Paper short abstract:

This presentation explores current alternative strategies to formal education and legislation with a view to revalorising and revitalising Yucatec Maya in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.

Paper long abstract:

As a consequence of growing indigenous mobilisation in Mexico, particularly after the Zapatista uprising in 1994, there have been significant legislative changes concerning indigenous languages and cultures in Mexico. Thus, article 2 of the Mexican Constitution was amended in 2001 to acknowledge the contribution of indigenous peoples to the multicultural composition of that country. In 2003 the Law of Education was reformed to include a paragraph stating that speakers of indigenous languages will have access to compulsory education both in their own language and in Spanish. Also in 2003, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples was approved, becoming the first official legislative text that explicitly addresses the promotion of indigenous languages in Mexico. Two years later the National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI) was created in Mexico City with the aim of cataloguing and standardising the indigenous languages of Mexico. All these top down initiatives, which stem from official institutions, may have a positive impact on the public recognition of indigenous languages but they also have enormous limitations for actual language revitalisation on the ground. Against this background, this presentation will look at current efforts to promote Maya in alternative domains of use to formal education such as the Internet, social media, the radio and popular culture. Adopting a microlevel perspective, this presentation will look at grassroots initiatives that focus on local contexts, horizontal linguistic practices, and speakers as the final agents of language management.