Bilingualism in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Musical In the Heights
Isabelle Henning (2023)
Due to the huge and steadily growing population of Latinx immigrants in the US, Spanish is gaining more and more importance in daily communication. This role and the significance of bilingualism in the US are integral to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical In the Heights (2005, film adaptation 2021). It can be argued that the use of Spanish in the songs and dialogues contributes to a sense of community and belonging in the barrio of Washington Heights, while at the same time alienating some of the Broadway audiences.
For a discussion of Miranda’s musical, relevant terms such as Latinx, Latino/a, Hispanic, and Chicano need to be differentiated. While the older concept of Hispanic is based on the shared language of Spanish, Latino/a or Latinx refers to the geography of Latin America and the Caribbean, including non-Spanish-speaking countries (García 5). Latinx is based on “modern gender politics” (García 6) and consequently includes all genders in a denomination for people from the South American continent. According to García (3), some American immigrants prefer to identify themselves according to their home country as a way of expressing pride in their heritage. This is also depicted in In the Heights, for example in the song “Carnaval del Barrio.” However, terms like Chicanos or Boricuas have specific cultural meanings that should be respected and used only by members of those groups (García 4). Consequently, when referring to the whole community of In the Heights, the term Latinx indicates inclusivity. Furthermore, in the given context, the concept of transnationalism can be defined “as the construction of dense social fields across national borders as a result of circulation of people, ideas, practices, money, goods, and information” (Duany 2). It implies that immigrants express themselves by means of popular culture, including their native language, which results in “the dichotomy between aquí (‘here’) and allá (‘there’)” (Duany 59), as is reflected in the bilingualism of In the Heights.
In the musical, connection is established in the Latinx community by taking pride in one’s heritage through the expression of bilingualism and the use of authentic music. Miranda is able to convey emotions through the rhythms of Latinx music and rap or hip-hop (Ritchie 16), which stands out compared to other Broadway productions. This music gives the immigrants a voice to “regain control of and draw attention to their plight” (Ritchie 16) as a tight-knit community in Washington Heights. This is especially conveyed in “Carnaval del Barrio,” where different Latinx individuals come together to celebrate their heritage. As a result, they gain strength, indicating the “importance of communality to survival” (Gray 5) in difficult times such as heat waves that affect especially disadvantaged communities living without air conditioning. More importantly, a sense of community is established through the articulation of bilingualism in the forms of dialogues or lyrics in the musical.
In general, there are two different possibilities for the expression of bilingualism, lexical borrowing and code-switching (Anderson/Toribio 218), which both are to be found in In the Heights. Lexical borrowing relates to the inclusion of specific items of a language, like nouns or adjectives, in the target language (Anderson/Toribio 220), for example when they cannot be translated accordingly, as in the case of the flavoured ice “Piragua” (Rua). There is also inter- and intra-sentential code-switching, which describes the fact that “speakers activate different language modes – bilingual vs. unilingual – within a bilingual range” (Anderson/Toribio 220). This can be examined in the song “It Won’t Be Long Now” in Usnavi’s lines “Qué pasó? Here I go! / So dope! Y tú lo sabes! / No pare” (Barrera/Ramos/Diaz IV). Here, Usnavi switches from Spanish to English and back to Spanish as an indication of his emotional state.
Overall, both phenomena can be subsumed under different functions that can be fulfilled with the use of bilingualism to convey a notion of community. It is used “to educate the audience; to indicate extreme emotion; and to engage or alienate the audiences as necessary” (Rua). These functions, among others, have also been confirmed in Privette-Black’s analysis of code-switching in In the Heights. According to the first function, bilingualism is purposely implemented to convey culture-specific knowledge that is necessary to understand the contents of the musical and, consequentially, to initiate intercultural learning. The translation of culture specific items (CSI) is especially evident in the song “Piragua,” where the typical Puerto Rican treat is described, but no direct translation of the noun itself can be given (Rua). Another instance can be found in the song “Sunrise,” which is featured in the original Broadway production by Lin-Manuel Miranda. In the song, there is a literal Spanish lesson from Nina as the teacher to Benny, her student and love interest. She says one word in Spanish and Benny must translate it, which does not align with Latinx immigrants’ experiences in the American school system (Rua). In the musical, the Latinx community is portrayed as the majority, with Benny as the only outsider, whereas in the real world, people from Washington Heights are often discriminated against.
Furthermore, bilingualism is used in the musical to convey strong emotions and affection, as is the case with Usnavi’s lines in “It Won’t Be Long Now.” After having talked to Vanessa, Usnavi got the chance to go on a date with her thanks to Sonny, which is why he is overly excited. This is translated into an emotionally charged mixture of Spanish and English code-switching. Based on their shared Spanish language and mutual understanding, Usnavi is also bonding with Sonny in an emotional moment. Another instance of the emotional use of bilingualism can be identified in the Broadway version of the song “Inútil” when Nina’s father discovers that she dropped out of college (Rua). Due to his strong emotions, he uses the Spanish word “inútil” as the only instance of bilingualism, before finally replacing it with the English equivalent “useless.” This serves to illustrate his wish to blend into the American society, while he also pressures his daughter to do so. This duality of being part of the Latinx community in Washington Heights and trying to fit into the American ‘norm’ creates tension throughout the musical.
