
Hispandering is simply a term that is often used by political candidates as one of the campaign techniques (Scott, 2005). In addition to this, there is also another term commonly used referred to Mock Spanish which is simply an attempt at communication between individuals from Spanish speaking and English speakers in such a way that it integrates a lackadaisical use of both Spanish and English (Scott, 2005). The essay seeks to analyze two examples of Hispandering using tools and concepts from Linguistic Anthropology, in particular addressing whether or not Hispandering is a form of Mock Spanish. Mock Spanish is a subset of Hispandering if the subliminal intention of the speaker is to denigrate or speak down to the Hispanic or Latino public, or through a lack of ability to use the language in a comprehensive fashion.
General background on Hispandering and Mock Spanish
According to Hymes (1973), mock Spanish has been established to be an attempt at communication between an individual from Spanish speaking and English speakers in such a way that it integrates the use of both Spanish and English. Mock Spanish in most instances is used between groups of individuals who have a limited knowledge of the other’s primary language. Mock Spanish, for example, has been argued to employ indexicality, Multifunctionality, Code Switching, Code Mixing among others (Hymes, 1973). Hispandering is commonly used and coined within the political arena, and this is specifically pointed towards the Hispanic/Latino speech community as a whole. Since in most instances they make use of the media, this political speech often is heard and affected to a large number of individuals.
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In this case, the use of Hispandering implies that a particular speaker in this a case a politician is trying to reach out to the entire Hispanic/Latino voting community and to impart the fact that the speaker is familiar and a member of their group. According to Hymes (1973), mock Spanish, on the other hand, is adopted by a smaller group and more familiar individuals particularly on one on one approach or a group of individuals sharing a certain commonality. In most occasions, Mock Spanish is often employed when one wishes to enhance his or her communication promptly. Mock Spanish can be said to be legitimate provided with the intention of the speaker is to learn the primary language of another group.
The term emerged around 2000 by one of the blogger’s Mickey Kraus – Slate Magazine and then later popularized by Linda Bentley a Sonoran News (Scott, 2005). Studies have established that this word together with its makeup seems significantly rudimentary, a mash-up of the words Hispanic and Pandering. The term is commonly used by politicians when making their speech with the aim of currying favor and votes from the Latinos and Hispanic communities. It is surprising that the utilization of this strategy only emerges during the campaign periods but later vanishes until the coming election
Example #1: description and analysis
Hillary Clinton is considered the queen of Hispandering and has pulled some antics with an aim to win over the votes of the Latinos. There was an instance she went as far as claiming to be just like our "Abuelas." There was an article that was titled, "7 Ways Hillary is Just like Your Abuela," but later the title was changed posted last year on her website which in the process angered a large number of the Latinos. To react to her post, they took to Twitter clapping back on the post, "Our Abuela Hillary" with the hashtag #Not My Abuela. In addition to this, last year during her campaigns, Hillary acquired some eye rolls in San Antonio after referring to herself as "Tu Hillary" and at the same time danced to JLo's "Let's Get Loud." Later one, Clinton was seen dancing at a rally in Washington Heights, a major Dominican neighborhood in New York (Latino USA , 2017).
Example #2: description and analysis
The press came out massively to mock Donald Trump Thursday for declaring on the Cinco de Mayo that he "loves Hispanics," however, the media subdued last year when it was Hillary Clinton who tried her hand at "Hispandering. Happy [Cinco De Mayo]!" the media commentators were quick to jeer the presidential candidates for the last note on the holiday message. Evidently, the tweet seems highly offensive ranging from the fake Mexican food to the cringe-worthy last line, “I love Hispanics” which screamed pandering (Latino USA , 2017). The tweet can be said to fall into the category of Hispandering which is the act of pandering to Hispanics. The presidential candidates in most instances try as much to deny and excuse the behavior Hispandering by denying it or even claiming that they are only trying to reach individuals from these communities. There is absolutely nothing wrong with pandering, but the best strategy for the candidates to reach the voters is by engaging them and speaking to them concerning issues that might be affecting them. Hoverer, Hispandering has been argued to rely more on the stereotypes, generational and even misinformation. The other example of Trump's Hispandering is noted when Myriam Witcher a Columbian immigrant went on stage during the rally held by Trump in Las Vegas expressing her absolute and sincere support for Trump stating, Trump loves Hispanics and Hispanics love him. This encounter was considered awkward and staged when she came out saying, "I am Hispanic, and I vote for Mr Trump!" (Latino USA , 2017). It is important to focus critically on nature, purse, and setting at which an individual used Hispandering to determine whether it qualifies it as a Mock Spanish not. But in most instances, Mock Spanish will be adopted when a person has a particular objective or interest to learn the language rather than just to woo the citizens to vote for you.
