Language & Nationalism in Europe

1. Language & Nationalism in Europe Ch 4. The Iberian Peninsula: Conflicting Linguistic Nationalisms

2. What is The Iberian Peninsula?

3. Q: What is The Iberian Peninsula? A: Spain and Portugal Shared experiences: Original inhabitants: Iberians, Celts, Basque All but Basque language replaced by Latin Long occupation by Arabic-speaking Moors Emergence of modern languages is the result of political conflicts/conquests

4. More shared history • At end of Roman Empire, Visigoths (Germanic) invaded – they left no linguistic mark, but established Toledo (heart of Castile) as the capital • At end of 8th c, 5 dialect groups emerged: • Galaico-Portuguese • Asturian Leonese • Castilian • Aragonese • Catalan

5. Q: How long did the Moorish invasion/occupation last?

6. Q: How long did the Moorish invasion/occupation last? • 7 centuries • Castilians played a central role in organizing opposition and were dominant in the ousting of the Moors in 1492. (Hey, what else was going on in 1492?)

7. Q: How long did the Moorish invasion/occupation last? • 7 centuries • Castilians played a central role in organizing opposition and were dominant in the ousting of the Moors in 1492. • Came at the same time as the birth of Spain’s American Empire, which was essentially a Castilian Empire • Spanish nationalism = Castilian linguistic dominance

8. Portugal • Separate kingdom since 1134 • May be the only linguistically uniform nation-state in Europe (though there are some minorities from former colonies) • Portuguese links Portugal to former colonies: Brazil, Angola, Mozambique

9. Rise of Spanish Nationalism and the “National” Language • 1512 Unification of Spain • 1700 Tight, centralized political system, like French model, massive castilianization of Spain, especially through church and military • 1768 Castilian decreed for use in education & administration • 1808 Napoleon invades & Spanish patirotism is born

10. Rise of Spanish Nationalism and the “National” Language, cont’d. • Late 19th c Renewed interest in other languages and condification • Cultural & linguistic renaissances stimulated by Romantic movement, cultural nationalism of French & German writers, accdg. to whom nation = state • Early 20th c Spain lagged behind Europe in terms of industrialization • 20th c decades of repressive centralist dictatorship

11. National movements on Spanish periphery • Catalonia • Catalan recognized distinct since 11th/12th c • Used to cover a larger territory (S. France, enclaves in Italy, N. Africa, Greece) • Strong literary tradition 12th-14th c • 16th c Catalan lost prestige and became a spoken language only • Late 19th-20th c Renaixenca movement, cultural & political aspirations

12. More on Catalonia • Renaixenca motivated by frustration with Spanish state, desire to protect and modernize local industry (more advanced than most of Spain) • 1866 book Lo Catalanisme by Valenti Almirall launches Catalan nationalism • Lliga is a Catalan nationalist party founded by Prat de Riba

13. Basque country • Basque existed long before Romanization of S. Europe & once covered a far greater area • The only language of W. Europe that is not I-E • Linguistic isolate – no known relationship to any other language • Little influenced by other languages

14. Basque country, cont’d. • The distinct language helped support a separate identity • Diglossia with Castilian • No significant medieval literary corpus

15. Basque country, cont’d. • Severe dialectal fragmentation due to mountainous terrain – many dialects are mutually incomprehensible, impeding both linguistic and political unity • No single cultural center

16. Basque country, cont’d. • 19th c saw major industrialization & economic development alongside development of nationalism • Sabino Arana (1865-1903) father of Basque nationalism • Urban society threatened Basque identity • Not all Basques speak Basque • The most important common value for Basque nationalism was race, due to lack of literary tradition and dialectal fragmentation

17. Galicia • Galaico-Portuguese separates into Galician & Portuguese in 11th c • Arabic influence and capital moved to Lisbon reduce importance of Galician • Portuguese ascended to national status & Galician was reduced to being a spoken language only • 19th c revival of Galician limited to literary/cultural tradition, establishment of Galician Royal Academy for codification/standardization of language

18. Language and Nationalism in 20th c Spain • Crisis of Nationalism • Around 1900 Spanish political situation very volatile: centralized conservative gov’t vs. need for modernization • 1932-6 Statutes of local autonomy passed for Catalonia, Basque, Galicia (but only Catalonia really benefitted) • 1936-9 Civil War and multiple identity crises; Franco dictatorship, repression of minorities and languages (use of non-Castilian subject to fines & imprisonment)

19. Language and Nationalism in 20th c Spain • Crisis of Nationalism, cont’d. • 1966 Freedom of Expression Law reduced censorship • 1975 Franco died, and Western-style democracy introduced • 1978 Spanish constitution established 17 Autnomous Communities, defused extremist groups such as ETA, granted official (but second-class) status to “the other Spanish languages”

20. Current language planning in Spain • Strongest in Catalonia & Basque country • Constitution published in: Castilian, Basque, Galician, Catalan, Valencian (last two are virtually identical) • Sharp rise in use of Catalan in schools • Author (Clare Mar-Molinero) states that technology will have negative impact on minority languages – do we agree???

21. Current language planning in Spain, cont’d. • Basque has less prestige/status in its community than Catalan • Promotion of non-Castilian languages is limited to discrete geographical areas

22. The role of the EU • In EU, the traditional nation-state will be increasingly by-passed through supraregional relationships with more local centers of power – Catalans, Basques, and Galicians see this as an opportunity • EU encourages freedom of movement, challenging bond between linguistic/cultural identity & geographical place, also encourages immigration and mother-tongue education for immigrant children

23. Concluding remark “Spain today is a state for all Spaniards, a nation-state for a large part of the population, and only a state but not a nation for important minorities.”