Language and Muslim Immigrant Childhoods: The Politics of Belonging (Wiley Blackwell Studies in Discourse and Culture)

"This revealing analysis of everyday language use among Moroccan immigrant children in Spain explores their cultural and linguistic life-worlds as they develop a hybrid, yet coherent, sense of identity in their multilingual communities. The author shows how they adapt to the local ambivalence toward Muslim culture and increased surveillance by Spanish authorities. Offers ground-breaking research from linguistic anthropology charting the politics of childhood in Muslim immigrant communities in Spain Illuminates the contemporary debates concerning assimilation and alienation in Europe's immigrant Muslim and North African populations Provides an integrated blend of theory and empirical ethnographic data Enriches recent research on immigrant children with analyses of their sense of belonging, communicative practices, and emerging processes of identification"-- � Read more... Abstract: Documenting the everyday lives of Moroccan immigrant children in Spain, this in-depth study considers how its subjects navigate the social and political landscapes of family, neighborhood peer groups, and the institutions of their adopted country. � Read more... Cover 1 Series page 4 Title page 5 Copyright page 6 Dedication 7 Contents 9 Acknowledgments 10 1: Introduction 13 1.1 About this Introduction 16 1.2 Orientalism Revisited: North African and Muslim Immigrant Communities in Europe 17 1.3 The Everyday Landscapes of Immigrant Childhoods 21 1.4 Theoretical Paradigms for Understanding Difference and Belonging 25 1.5 A Linguistic Anthropological Lens on Negotiating Difference and Belonging 30 1.6 The Chapters in this Book 34 2: Moros en la Costa: The Moroccan Immigrant Diaspora in Spain 40 2.1 A Brief History of the Moroccan Immigrant Diaspora in Contemporary Spain 41 2.2 The Moroccan Immigrant Community in Vallenuevo 46 2.3 Communities of Origin of the Moroccan Immigrant Community in Vallenuevo 49 2.4 Contemporary Discourses About Moroccan Immigration in Spain 50 2.5 Between New “Convivencia”32 and New “Morofobia” 55 2.5 Welcome to “Vallemoro”: Myths and Realities about Life in the Community 63 3: Learning About Children’s Lives: A Note On Methodology 73 3.1 A Methodological Overview 75 3.2 Sites of Data Collection and My Ethnographic Role 77 3.2.1 The Public School 82 3.2.2 The Oratory-Mosque 85 3.2.3 The Health Center 86 3.2.4 The Households 87 3.2.5 The Peer Group 89 3.3 Participant Observation and Recording of Naturally-Occurring Interactions 92 3.4 Ethnographic Interviews 94 3.5 Collection of Site and Press-Media Documents 97 4: Moroccan Immigrant Childhoods in Vallenuevo 100 4.1 Snapshots of the Focal Children and their Families 101 4.1.1 Worda: The Responsible and Reliable One 103 4.1.2 Wafiya: The Firecracker 104 4.1.3 Sarah: The Newcomer 106 4.1.4 Karim: Always in Trouble 108 4.1.5 Mimon: The Computer-game Wiz 109 4.1.6 Kamal: The Athlete 111 4.2 The Contexts of Children’s Lives 115 4.2.1 School Contexts 115 4.2.2 Family Contexts 124 4.2.3 Neighborhood Contexts 131 5: The Public School: Ground Zero for the Politics of Inclusion 137 5.1 The Microgenesis of Social Markedness and Racialized Exclusion 146 5.2 Acusar (Tattling) 149 5.3 Mandatos (Peer Directives) 158 5.4 Echar Leña al Fuego (Fueling the Fire) 168 5.5 Moroccan Immigrant Children’s Reactions to Practices of Exclusion 180 5.6 Compliance and Silence 181 5.7 Denial and Confrontation 185 5.8 Conclusion 190 6: Learning How to Be Moroccans in Vallenuevo: Arabic and the Politics of Identity 195 6.1 A Tale of Two Teachers 195 6.2 The ArabicLanguage Teacher at the Public School 198 6.3 The Fqih 201 6.4 The Role of Classical/Standard Arabic in Everyday Life in the Community 203 6.5 The Politics of Moroccan-ness in Arabic-Language Classes 204 6.5.1 Literacy Practices and Instructional Organization 206 6.5.2 Teachers’ Treatment of Mistakes in Error-Correction Practices 214 6.5.3 Children’s Use of Moroccan Arabic 215 6.5.4 Children’s Misuse of Classical/Standard Arabic 220 6.5.5 Categorization of Students in Classroom Discourse 223 6.6 Conclusion 226 7: Becoming Translators of Culture: Moroccan Immigrant Children’s Experiences as Language Brokers 233 7.1 Just a Routine Medical Visit 233 7.2 Research on Immigrant Children as Language Brokers 238 7.3 From “Natural Translation” to Everyday Interpreting as an Interactional Achievement 241 7.4 Moroccan Immigrant Children’s Experiences as Language Brokers 243 7.4.1 Verbatim Translations vs. Selective Modification 244 7.4.2 Selective Modification vs. Linguistic Problems and Mistranslations 256 7.5 Conclusion 265 8: Heteroglossic Games: Imagining Selves and Voicing Possible Futures 269 8.1 Communicative Practices and Play in Children’s Peer Groups 273 8.2 Interactional Frames and Identity Construction in Pretend-Play 275 8.3 Patterns of Code Choice and Use: Managing Play and Interactional Frames 276 8.4 Linguistic Resources for the Construction of Social Identities and Life Worlds 281 8.4.1 Naming Practices 282 8.4.2 Register Shifts in “In-Character Dialogue” 286 8.4.3 Emplotment through Stage-Setting Narration and In-Character Dialogue 288 8.5 Ambivalent Stances and the Moral Inflection of Codes 291 8.6 The Peer Group as a Context for Language Socialization into Communicative Practices and Gendered Identities 293 8.7 Conclusion 297 9: Conclusion 301 9.1 Racialized Exclusion in Moroccan Immigrant Children’s Lives 303 9.2 Negotiating Membership and Belonging as the Outsiders’ Inside 309 9.3 A Final Note on Moroccan Immigrant Children’s Worlds and Agency 314 Appendix 1: Working with Video-Recorded Discourse Data 319 Appendix 2: Arabic Transliteration Symbols 322 References 323 Index 361 Language and Muslim Immigrant Childhoods Documenting the everyday lives of Moroccan immigrant children in Spain, this in-depth study considers how its subjects navigate the social and political landscapes of family, neighborhood peer groups, and the institutions of their adopted country. García-Sánchez compels us to rethink theories of language and racialization by offering a linguistic anthropological approach that illuminates the politics of childhood in Spain's growing communities of migrants. The author demonstrates that these Moroccan children walk a tightrope between sameness and difference, simultaneously participating in the cultural life of their immigrant community and that of a "host" society that is deeply ambivalent about contemporary migratory trends. The author evaluates the contemporary state of research on immigrant children and explores the dialectical relations between young Moroccan immigrants' everyday social interactions, and the broader cultural logic and socio-political discourses arising from integration and inclusion of the Muslim communities. Her work focuses in particular on children's modes of communication with teachers, peers, family members, friends, doctors, and religious figures in a society where Muslim immigrants are subject to increasing state surveillance. The project underscores the central relevance of studying immigrant children's day-to-day experience and linguistic praxis in tracing how the forces at work in transnational, diasporic settings have an impact on their sense of belonging, charting the links between the immediate contexts of their daily lives and their emerging processes of identification. This Revealing Analysis Of Everyday Language Use Among Moroccan Immigrant Children In Spain Explores Their Cultural And Linguistic Life-worlds As They Develop A Hybrid, Yet Coherent, Sense Of Identity In Their Multilingual Communities. The Author Shows How They Adapt To The Local Ambivalence Toward Muslim Culture And Increased Surveillance By Spanish Authorities. Offers Ground-breaking Research From Linguistic Anthropology Charting The Politics Of Childhood In Muslim Immigrant Communities In Spain. Illuminates The Contemporary Debates Concerning Assimilation And Alienation In Europe's Immigrant Muslim And North African Populations. Provides An Integrated Blend Of Theory And Empirical Ethnographic Data. Enriches Recent Research On Immigrant Children With Analyses Of Their Sense Of Belonging, Communicative Practices, And Emerging Processes Of Identification-- Inmaculada Ma García-sánchez. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