Discussion and summary
The examples above have shown the influence of language ideology on Hispandering. It can be stated that the competing function of the Spanish clearly serves to reinforce the notion of racial segregation in addition to the massive disparity in the economic sphere. According to Hymes (1973), the Anglo utilization of Mock Spanish to guide a specific Anglo ethnic position limits the Spanish’s capability to accomplish the function of communication. It is worth noting that the Mock Spanish principles emphasize the notion of racial inequality by hampering the Latino workforce agency (Hill, 1998). Despite the fact that Anglo utilizes Spanish may be considered as a strategy to limit Spanish speakers’ agencies, Latino worker force employs Spanish to come up with a linguistic option market where an individual agency will be emphasized in a unique way.
Language ideology tends to play a critical role in setting down “white public space” using some strategies including Mock Spanish (Hill, 1998). Despite the fact that, Mock Spanish often carry with it unenthusiastic communication, Mock Spanish speaker is probably to focus on their Spanish utilization as indexing affirmative individual traits. In a more general view it can be argued that Mock Spanish achieves the “elevation of whiteness” in the following distinct ways: first, by indexing the core individualistic traits of a particular speaker directly although outstandingly. Secondly is by the indirect indexicality which is considered a primary source of pessimistic information. Indirect indexicality has been argued to be the source of Mock Spanish constructs “White public space,” a ground where potential linguistic turmoil, particularly among the Whites, is considered imperceptible and highly normative (Hill, 1998). This, therefore, points to the direction that Hispandering is not necessarily a form of Mock Spanish.
According to Hymes (1973), a Mock Spanish is a subset of Hispandering if the subliminal intention of the speaker is to denigrate or speak down to the Hispanic or Latino public, or through a lack of ability to use the language in a comprehensive fashion. From the above examples focusing on Trump and Clinton, it is evident that they increasingly made use of Hispandering while trying to woo the voters to vote for them but this does not necessarily qualify these aspects of communication as Mock Spanish.
Conclusion
The essay has critically focused on the concept of Hispandering and Mock Spanish through focusing on two major examples of Hispandering using tools and concepts from Linguistic Anthropology, in particular addressing whether or not Hispandering is a form of Mock Spanish. The examples provided above focuses on two major presidential candidates who were Trump and Clinton. Mock Spanish has thus be established as a subset of Hispandering particularly if the subliminal intention of the speaker is specifically to denigrate or speak down to the Hispanic or Latino public, or through a lack of ability to use the language in a comprehensive fashion. Hispandering is commonly used during the election to win the voter's attention to voting for them and vanishes after the end of the election period. Despite the fact that the use of Hispandering might not be wrong, it has been associated with increasing racial discrimination and segregation.
References
Collins, P. H., Frankenberg, R., Dent, G., & Wallace, M. (1995). White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness.
Hill, J. H. (1998). Language, race, and white public space. American anthropologist , 100 (3), 680-689.
Hymes, D. (1973). Speech and language: On the origins and foundations of inequality among speakers. Daedalus , 59-85.
Latino USA . (2017). The Top Five Hispandering Moments of 2015 - Latino USA . Retrieved 14 February 2017, from http://latinousa.org/2015/10/30/the-top-five- hispandering- moments-of-2015/
Scott, D. (2005). Protest email as alternative media in the 2004 US presidential campaign. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture , 2 (1).
