“This superb study reveals the linguistic, sociopolitical, and cultural complexity confronted by Quechua and Spanish speakers and by Quechua-Spanish bilinguals in central Bolivia.”—Choice
“This book is a model of both rigorous interdisciplinary research, and compassionate, engaged ethnography.”—Anthropological Linguistics
"(This book) is a lovely portrait of a community and how language is part of its social fabric, demonstrating not only that language and the social are inseparable, but also how they interact."—Scott Kiesling, Language in Society
“Babel’s engaging and insightful analysis highlights the complexity inherent in linguistic and cultural contact. This beautifully written ethnography will be a crucial resource for linguistic anthropologists and scholars of Latin America.”—Rusty Barrett, author of From Drag Queens to Leathermen: Language, Gender, and Gay Male Subcultures
“An innovative book, grounded in ethnography, while never losing sight of the linguistic details that pervade and inform our social world. One hopes that more books will be written in this spirit.”—Anthony K. Webster, author of Intimate Grammars: An Ethnography of Navajo Poetry
“(This) book constitutes a valuable example of how linguistic anthropology can enrich Andean sociolinguistics in Latin America by moving away from the positivist, modernist linguistics that still haunts the field (Lewis 2018) and by providing an interdisciplinary account that should interest sociolinguists, linguistic anthropologists and scholars of Latin American Studies from both the global north and the global south.”—Virginia Zavala, Wiley
“… the author skilfully reveals the social structural nuances underpinning Quechua–Spanish bilingual language habits in a part of the Andes that is neither quite Andes nor quite Amazonia. From the perspective of Andeanist ethnography and linguistic anthropology alike, the book provides a refreshingly new perspective.”—Rosaleen Howard, Journal of Latin American Studies
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