Enduring Dual Linguistic Terrorism: Critical Language Testimonios of Latina Scholars

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Leveraging Intersectional Identity to Name and Resist Dominant Narratives in Formal and Informal Education Spaces

Abstract

This paper explores our linguistic experiences as two young Latine PhD scholars engaged in critical language research. We utilize Anzaldua and Keating’s (2002) “Seven Stages of Conocimiento” framework to highlight the arrebatos, nepantla searching, and storytelling within our experiences that are associated with linguistic terrorism (Anzaldua, 1987) in both Spanish and English. In alignment with Critical Feminist Epistemologies, we employ testimonios as a methodological approach that captures our journeys correctly and authentically, while allowing us to heal from the linguistic terrorism we have experienced. Findings from this study reveal the complex nature of engaging in work that is meaningful for ourselves and our communities, while navigating years' worth of suppressed memories that have been shaped by White Hegemonic forces.

Authors

• Esmeralda Muñoz, University of California - Riverside

• Sofia Lisseth Rivas, University of California - Riverside