Linguistic Performance: Language Choice as Identity Expression

Sor Juana wrote in Spanish, Latin, Nahua, Portuguese, and mixed linguistic forms, using each language strategically to address different audiences and express different aspects of her identity. Linguistic performance recognizes that language choice is never neutral—it carries cultural authority, accessibility, and political meaning. Across cultures, language selection reflects and shapes how identity is perceived and claimed: which language one speaks at home versus in professional contexts, whether one speaks an ancestral language, how fluently one commands dominant languages. This concept is essential for understanding identity in multilingual societies, diaspora communities, and postcolonial contexts where language carries historical weight. Sor Juana's linguistic virtuosity allowed her to participate in elite intellectual circles while maintaining connection to popular and indigenous contexts. Language mastery becomes an expression of agency—choosing which languages to use, how formally, and for what purposes. This framework helps explain how linguistic choices both reflect and construct cultural identity across generational and intercultural boundaries.