Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Multilingualism and Politics pp 231–260Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Galician-Portuguese and the Politics of Language in Contemporary Galicia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

This chapter investigates the tensions around the legitimisation and contestation of the institutionalised standard variety for Galician and examines governmental language policies through the lens of standardisation activism. It looks at how the politics of language operates by focusing on continuing orthographic conflicts and their connection to language revitalisation efforts in contemporary Galicia. The chapter examines two recent events in which the reintegrationist movement has come into the public sphere with an unconventional narrative to influence both the institutional and public discourses’ status quo. Although this is a minority trend in language revitalisation, the chapter shows how reintegrationism’s grassroots activism is a driving force in altering language perceptions and attitudes and as such deserves more attention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Although there are currently 17 Autonomous Communities in the Spanish State, only Galicia, the Basque Country, and Catalonia are recognised as (historical) ‘nationalities’ in the Spanish Constitution of 1978. Article 1 of Galicia’s Statute of Autonomy (1981) refers to it as nacionalidade histórica [historical nationality].

  2. 2.

    Also known as Galiza—the differing terms to designate the country itself are semantically complex. Although both Galicia and Galiza refer to the same territorial space, they connote, by implicature, two different realities: Galicia “symbolises an accepted subjugation to the Spanish State as it is the Hispanicised term. On the contrary, ‘Galiza’ indexes resistance, conveying the idea of the oppressed nation standing up against its oppressor” (Dayán-Fernández 2014, p. 44). For a philological analysis on Galicia/Galiza, see Montero Santalha (2008).

  3. 3.

    Alternative spaces for Galician language and activism linked to cultural, social, and political associations (O’Rourke 2019).

  4. 4.

    http://gentalha.org/

  5. 5.

    http://sinalizagz.blogspot.com/

  6. 6.

    The same as what we call “autonomism”.

  7. 7.

    Carvalho Calero is the first prominent reintegrationist figure to be commemorated during the Día das Letras Galegas 2020 [Galician Literature Day 2020].

  8. 8.

    Galician is also spoken in neighbouring regions such as Asturias, Leon, Zamora, and some areas of Extremadura (O’Rourke 2014: 76).

  9. 9.

    The RAG ‘Real Academia Galega’ [Galician Royal Academy] and the ILG, ‘Instituto Galego da Lingua’ [Galician Institute of the Language], attached to the University of Santiago de Compostela.

  10. 10.

    https://a.gal/

  11. 11.

    https://www.academiagalega.org/

  12. 12.

    [My translation] “diálogo cooperativo e de colaboración proactiva de Galicia na construción dun espazo dinámico e multidimensional, constituído polos países de expresión cultural portuguesa, en que os axentes participantes se respecten e recoñezan nas súas respectivas e plurais identidades, a partir das cales se propoñan realizar unha serie de esforzos comúns coa finalidade de desenvolver as potencialidades de mutuo reforzo e recíproco arrequentamento”.

  13. 13.

    Blog post for the Galician Case as part of the project SMiLE (Sustaining Minoritised Languages in Europe): https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/grassroots-activism-galician-language

  14. 14.

    https://aeg.gal/

  15. 15.

    Grassroots Galician language association that promotes and fosters the use of the language and monitors the legal implementation of the Galician Language Act of 1982.

  16. 16.

    [My translation]: “un proceso acelerado de monolingüización en castelán, a un ritmo que non prevían os resultados de estudos demolingüísticos previos”.

  17. 17.

    It refers to the political status of Galicia as an ‘autonomous community’ in Spain, also known as ‘autonomist regime’ [réxime autonómico in official Galician].

  18. 18.

    [My translation.]

  19. 19.

    [My translation]: “promoverán o coñecemento da lingua portuguesa e das culturas lusófonas para afondar nos vencellos históricos que unen Galicia cos países e comunidades de lingua portuguesa e polo carácter estratéxico que para Galicia teñen as relacións económicas e sociais no marco da Eurorrexión Galicia-Norte de Portugal”.

