Abstract

Inspired by Hill's work on the uses of Spanish among Anglo-Americans, this article exposes ‘Household Spanish’ as a discursive site for the reproduction of racism and social order. Also called ‘domestic’ discourse, this use of Spanish consists largely of one-way directives given by native English-speaking, middle-to-upper class homeowners who intend to ‘communicate’ with their Spanish-speaking housekeepers and gardeners. This domestic discourse has, for many years, been taught and sold as pocket-sized mini-textbooks; these are tremendously appreciated by busy, time-tied homeowners for their brevity and approachability. The author investigates one such text so popular that it has been newly republished. A critical look into Harvey's Household Spanish aims to provide an introduction to the teaching and culture of domestic discourse, including a historical overview of the US Spanish-speaking domestic labor force. Discussions of indexicality and the elevation of Whiteness follow, as well as, of course, close discourse analyses of particular Household Spanish examples.