Meeting without so much harmony or consensus | Balance of …

The language is in dispute. The controversy over how to name it, which it includes and excludes if it is pronounced "Spanish", "Castilian", "American Spanish" or Hispanic American, to name just a few of the options on offer, was one the most controversial issues raised during the (CILE), in which participated Mario Vargas Llosa, Juan Villoro, Nélida Piñon, Joaquín Sabina and Elvira Sastre, among other writers and artists. This is not a "minor" problem, a kind of scientific obsession of a handful of linguists, translators and writers. One could say that every name is political. But the 453 million Hispanic Americans who speak the language as their mother tongue – who will be 570 million in 2050 – in which language do they say they speak – or write – the users of that language, spread over four continents and in 22 countries, 16% of the world's population, not to mention the Spanish-speaking people of the United States? The answer, which seems to "close the loop", adds to the complexity of the problem. In the Constitutions of seven countries, it is stated that the official language is Castilian (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela); "Spanish" appears on eight (Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico); Four countries do not mention an official language (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Mexico).

Argentine writers and writers, more disobedient and dissident about the imposition of rules that flatten the richness and variety of language, have put the issue on the agenda, such as Mempo Giardinelli, Claudia Piñeiro, Jorge Fondebrider, Perla Suez and María Teresa Andruetto. Although they have tried to conceal and maintain the form of brotherhood in Panhispanism's diversity, more than one Spanish writer and scholar have smothered Castilian and the contradictory gestures of their faces revealed some discomfort . They did not expect a barrage of objections formulated face to face, directly at the tip of the tongue. In addition to planting the flag and proposing the debate in Arequipa – where the Ninth Congress will be held in 2022 – what will be the next meeting, it bothered him to undress, as never before, the affairs of the language, which amounts to almost to say things. congresses. As an organizer, the Cervantes Institute, the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) and the Association of Spanish Language Academies (Asale) do not lose sight of, though that's not enough. they do not express it aloud, that the device "congress of the language" – started at Zacatecas (1997) and repeated every three years: Valladolid (2001), Rosario (2004), Cartagena de Indias (2007) ), Panama City (2013) and San Juan de Puerto Rico (2016) – serves to extend economic, commercial and educational agreements, with the battle wheel of the Spanish language in the world, ranging from cinema to television, music the media, from the publishing world to translation, through digital resources, in addition to tertiary services, such as telephony, banks and energy companies, among others.

The affairs of the language

The Spanish linguist José Del Valle – who participated in the first international meeting on language rights as human rights, also called "Contracongreso" – did not participate in any of CILE activities. Although he was summoned by the National University of Córdoba (UNC), he rejected the invitation to hold his position of critic for years within the organizing institutions of the congress. "You can think of language as a business to the extent that it is sold and bought, that is to say it materializes in grammar, in dictionaries, in textbooks teaching Spanish to foreigners, in textbooks teaching Spanish as a national language and, in all these cases, these objects are, on the one hand, language management devices and, on the other hand, on the other hand, products from the market, "says Del Valle in PáginaI12. "Thus, since, for example, Spanish as a foreign language is cited as rising on the international language markets, it makes sense, in the logic of capitalism, that there is a competition to control the sales of this product.The same goes for the certification of knowledge of Spanish: who controls the certification mechanisms of knowledge of the Spanish will be able to control the distribution economic benefits flowing from the administration of these exams.Language is clearly a deal, "says the author of The Battle of the Language. "There is a second sense in which the Spanish language can be useful to companies", adds the Spanish linguist. All countries, and not only Spain, have an external cultural policy conceived as a diplomatic strategy, which uses cultural objects to increase the value of the country's brand and, consequently, to pave the way for companies in this country. country. who want to invest abroad or who want to sell products abroad ".

