Situating the issue of language maintenance/loss from the perspective of a
social group's inclusion into the historical process of expanded capitalist
reproduction can go a long way toward explaining the particular case in
question.
In the Andean case the Spanish colonizers needed "labor power" from the
native peoples, particularly to work the mines of Huancavelica and Potosi.
Since the colonizers were numerically small, they basically adopted the
indigenous tributary labor systems, the mita, that had been extensively
developed by the Inca. These were administered by the native elites, the
curacas, who themselves were exempt from the forced labor schemes. Attempts
were made not only to culturally assimilate the curacas through education in
Spanish, these native nobles were also given privileges that Spaniards
enjoyed and "commoner" natives were denied: riding horses, carrying
weapons, etc. But do not forget that all were forced to abandon their
religion and adopt catholicism.
It could be said that the maintenance of native languages in the Andes was
an important component of the system of exploitation of labor. Furthermore,
since the Spaniards did not really come to "settle" per se, as did the
immigrants to North America, interbreeding and intermarriage were commmon.
The children of these unions were usually bilingual, but they were
numerically small compared to monolingual Quechua/Aymara speakers. When
strong ties to the world capitalist system weakened, regional Andean
economic systems flourished and basically everyone who lived in the Andes
spoke one or another variety of Quechua or Aymara. No external
articulation, no pressure to adopt another language.
The situation in Paraguay is somewhat more complex. Paraguay had nothing of
economic interest to the Spaniards. No mines and no regional markets to
create a demand for the products of weaving sweathouses or agricultural
haciendas. The Jesuits were given free reign there and the Jesuits were, to
quote John Belushi, "on a mission from God!" They managed to develop the
famous system of Guarani missions which produced important exports for
Europe between 1650 and 1750, including violins for Viennese symphonies and
yerba mate which was avidly consumed in Europe. Although the Jesuits may
have skimmed the profit, the missions were run communistically with native
leaders in charge of production decisions to some degree. Guarani was
basically the only language spoken in Paraguay for the first 150 years of
its development (there were numerous lesser tribal groups, true). Between
the expulsion of the Jesuits in the 1780s and the Independence period, the
tiny Spanish administrative elite that had developed in Asuncion created
large landholdings out of the missions. By now regional demand for
Paraguayan products (especially mate) made these hacienda potentially
profitable. But they didn't really prosper lacking the Jesuit organization.
After Independence Paraguay's first president and idealist dictator adopted
a policy of total isolationism which lasted roughly until 1854: no trade
with the external world, the return of all land to those who worked it, and
other policies prevailed that were not driven by the capitalist logic. This
firmly established and created a Guarani speaking peasantry out of the
originally horticultural Guarani who had been colonized into missions during
a two hundred year period. The story is very complex but the transition
from Spanish colony to independent state occurred in such a way that Guarani
remained the true national language.
In North America, native peoples were never seen primarily as sources of
labor power. Europeans came to settle here, not simply get as rich as
possible and return to the homeland. Native peoples were impediments to
the settlers' acquisition of the land, they were to be removed, and so the
whole ghastly story of genocide against them unfolded. It is interesting to
note, however, that in Canada, where again certain areas had basically no
importance to the expanded reproduction of the capitalist system, Cree
survived and is apparently still quite strong. I believe the CBC broadcasts
in the Cree language are quite common.
Point: Look to the pattern of incorporation of a region and its peoples for
a macro-perspective as to the maintenance or disappearance of native languages.
Paul
At 09:32 AM 9/23/96 -0800, you wrote:
There are
>places in the world where such a stable situation exists, Paraguay, for
>example.
>
>genevieve
>
>
>