Finally, Spanish-English bilingualism is also used to establish a connection with audiences unfamiliar with Latinx communities. This is achieved by the previously described moments of education, allowing them to gain insights into Latinx cultures. For example, after abuela Claudia has died, the audience is invited to take part in a sentimental and intimate moment of mourning with the song “Alabanza,” where the Catholic faith of the majority of the Latinx community is illustrated. Yet, there are also moments in which Spanish is not translated or mixed with English, for example in “Carnaval del Barrio,” in which, as the title already indicates, most of the lyrics are in Spanish in celebration of different Latinx heritages. Even though the non-Spanish-speaking “audience is invited into the barrio, [they] […] are not completely a part of it” (Rua), in contrast to the usual constellation that portrays immigrants as the ‘Other’. What Lin-Manuel Miranda achieved with this dynamic of inviting these audiences into the sphere of Latinx communities, while also keeping them on the margins at times, is the result that, somewhere, a “little white kid is gonna know what a Puerto Rican flag is” (Jones), establishing a potential identification with the struggles of the Latinx protagonists as well as an educational sphere.
Even within the portrayed Latinx community, certain members also experience the pressure of forming part of such a close-knit group. “Breathe,” for example, focalizes on Nina, who is sung to in Spanish by members of the community and, as a result, feels alienated when she returns home from college (Rua). This creates a duality and tension between individualism and belonging to a community full of traditions and expectations, reflecting Miranda’s own life “in the unique position of straddling not only two countries, but also two social spheres” (Ritchie 15).
Overall, the musical In the Heights depicts protagonists who try to find their place along the lines of a dichotomy between individualism and community, which in turn creates a potential tension between the Latinx community and audiences marked as the ‘Others’. With this illustration of the struggles of Latinx minorities in the US, Miranda achieved something that no other Latinx Broadway producers have done: create a musical by Latinx people for Latinx people with the inclusion of a Latinx cast, but without excluding the typical “female, middle-aged, highly educated and affluent tourist” (Craft 52) attendees who bring in the most profits, resulting in the musical’s continuous box-office appeal.
Works Cited
Anderson, Tyler Kimball and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio. “Attitudes Towards Lexical Borrowing and Intra-Sentential Code-Switching Among Spanish-English Bilinguals.” Spanish in Context, vol. 4, no. 2, 2007, pp. 217-40.
Barrera, Melissa, Anthony Ramos, and Gregory Diaz IV. “It Won’t Be Long Now.” Genius, 2021, https://genius.com/Melissa-barrera-anthony-ramos-and-gregory-diaz-iv-it-wont-be-long-now-lyrics.
Craft, Elizabeth Titrington. “‘Is This What It Takes Just to Make It to Broadway?!’: Marketing ‘In the Heights’ in the Twenty-First Century.” Studies in Musical Theatre, vol. 5, no. 1, 2011, pp. 49-69.
Duany, Jorge. Quisqueya on the Hudson: The Transnational Identity of Dominicans in Washington Heights. CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, 2008.
García, Ivis. “Cultural Insights for Planners: Understanding the Terms Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx.” Journal of the American Planning Association, 2020, pp. 1-10.
Gómez, Carlos. “Inútil.” Genius, 2008, https://genius.com/Carlos-gomez-inutil-lyrics.
Gonzales, Mandy et al. “Sunrise.” Genius, 2008, https://genius.com/Mandy-gonzalez-christopher-jackson-and-in-the-heights-original-broadway-company-sunrise-lyrics.
Grace, Leslie et al. “Breathe.” Genius, 2021, https://genius.com/Leslie-grace-breathe-lyrics.
Gray, Kelly. “Communal Ruination and Collaborative Survival: The Third Nature of Urban Heat Islands in Do the Right Thing and In the Heights.” ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 2023, pp. 1-20.
In the Heights. Directed by Jon M. Chu, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2021. Amazon Prime.
In the Heights. Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Broadway, 2008.
Kenneth Jones, “Carnaval del Broadway: In The Heights Wows Audience at Final Performance,” Playbill.com, 10 January 2011, https://www.playbill.com/article/carnaval-del-broadway-in-the-heights-wows-audience-at-final-performance-com-175086.
Miranda, Lin-Manuel “Piragua.” Genius, 2021, https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-piragua-lyrics.
Privette-Black, Monica. “Use of Spanish Code-Switching in In the Heights.” Schwa Language and Linguistics, vol. 27, Fall 2022, pp. 65-81.
Ramos, Anthony et al. “Alabanza.” Genius, 2021, https://genius.com/Various-artists-alabanza-lyrics.
Ritchie, Schuyler. “Lifting The Curtain: How Lin-Manuel Miranda Challenged West Side Story’s Cultural Stereotypes.” New Errands, vol. 4, no. 2, 2017, pp. 3-20.
Rua, Colleen. “El Poder y Educación: Bilingualism and Translation in the American Musical.” Delos, vol. 35, no. 1, 2020.
Rubin-Vega, Daphne et al. “Carnaval del Barrio.” Genius, 2021, https://genius.com/Daphne-rubin-vega-stephanie-beatriz-dascha-polanco-melissa-barrera-anthony-ramos-lin-manuel-miranda-corey-hawkins-gregory-diaz-iv-and-leslie-grace-carnaval-del-barrio-lyrics.