Article,
Linguistic Capital and the Currency of Spanish in Hispanic Advertising Production
Journal of Communication Inquiry, 38 (1): 25--43 (January 2014)
DOI: 10.1177/0196859913511989
Abstract
This study examines how advertising intended for U.S. Latinos is indelibly shaped by the interaction between Hispanic agencies and their English monolingual clients. Although previous research on Hispanic advertising has typically focused on the psychological state of the speaker, less attention has been paid to the social consequences of speech. Using Bourdieu's theory of practice as an analytical framework, qualitative interviews were conducted with 34 advertising practitioners. The testimonies reveal that in limited contexts within the production of Hispanic advertising, practitioners' knowledge of Spanish serves as a form of linguistic capital, which they have been able to successfully convert into economic capital. However, the value associated with speaking Spanish is relatively constrained due to language ideologies at play in the larger social space. In this class-stratified, multilingual professional community, more powerful English monolinguals maintain strict control over Spanish language messages. This is made possible by formal and informal practices built into the production process.
