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

What is The Iberian Peninsula?

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

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 8 th c, 5 dialect groups emerged: –Galaico-Portuguese –Asturian Leonese –Castilian –Aragonese –Catalan

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 (Hey, what else was going on in 1492?)

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 Came at the same time as the birth of Spain’s American Empire, which was essentially a Castilian Empire Spanish nationalism = Castilian linguistic dominance

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

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

Rise of Spanish Nationalism and the “National” Language, cont’d. Late 19 th 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 20 th c Spain lagged behind Europe in terms of industrialization 20 th c decades of repressive centralist dictatorship

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

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

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

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

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

Basque country, cont’d. 19 th c saw major industrialization & economic development alongside development of nationalism Sabino Arana ( ) 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

Galicia Galaico-Portuguese separates into Galician & Portuguese in 11 th 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 19 th c revival of Galician limited to literary/cultural tradition, establishment of Galician Royal Academy for codification/standardization of language

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

Language and Nationalism in 20 th 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”

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???

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

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

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.”