ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the links between language and race through the language ideologies constructed by fifth-year secondary school students in Lima from two different socioeconomic groups. A comparative analysis of their discourses, the discursive strategies they employ, and their projected identities show four predominant language ideologies; although some of these come into conflict, they all coincide over the superiority of lengua culta [“educated” language]. By creating a dichotomous distinction between social groups with power differences, a racialized discourse is constructed, even though beliefs about race are not directly evoked. This racial differentiation is camouflaged not only by way of cultural classification, but also in the categorization of ways of speaking, which are a specific cultural practice.
