Congress of language, accents that invoke the future – 15/03/2019

Rodolfo Walsh spoke about the "violent writing office". Jorge L. Borges retraced in an essay to Americo Castro alarmed, in defense of our vernacular language of the Plate of river, in favor of "the language of the Argentines". And Juan María Gutiérrez, in a gesture of badertion of the linguistic sovereignty, chose to reject in 1875 the place which was offered to him to the Royal Spanish Academy.

The truth is that the terrain of the language, far from being a neutral or harmonious space, it is presented as a space of tensions, arena of various struggles: political, social, gender. The celebration of the VIIIth International Congress of the Spanish Language (CILE) in the city of Córdoba, from March 27 to 30, preceded by a festival on the public square and a colloquium of journalists, is proposed as a forum reflection and badysis of the problems and challenges of Spanish. Of the eight congresses held so far, this is the second one taking place in our country. It was preceded by that of Rosario, in 2004.

How could it be otherwise, this congress organized by the Cervantes Institute, the Royal Academy of Spain and the 23 Academies of the American Language, as well as by provincial and national organizations, arrives preceded by controversies of different types, ranging from gender-related marks of the Castilian language and inclusive language to those related to sovereignty and language rights.

Based in "La Docta", so named because in 1613, the first university of the country and the second in Latin America were founded there, the University of Córdoba, where many of its activities will be developed, will bring together linguists and leading academics. Among them: Ignacio Bosque, Alfredo Matus, José Luis Moure-, writers and writers. Volpi, Luisa Valenzuela, Elvio E. Gandolfo, Perla Suez, are literary authors – Martin Prieto, Christopher Domínguez – but also artists, musicians and journalists like Norma Morandini, Juan Cruz. In addition, singer Joaquín Sabina will share a table with poets Guillermo Saavedra and Elvira Sastre; Alejandro Dolina will integrate another, which shows the intention to go beyond the usual boundaries of academic forums.

Around the CILE – who requires prior registration and a paid entrance– From March 20, the Festival of the Word will take place, with a focus at the Book Fair, a seminar for journalists and another for Spanish teachers – March 25 and 26. A non-minor fact is that the Congress will be inaugurated by the Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa; the king of Spain, Felipe VI; President Mauricio Macri; in addition to academic and provincial authorities.

Look also

"The Congress lemma," America and the Future of Spanish ", is a statement of principles – said Luis García Montero, director of the Cervantes Institute – in fact. an initial table will discuss this topic, on the one hand it expresses the belief that Spanish will be what America wants, and this is what we are going to talk about with more than 250 specialists from five continents. The strength of Spanish is a fact. Currently, the Spanish-speaking community represents 7.6% of the world's population and, moreover, we are configuring an axis of cultural and linguistic identity made up of 23 countries ".

For his part, the president of the Argentine Academy of Letters, José Luis Moure, added that "nowadays, because of its number of speakers, Spanish is, by its geographical distribution, the most Spanish from America, which is today the center of the whole language, without detracting from the importance of the Spanish peninsula, "he said.

Spanish as a universal language; language and interculturality; the challenges of Spanish in 21st century education; Spanish and the digital society and the competitiveness of Spanish as a language of innovation and entrepreneurship – its skills, which would be attributed almost unequivocally to English – will be part of the conference details. The large dome of digital verbal exchange that is almost duplicating the real world will occupy other important sessions. The status of the language in the post-truth era and public hoaxes will also be the subject of debate between writers and journalists.

"It's me who fought because the word education was in CILE's motto," said Moure. A congress of this type requires a large investment, so that the needs of the country are taken into account, there are big gaps in the learning of the language, in the management of their worship or their great register"Among the educational activities of CILE, academies of the language and the Ministry of Education have organized a school library contest entitled Words in Action.

The badertion that the future of Spanish is American seems to contradict the highly established perception of the hegemony of Spanish institutions over their American counterparts in the organization of this congress.

A parallel meeting, also to be held in Cordoba (entitled "International Meeting: Language Rights as Human Rights"), is proposed as a counter-conference of the Faculty of Philosophy and Human Sciences of the UNC.

The organizers of this meeting are planted in conflict with the policies organized by these congresses. They argue that "these are Spanish promotion congresses that are part of a political line in Madrid". It is obvious that the Spanish state has several linguistic fronts on its territory and tries to present a homogeneous language, without conflict, as if it guaranteed the unity of a country. which finds the frank opposition of the region of Catalonia. "An Ibero-American community is being built as opposed to a Latin American community," says Beatriz Bixio, a professor at the UNC School of Letters. "The promotion of Spanish reduces the struggle of the original communities, for whom Spanish is a sign of colonization," adds Bixio.

Look also

To understand the current debates on the Language Congress, it is necessary to return to the 1990s, when its main promoter, the Cervantes Institute, aimed to "universally promote the teaching, study and use of Spanish language and contribute to the dissemination of the language. " Hispanic Cultures Abroad ", highlighting the" common heritage "character of the language in Spanish-speaking countries.

Cervantes has expanded to 44 countries, creating 87 centers in cities as far away as Shanghai, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur and Sidney. His main authority is the very king of Spain and his existence seems to respond to a true state policy. In his documents, the "economic value" of Spanish and his aptitude as a business language are put forward, because there are more native speakers than English, responsible for 16% of GDP in Spain. In 2004 and 2007, the academic José del Valle called this expansion a "battle of the language", highlighting the coincidence of this promotion of the Spanish language with the landing, in the 90s, of Spanish companies worldwide, ranging from editorials banks and oil companies. The current promoters of the counter-convention also use this argument.

But there is another battle at stake that concerns Argentina which, in its time, has had a lot of ink flowing: the administration of Spanish diplomas. Since the 80s, the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of UBA and its language laboratory have taught Spanish courses to foreigners. "The Argentinean language level certificate raised concerns.. Thus was born the Certificate of Language and Use of Spanish (CELU), which is now managed by a consortium of 59 national universities ", says the linguist Leonor Acuña, one Promoters of this test approved by the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs and recognized in 2004 by Brazil.

However, in 2016, ignoring this certificate -CELU, the UBA Higher Council adhered to the SIELE diploma, international service of evaluation of the Spanish language, promoted by the Cervantes Institute and the 39, Autonomous University of Mexico, University of Salamanca. and managed by the company Telefónica. It is an international test similar to the TOEFL for English, which is done online. At that time, they submitted their applications to counselors at the same university, as well as to writers and intellectuals such as Tamara Kamenszain and Noé Jitrik, among others.

Luis García Montero gave another point of view in this respect: "Up to now, no international certificate in Spanish has been issued by institutions from several Spanish-speaking countries.The SIELE is a progress and allows the student to use all linguistic varieties "of the language.