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Coming of Age as Syrian Jewish Mexicans
The Pragmatics of Diaspora
Series: - Jewish Latin America, Volume: 20
Author:
Coming of Age as Syrian Jewish Mexicans is a linguistic ethnography of Shami and Halebi Jews in contemporary Mexico City. Through a focus on language in everyday life â including narrative, humor, and Arabic and Hebrew âheritage wordsâ - the book explores how young adults negotiate oft-stigmatized, diasporic identities amid national shifts toward neoliberalism and the transnational expansion of Jewish ultra-Orthodoxy. Accessible yet richly theorized, the book introduces linguistic anthropological concepts and guides readers through their application to audiovisual data. This innovative approach promotes empathetic understanding of a lesser-known Jewish Latin American context and opens new lines of inquiry into the phenomenon of diaspora in a rapidly changing world.
Evelyn MarÃa Dean-Olmsted is a linguistic anthropologist whose academic work explores the interplay of language, social identity, and broader structural factors. She serves on the advisory board of the The Jewish Language Project and is active in the Latin American Jewish Studies Association (LAJSA). Her professional experience spans higher education, applied research, community engagement, and research communications.
Acknowledgments
List of Tables and Figures
Notes on Orthography and Transcription Conventions
Introduction: Exploring Commonsense Contradictions through Language and Culture
1 Mexican, Jewish, and Arab: A Political-Semantic History
2 ¿Y tú qué eres? Navigating Jewish Mexico City
3 Lâheavek: Rethinking Religious Modernities
4 Darth Vader as Argentine Rabbi: Jewish Mexican Communicative Repertoires in Action
5 ¡Jaram! Arabic Heritage Words in the Jewish Mexican Lexicon
6 It Was (Never) Relajo: Diasporic Chronotope and the Social Work of Jewish Mexican Ethnic Joking
7 Jews and the Suburbs: Shami and Halebi Students at a Catholic University
Conclusions
References
Index
List of Tables and Figures
Notes on Orthography and Transcription Conventions
Introduction: Exploring Commonsense Contradictions through Language and Culture
1 Mexican, Jewish, and Arab: A Political-Semantic History
2 ¿Y tú qué eres? Navigating Jewish Mexico City
3 Lâheavek: Rethinking Religious Modernities
4 Darth Vader as Argentine Rabbi: Jewish Mexican Communicative Repertoires in Action
5 ¡Jaram! Arabic Heritage Words in the Jewish Mexican Lexicon
6 It Was (Never) Relajo: Diasporic Chronotope and the Social Work of Jewish Mexican Ethnic Joking
7 Jews and the Suburbs: Shami and Halebi Students at a Catholic University
Conclusions
References
Index
The book is of interest primarily to students and scholars of Jewish studies and Latin American studies, as well as those in fields of sociocultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and sociolinguistics.