Voice and Nation in Plurinational Bolivia - (Bloomsbury Studies in Linguistic Anthropology) by Karl Swinehart (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This ethnographic account of Indigenous language activism explores how Aymara media and cultural workers combat the threat of language obsolescence by making the language audible in diverse corners of Aymara life. Drawing on research conducted among Aymara language radio broadcasters, hip hop artists, and community members, it also examines the role Indigenous multilingualism plays in Bolivian politics"--

Book Synopsis

This book offers ethnographic accounts of Aymara language media activism in Bolivia during the presidency of Evo Morales (2006-2019). It draws on research conducted among Aymara language radio broadcasters, hip hop artists, and community members during a period of radical social change and Indigenous political resurgence (pachakuti) in South America's most Indigenous republic.


The Plurinational Republic of Bolivia counts Aymara among its official languages, but Aymara's social status and transmission to newer generations raise concerns about whether, despite being one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages of the Americas, the threat of language obsolescence persists. This ethnographic account of Indigenous language activism shows how Aymara media and cultural workers combat this threat by making the language audible in diverse corners of Aymara life and examines the role Indigenous multilingualism plays in Bolivian politics. Through interviews and analysis of Aymara media texts, this study shows how language professionals determine how "the voice of the people" should sound. By introducing neologisms and archaicisms to avoid mixing Aymara with Spanish, Aymara language professionals disseminate a register of dehispanicized Aymara over the airwaves. The study reveals how these language professionals approach cultivating Aymara as more than a question of linguistic competence, but also of political commitment and anti-racist practice.

Organized into two sections, one on radio and one on song, and including clear explanations and illustrations of key concepts in linguistic anthropology, this book listens to Aymara language advocacy from devout Catholics, union militants, and hip hop artists and fans, who hear in their language both the past and the future of Bolivia's Aymaras.

Review Quotes

Demonstrates how Aymara is a modern language in Bolivia, one that addresses very contemporary political and cultural challenges. Indigenous languages are in danger across the world but Voice and Nation shows how Aymara is vibrant, edgy, challenging, and socially and politically relevant in a modern world. - Professor Andrew Canessa, University of Essex, UK.

About the Author

Karl Swinehart is Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Humanities at the University of Louisville, USA.