A Cultural - Linguistic Model of Analysis of Bilingualism in Literary Discourse

Abstract

Cultural identity of peoples and individuals has been threatened by the continuous migrations, mainly from under-developed to developed countries. Therefore, it is an issue of current importance that has been approached from different fields of study. However, the study of this phenomenon from the linguistic perspective is insufficient, even when language is one of the vital pillars of identity. The use of language in the Cuban-American literature is a way of representing the cultural hybridism of Cuban immigrants in the United States. Hence, the objective of this research is to propose a cultural-linguistic model of analysis of bilingualism in the discourse of Cuban-American authors as a representation of cultural identity, illustrated through the analysis of bilingualism in Next Year in Cuba, a representative Cuban-American literary work. The hermeneutic-dialectic approach has been present throughout this research which has permitted the transit from observation, comprehension, explanation, and interpretation. Through this model it has been possible to demonstrate that bilingualism is a feature of linguistic identity that expresses the bicultural identity of immigrants of Cuban origin in the United States.