Ethnic Czechs in Argentina: Heritage, Language, and Culture 12,000 km Away from the Homeland of Their Ancestors
Abstract
The presentation touches the issues of Czech language acquisition, maintenance, and possible attrition among heritage speakers of Czech in Argentina. It is based on analysis reviewing a database that contains transcripts of nearly 350 pages from about 40 hours of biographical recordings from members of the oldest generations of ethnic Czechs in Argentina.
After a brief introduction to the socio-historical context, it focuses on the environment and situations in which the descendants of Czechoslovak emigrants had the opportunity to maintain contact with the language of ancestors, and what importance the national institutions (such as ethnic Czech organizations, minority schools, etc.) had in preserving the language at an individual level. Heritage speakers, whose families have lived circa 80-110 years outside the Czech lands, reflect on how, and under what conditions, they and their ancestors managed to transmit the Czech language to subsequent generations.