All the names, the name

The writer of Cordova Perla Suez, who debated at one of the CILE tables, says that "the name of the language is a field of political and social conflict"; That's why he believes that Congress should be renamed. "I'm closer to what Mempo (Giardinelli) said about the fact that it's necessary to speak Spanish and American languages, but I still do not bend because I'm wondering: how do our people feel? Originally, who are so forgotten, are they entering this controversy ?, who write their own language in Spanish? Always in this name is not the name of everything we want to incorporate.The Royal Spanish Academy should listen to us because it is already clear that the homogenization of the language is not possible because we will not allow it, as we have already demonstrated in the literary tradition of Argentina since the generation of & # 39; 37, with Esteban Echeverría, later when Borges faced Americo Castro, wrote the author of El País del Diablo- You must very well think how to name another language indecisive, indomitable and evasive, and can -being that I escape by naming it.Between all, we must Find a new denomination for the next congress of the Castilian language to be held in Arequipa, Peru ".

Del Valle listened to Mempo Giardinelli, who was also part of the "Contracongreso". "The Castilian and Spanish words coexist since the sixteenth century: There are geographical contexts or situations in which Spanish is preferred or contexts in which Spanish is preferred, and these uses have not remained constant over the centuries These two confessions of the language, Spanish and Spanish, coexisted with oscillations, calling themselves in some places in one way and in other places In other words, to badert normatively that it should be called Castilian or Latin American or Hispano-American Castilian seems to me a legitimate opinion, but it is in any case an opinion which is expressed by the voice of an Argentine intellectual, because the Spanish term In Puerto Rico, they use it to designate their language, in Cuba, for their language, in the Dominican Republic, to speak their language and mainly in Mexico to designate their language – the s lists of Spanish linguists -. The historical justification that Mempo gave me seemed fragile and rested on an imperfect knowledge of the history of these two terms.

Although inclusive language is not one of the topics to be debated in the eighth CIL, it has emerged with the power of what is absent, what one is trying to hide, as one does with the dust under the rug . Only, there is no carpet that puts an end to the need to review everything, from dissenting bades to badualities. "The rejection of inclusive language comes from patriarchy, macho origins in the construction of societies, on the basis of what man has proposed and the displacement of women to total anonymity," warns Suez. "I wonder why there will be so much fear that we'll say 'all', if we're not going to define it either, if the language is moving and if it's elusive, and l & rsquo; Use is decided by the speakers, until a new generation transforms the words again, "reflects the author of Cordoba. "We must continue to fight to transform the language, to make us listen, so that the patriarchy falls". Suez is not surprised by the low participation of women in the committees that organized the Congress of Language. "In the Academy of Language, the intervention of many women has been strictly masculinized; This sounds like speeches of men who do not interest me. I am much more interested in the women's sensibilities, like those seen in Congress, like Claudia Piñeiro when she sang in Qom. "

The battle for inclusion

Unlike others who viscerally reject inclusive language, Del Valle is interested in the debate because it reflects a case of socially marked linguistic variation determined by political positions related to claims of a different nature, feminist and dissident. "I am interested in badyzing how this variation manifests itself, who uses the traditional norm, who chooses to propose new norms and who uses them, obeys them, thus confronting traditional uses. also interested in drawing a map showing how normative propositions, alternative uses and political positions explain how interaction occurs between uses of language and social and political reality ". Regarding the silence of the RAE on the subject, the Spanish linguist dares to speculate: "The Royal Academy of Spain, which generally avoids debates, preferring to project the image of an open institution and getting in touch with stakeholders all decisions, for whatever reason, have decided to open an open battle in the public sphere with the normative propositions of feminism and which we know as inclusive language.My vision is that, from the point of view of those who manage the RAE, the public battle against the feminist proposals is beneficial, that is to say they must think that it is a debate they will win against the majority population, "said Del Valle. There is a dimension that is not visceral but rational. CILE intends to present itself as a space of confluence, a space of dialogue and it seemed to them on this occasion that to bring this debate to the surface could undermine this image of harmony and pan-Hispanic consensus which constitutes an important part. objectives of the CILE. "