Paper short abstract:

Presenting the multifaceted implications of globalization for language maintenance of Yucatec Maya, this paper intends to discuss a general framework for considering vitality of indigenous languages in the present age characterized by mass migration and electronic mediation.

Paper long abstract:

Globalization manifested in increased mobility of speakers and intensive use of electronic media in a majority language is commonly considered to threaten the vitality of indigenous languages worldwide.

To a certain degree, this assumption also applies to the current language situation in Yucatan (Mexico), which is characterized by gradual shift from Yucatec Maya to Spanish. Besides insufficient representation of the vernacular in school education and other local public domains, interruption of language transmission should also be seen in the context of social changes which are increasingly articulated with global processes. In many Maya speaking communities in Yucatan, the habitus for language socialization of children has been radically transformed in recent decades, owing to a dramatic increase in indigenous labor migration in the course of the transnational tourism development in the Mexican Caribbean as well as spread of electronic media to the rural area.

The discourse of cultural imperialism would be one possibility to explain the gradual abandonment of Maya in an age of globalization. However, a close inspection reveals that the same processes also contribute to expansion of the language beyond the community boundaries. In Yucatan, this dimension of globalization can, for example, be seen in speakers' increased reference to "Maya" as self-identity, which is capable of transcending geopolitical and social divisions.

Presenting the multifaceted implications of globalization for language maintenance of Yucatec Maya, this paper intends to discuss a general framework for considering vitality of indigenous languages in the present age characterized by mass migration and electronic mediation.