Abstract

This dissertation examines the Spanish-language practices that developed in the context of U.S. economic expansionism toward Latin America from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. The study centers on St. Louis, Missouri, a driving force behind this commercial crusade, and pieces together the city’s rich Spanish-language archive, comprising periodical publications, educational publishing, Latin American clubs, translation, and language teaching. I suggest that within this myriad of practices lie the untold stories of belonging, negotiation, and veiled resistance of the Spanish speakers who participated in this hemispheric drama as teachers, interpreters, and translators. Employing archival research, microhistory, and the cultural analysis of these practices, I argue that Spanish speakers strategically used their linguistic competence to find a space of enfranchisement in the U.S. American national project. Furthermore, I maintain that the public performance of Spanish by the Anglo-American participants in these clubs served as an important laboratory for hemispheric and imperial imaginings; a practice for grappling with the heightened connectivity between the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere towards the end of the nineteenth century. This project analyzes Spanish as practiced by both L1 and L2 speakers in the nineteenth century and thus provides insight into the co-constructedness of Spanish-language ideologies in the U.S. during that period.

Committee Chair

Ignacio Sánchez Prado

Committee Members

Anna Nogar; Elzbieta Sklodowska; Javier García-Liendo; William Acree

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Author's Department

Romance Languages and Literature: Hispanic Studies

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

12-18-2025

Language

English (en)

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Available for download on Friday, December 17, 2027

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