The present project studies the Korean-Spanish bilingual community in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The paper investigates the history of their transnational diaspora and mobility, the complexity of their ethnic identity construction and their language profile.
Title: “Transnational Mobility, Ethnic Identity and Language of Korean Community in Argentina” The present project studies the growing number of new immigrants in South America, specifically the Korean-Spanish bilingual community in Buenos Aires, Argentina, home to the largest Korean diaspora community in Spanish-speaking Latin America. The paper investigates the history of their transnational diaspora and mobility, the construction and interpretation of their ethnic identity and language profile. It discusses the diachronic accounts of the Korean diaspora to the Southwestern Hemisphere during the mid-20thcentury that marked the beginning of the massive flow of labor and family migration. The study carefully considers numerous factors that intertwine migrant’s experience and self-construction in the process of migration and settlement. The project is based on the survey data of 365 participants from the first, 1.5 and second generations of Korean minority community in Buenos Aires. A strong native/heritage language maintenance and a high level of self-defined Korean ethnicity are observed. Such outcome is motivated by "instrumental" causes. Moreover, the examination of this diaspora community's linguistic profile and their ethnicity indicates a close correlation between language and identity. The study also shows the complexity of identity construction of a minority group and how processes of self-identification are transient, contingent, and continual, always constrained by social structures from the societies in which they are actively and passively participating.