  20. 20.

    [My translation]: “comparte patrimonio lingüístico”.

  21. 21.

    [My translation]: “No actual mundo globalizado, as institucións galegas, comprometidas co aproveitamento das potencialidades de Galicia, deben valorizar o galego como unha lingua con utilidade internacional”.

  22. 22.

    [My translation]: É preciso fomentar o ensino e a aprendizaxe do portugués […] que empresas e institucións aproveiten a nosa vantaxe Lingüística […] A lingua propia de Galicia, polo feito de ser intercomprensible co portugués, outorga unha valiosa vantaxe competitiva á cidadanía galega en moitas vertentes, nomeadamente na cultural pero tamén na económica.

  23. 23.

    In October 31, 1991, the Working Community Galicia-Norte Portugal was established under the aegis of the European Framework Convention on Cross Border Cooperation between Territorial Communities and Authorities of the European Council, 1980. This was the first step in the process of creating the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation—Galicia-Norte Portugal (GNP-EGTC).

References

  • A mesa pola normalización lingüística. (2015). Informe sobre a lingua galega na Educación infantil de 3 a 6 anos no curso 2015/16 [Report on Galician Language Use in Primary Education during 2015/16 [My translation]. Retrieved from https://www.amesa.gal/wp-content/uploads/estudo-educacion-infantil-7-cidades-2015-final-pdf.pdf.

  • Álvarez-Cáccamo, C. (1990). The Institutionalization of Galician: Linguistic Practices, Power, and Ideology in Public Discourse. Unpublished PhD. University of California, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez-Cáccamo, C., & Herrero-Valeiro, M. (1996). O continuum da escrita na Galiza: Entre o espanhol e o português’. Agália. Revista Internacional da Associaçom Galega da Lingua, 46, 143–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avezedo Filho, L. (1985). Sobre ortografia e morfologia do galego. Agália. Revista da Associaçom Galega da Lingua, 2, 240–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barcia, S., & Ramallo, F. (2015). “Graffiti” y conflicto lingüístico: el paisaje urbano como espacio ideológico. Revista Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana, 25, 131–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billig, M. (1995). Banal Nationalism. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blommaert, J. (2006). Language Policy and National Identity. In T. Ricento (Ed.), An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method (pp. 238–254). Malden, MA, and Oxford, Victoria: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blommaert, J. (2010). The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bochmann, K. (1986). Problemas da ‘normalización’ da lingua galega. Grial, 91, 18–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Consello da Cultura Galega. (2017). Prácticas e actitudes lingüísticas da mocidade en Galicia [Linguistic Attitudes and Practices Amongst Youngsters in Galicia]. Retrieved from http://consellodacultura.gal/publicacion.php?id=4293.

  • Cooper, R. (1989). Language Planning and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coseriu, E. (1989). El gallego en la historia y en la actualidad. In Actas do II Congresso Internacional da Língua Galego-Portuguesa na Galiza (pp. 793–800). Coruña: Associaçom Galega da Lingua.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa, J., De Korne, H., & Lane, P. (2018). Standardising Minority Languages: Reinventing Peripheral Languages in the 21st Century. In Standardizing Minority Languages (Open Access) (pp. 9–31). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulmas, F. (1989). Language Adaptation. In F. Coulmas (Ed.), Language Adaptation (pp. 1–25). Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dayán-Fernández, A. (2014). Translating Galician Identity: Translational Issues on Rendering Rhetorical and Metaphorical Language in Political Persuasive Texts. Unpublished MA Thesis. University of Surrey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Valle, J. (2005). La lengua, patria común: Política lingüística, política exterior y el post-nacionalismo hispánico. In R. Wright, & P. Ricketts (Eds.), Studies on Ibero-Romance Linguistics Dedicated to Ralph Penny. Newark, DE: Juan de la Cuesta Monographs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diario Oficial de Galicia. (2014). Lei Paz Andrade. DOG N. 68, pp. 15508–15610. Retrieved from http://www.parlamentodegalicia.com/sitios/web/BibliotecaLeisdeGalicia/Lei_01_2014.pdf.

