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Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU

Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU. Ch4: Catalan is Everyone’s Thing: Normalizing a Nation By Susan DiGiacomo. Introduction: language and nation.

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Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU

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  1. Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU Ch4: Catalan is Everyone’s Thing: Normalizing a Nation By Susan DiGiacomo

  2. Introduction: language and nation • Catalan has had an ambiguous relationship to standardization -- valuing “natural continuity” on the one hand, and a modern unifying language on the other Earliest manuscript of Catalan, by St. Emilian Cucullatus (who died in 574)

  3. Catalan in social historical context • Catalan texts date back 1000 years, making Catalan no less ancient or literary than Castilian Spanish, with major works of literature, esp. in 15th c • Though Castilian rose to greater power, Catalan continued as both a spoken and written regional language • Catalan was “rediscovered” in 19th c; tension arose between asserting archaic origins (Jocs Florals -- poetry contests) and representing true spoken language (containing significant Castilianisms) 15th c Catalan Manuscript in UC Berkeley’s collection

  4. Catalan in social historical context, cont’d. • 1907 Prat develops a modern Catalan standard (to avoid dialectal fragmentation), then presided over a consolidated Catalan territory • 1917 Fabra’s Orthographic dictionary and grammar published with hopes of elevating Catalan to full public use • Both are conceived as scientific endeavors

  5. National reconstruction and language planning • 1932 Fabra’s General Dictionary, and granting of autonomy to Catalonia • 1936 outbreak of Spanish Civil War; 1939-1975 Franco regime erases Catalan from public life and in the meantime there is large inmigration from elsewhere in Spain • By the end of Franco regime, all Catalans are bilingual (speak Castilian), and there is concern that continued bilingualism will lead to complete loss of Catalan

  6. National reconstruction and language planning, cont’d. • 1982-3 Language normalization law promoting Catalan in education, media, and official uses, accompanied by promotional campaign led by 10yr-old “Norma” • Concern shifts from support for Catalan to purifying language of “barbarisms” (dialectal features, borrowings), denying authenticity of non-Barcelona dialects

  7. The teaching of Catalan • A course for adult speakers of Catalan who needed to improve their literacy skills focused on weeding out Castilianisms -- Castilian syntactic constructions are especially invasive • Instruction relies on students’ knowledge of both Castilian language and Castilian teaching practices

  8. Conclusions • Catalan identity is rooted in language, specifically the Barcelona dialect, which is used in all spheres • Catalans refer to dominant language as “Castilian” (not Spanish), asserting it is also a regional language, and to “the Spanish state” (not Spain), suggesting the state is not a “natural” institution

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