Language revitalization as a postponed aspiration: anti-essentialist ethnolinguistic identity among Aymaras in Bolivia

Abstract

Abstract Twenty-first century Bolivia witnessed indigenous resurgence and state promotion of indigenous languages. This article ethnographically examines the impact of these processes on indigenous language revitalization and ethnolinguistic identities in urban spaces. It reveals that language attrition continues because indigenous resurgence occurred at a time when language shift from Aymara to Spanish had already occurred in most households and schools were considered the spaces for learning Aymara. Moreover, although indigenous identity continues to be linked to language, linguistic proficiency no longer determines Aymara identity in a reductionist sense. Most contemporary Aymaras deploy a rhetoric that historically contextualizes the process of language attrition, thereby, asserting an anti-essentialist ethnolinguistic identity. This enables learning Aymara to be an aspiration that is highly valued but can be endlessly postponed. The article points out the limitations of state-led language revitalization policies and calls for creating synergies between state planning from above and communitarian initiatives from below.