  • Dorian, N. (1994). Purism vs. Compromise in Language Revitalization and Language Revival. Language in Society, 23, 479–494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esser, U. (1986). O galego, lingua en elaboración. Grial, 93, 334–343.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, D. (1974). Consideraciones sobre la identificación Lingüística de la lengua gallega. Grial, 43, 38–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, C. A. (1996). Standardization as a Form of Language Spread. In T. Huebner (Ed.), Sociolinguistic Perspectives: Papers on Language in Society, 1959–1994 (pp. 189–199). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández Rei, F. (1988). Posición do galego entre as linguas románicas. Verba: Anuario galego de filoloxia, 15, 79–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gal, S. (2006). Contradictions of Standard Language in Europe: Implications for the Study of Practices and Publics. Social Anthropology, 14(2), 163–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gal, S., & Woolard, K. (1995). Constructing Languages and Publics: Authority and Representation. Pragmatics, 5(2), 129–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gausset, Q., Kenrick, J., & Gibb, R. (2011). Indigeneity and Autochthony: A Couple of False Twins? Social Anthropology, 19(2), 135–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grenoble, L., & Whaley, L. (2006). Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heller, M. (2010). Language as Resource in the Globalized New Economy. In N. Coupland (Ed.), The Handbook of Language and Globalization (pp. 349–365). West Sussex: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrero Valeiro, M. J. (2002). The Discourse of Language in Galiza: Normalisation, Diglossia, and Conflict. Estudios de sociolingüística: Linguas, sociedades e culturas, 3(2), 289–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrero Valeiro, M. J. (2011). Guerra de grafias e conflito de elites na Galiza contemporânea. Santiago de Compostela: Através Editora.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann, C. (1996). Language Planning at the Crossroads: The Case of Contemporary Spain. In C. Hoffmann (Ed.), Language, Culture and Communication (pp. 93–110). Clevedon, Philadelphia and Adelaide: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzo, R. (1981). Limiar. In A. X. O. Sábio. Cantigas de Santa Maria. Edição crítica de Walter Mettmann. Vol. 1. Vigo: Xerais, pp. 7–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzo Suárez, A. (2008). A situación lingüística do galego: unha lectura. Grial, 179, 19–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malvar Fernández, P. (2007). Autonomismo vs Reintegracionismo. Um conflito normativo visto desde a Análise Crítica do Discurso Especializado. Agália: Publicaçom internacional da Associaçom Galega da Lingua, 91, 139–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • May, S. (2012). Language and Minority Rights: Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Politics of Language. Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • May, S. (2014). The Multilingual Turn. Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milroy, J., & Milroy, L. (1999). Authority in Language: Investigating Standard English (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monteagudo, H. (1990). Sobre a polémica da Normativa do Galego. Grial, 107, 294–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monteagudo, H., & Alonso Pintos, S. (2010). Que lusofonia para a Galiza? In M. de Lemos Martins et al. (Eds.), Anuário Internacional de Comunicação Lusófona: Lusofonía e sociedade em rede (pp. 177–187). Braga: Universidade do Minho/Gracio Editor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monteagudo, H., Loredo, X., & Vázquez, M. (2018). Lingua e sociedade en Galicia Resumo de resultados 1992–2016. Betanzos: Real Academia Galega. Retrieved from https://academia.gal/documents/10157/704901/Lingua+e+sociedade+1992-2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montero Santalha, J.M. (2008). O nome da Galiza. Boletim da Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa, 1, 11–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno Cabrera, J. C. (2008). EL nacionalismo lingüístico. Barcelona: Península.

    Google Scholar 

  • O fim do Apartheid. (2016). Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdMgZmk3oVswRYf5drPsFj-TdECRLzoMcLhEYMcyQJ-iX8rvA/viewform.

