Empanadas, Pupusas, and Greens on the Side: Language and Latinidad in the Nation’s Capital

A new framework for understanding how language and identity intersect in ever-evolving America

In the 1980s, Washington, DC-a predominantly African American, racially and economically segregated city with a strong local Black culture-became a hub of Latin American immigration. As the city’s communities interacted, an identity both unique to DC and reflective of diverse Latin American cultures was born.

Empanadas, Pupusas, and Greens on the Side is the first linguistics book to explore how the Latinx community forged a new sense of home and identity in Washington. Using original ethnographic research-including interviews, narratives, and surveys-Tseng develops a new framework for understanding the relationship between race, identity, language, and culture, and she explains what happens when communities interact.

Readers interested in the cultural history of Washington, Latinx history, and language and society will enjoy this rich study of language as a cross-cultural current in ever-evolving America.

Amelia Tseng is assistant professor of linguistics and Spanish in the Department of World Languages and Spanish at American University, where she is also and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Anthropology and the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies. She coedited Bilingualism for All? Raciolinguistic Perspectives on Dual Language Education in the United States, with Nelson Flores and Nicholas Subtirelu (2020).