This revealing analysis of everyday language use among Moroccan immigrant children in Spain explores their cultural and linguistic life-worlds as they develop a hybrid, yet coherent, sense of identity in their multilingual communities. The author shows how they adapt to the local ambivalence toward Muslim culture and increased surveillance by Spanish authorities.

• Offers ground-breaking research from linguistic anthropology charting the politics of childhood in Muslim immigrant communities in Spain
• Illuminates the contemporary debates concerning assimilation and alienation in Europe's immigrant Muslim and North African populations
• Provides an integrated blend of theory and empirical ethnographic data
• Enriches recent research on immigrant children with analyses of their sense of belonging, communicative practices,and emerging processes of identification

"This revealing analysis of everyday language use among Moroccan immigrant children in Spain explores their cultural and linguistic life-worlds as they develop a hybrid, yet coherent, sense of identity in their multilingual communities. The author shows how they adapt to the local ambivalence toward Muslim culture and increased surveillance by Spanish authorities. Offers ground-breaking research from linguistic anthropology charting the politics of childhood in Muslim immigrant communities in Spain Illuminates the contemporary debates concerning assimilation and alienation in Europe's immigrant Muslim and North African populations Provides an integrated blend of theory and empirical ethnographic data Enriches recent research on immigrant children with analyses of their sense of belonging, communicative practices, and emerging processes of identification"-- Provided by publisher