  • O’Rourke, B. (2011). Galician and Irish in the European Context: Attitudes towards Weak and Strong Minority Languages. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rourke, B. (2014). The Galician Language in the Twenty-First Century. In H. Miguélez-Carballeira (Ed.), A Companion to Galician Culture (pp. 73–92). Woodbridge & Suffolk: Tamesis.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rourke, B. (2018a). Just Use It! Linguistic Conversion and Identities of Resistance Amongst Galician New Speakers. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 39(5), 407–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rourke, B. (2018b). Negotiating the Standard in Contemporary Galicia. In P. Lane, J. Costa, & H. De Korne (Eds.), Standardizing Minority Languages (pp. 92–108). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rourke, B. (2019). Carving Out Breathing Spaces for Galician. New Speakers’ Investment in Monolingual Practices. In J. Jaspers & L. Madsen (Eds.), Languagised Lives. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rourke, B., Pujolar, J., & Ramallo, F. (2015). New Speakers of Minority Languages: The Challenging Opportunity—Foreword. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 231, 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rourke, B., & Ramallo, F. (2015). Neofalantes as an Active Minority: Understanding Language Practices and Motivations for Change Amongst New Speakers of Galician. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 231, 147–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramallo, F., & Doval, G. (2015). The Standardization of Galician. Sociolinguistica, 29(1), 61–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues Lapa, M. (1979). Estudos Galego-Portugueses. Por uma Galiza liberada. Lisboa: Livraria Sá da Costa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rojo, G. (1981). Conductas y actitudes lingüísticas en Galicia. Revista Española de Lingüística, II(2), 269–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salgado, B. F., & Monteagudo, H. (1993). The Standardization of Galician: The State of the Art. Portuguese Studies, 9, 200–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salvador, G. (1987). Lengua española y lenguas de España. Barcelona: Ariel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiffman, H. (1996). Linguistic Culture and Language Policy. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiffman, H. (2006). Language Policy and Linguistic Culture. In T. Ricento (Ed.), An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method (pp. 11–126). Malden, MA, and Oxford, Victoria: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sermos Galiza. (2016). Reclaman a “fin do Apartheid” para o reintegracionismo dentro da cultura galega. Retrieved from https://www.sermosgaliza.gal/articulo/cultura/manifesto-reclama-fin-do-apartheid-reintegracionismo/20160617202833048743.html.

  • Shohamy, E. (2006). Language Policy: Hidden Agendas and New Approaches. Oxon, UK, and New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the Subaltern Speak? Reflections on the History of an Idea. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spolsky, B. (2004). Language Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tollefson, J. (2006). Critical Theory in Language Policy. In T. Ricento (Ed.), An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method (pp. 42–59). Malden, MA, and Oxford, Victoria: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tollefson, J. W., & Pérez-Milans, M. (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urla, J. (2012). Reclaiming Basque: Language, Nation, and Cultural Activism. Reno: University of Nevada Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urla, J., Amorrortu, E., Ortega, A., & Goirigolzarri, J. (2018). Basque Standardization and the New Speaker: Political Praxis and the Shifting Dynamics of Authority and Value. In P. Lane, J. Costa, & H. De Korne (Eds.), Standardizing Minority Languages (Open Access) (pp. 32–54). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woolard, K. (2016). Singular and Plural: Ideologies of Linguistic Authority in 21st Century Catalonia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woolard, K., & Schieffelin, B. (1994). Language Ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 23(1), 55–82.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Alejandro Dayán-Fernández & Bernadette O’Rourke

Authors
  1. Alejandro Dayán-Fernández
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bernadette O’Rourke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alejandro Dayán-Fernández .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

    Katerina Strani

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Dayán-Fernández, A., O’Rourke, B. (2020). Galician-Portuguese and the Politics of Language in Contemporary Galicia. In: Strani, K. (eds) Multilingualism and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40701-8_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40701-8_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-40700-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-40701-8

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation