Note: Linguistic and cultural marginalization in Las Niñas Quispe: A Sapir-Whorf approach

Abstract

This note presents a review of the film Las niñas Quispe (Sepúlveda, 2013) through the lens of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Based on the true story of three Colla sisters in the Chilean highlands during the 1970s, the film portrays a world marked by silence, illiteracy, and limited interactions and communicative resources that restrict the characters’ ability to imagine alternative futures. The film reveals how symbolic exclusion operates beyond material deprivation, constraining not only expression but also access to broader worldviews. From a moderate interpretation of linguistic relativity, it can be observed that language does not strictly determine the sisters’ tragic fate, but it does profoundly shape their ways of perceiving and engaging with reality. Ultimately, the film stands as a powerful metaphor for how the impoverishment of language can narrow the horizon of what is thinkable, turning silence into both a survival mechanism and a forced choice.