'PASSON CATALAN', OR 'PASSON CATALAN': AN ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE CAMPAIGNS, USES, ATTITUDES, AND IDEOLOGIES SURROUNDING THE CATALAN LANGUAGE IN CATALONIA Bryn Mawr College Fall2013 Katherine Marcoux Abstract Catalan has had a long history during part of which its use was suppressed. After the dictatorship of Francisco Franco ended, Catalonia became an autonomous community and Catalan became co-official with Castilian. Since the language was suppressed for so many years, various language campaigns were developed to increase the use of Catalan. In this thesis, I examined the campaigns of La Norma in the 1980s as well as "Wind up Catalan" and "Pass on Catalan" from the 2000s. Examining these campaigns allowed me to evaluate the shift in the approach they took. Additionally, I analyzed statistics provided by Idescat (Institut d'Estadistica de Catalunya) through which I discussed the changes in language use over a span of time. Another key component in assessing Catalan were the ideologies that surround it and I was able to accomplish this by reviewing You Tube comments of the campaigns. Upon conducting my research and analyzing the material, there appears to be discrepancies between the rhetoric and the actual situation; there is a fear for the vitality of the language even though it appears to be a strong language that is institutionalized as SIL International evaluates it (Lewis eta!. 2013/ 1 I would like to especially thank Professor Harrison, my thesis advisor for all his support and feedback without which I would not have the thesis I have today, as well as Professor Lopez-Sanchez, who taught "The Politics of Language in the Spanish Speaking World" inspiring my thesis. Additionally, a thank you goes out to all the fellow senior linguistic majors, especially those in the Bryn Mawr Linguistics Hour, who were a constant support throughout the semester. I could not have achieved what I have without the encouragement from my friends (especially Sarah Borjas, as she has been there every step of the way, Darcey Glasser, my partner in crime, and Cindy Columbus, my study buddy) as well as my parents who as cheesy as it may sound, have supported and believed in me. Marcoux 2 1. Introduction While studying abroad in Barcelona during the fall of 2012, I received an email from the Universitat de Barcelona, welcoming international students and professors. I noted it did not start in Castilian2 or English as I expected, rather it welcomed us first in Catalan, followed by English, only to end the welcome in Castilian. This is one of many examples where which language is emphasized is of key importance. When traveling from Madrid to Barcelona by train, you will hear the conductors first announce the train's destination information in Catalan, followed by Castilian, and lastly in broken English. Why is it that they chose these three languages in that particular order? In my thesis I will be exploring the discourse of the language campaigns in Catalonia to increase the use of Catalan. My goal is to understand the underlying motivations of the campaigns, as well as the effectiveness of the campaigns. Assessing the motivations of the campaigns will be undertaken by observing and examining the campaigns, combined with reviewing what experts have to say about the matter. Evaluating comments on Y ouTube videos as well as analyzing statistics on the use and understanding of Catalan, will allow me to explore language attitudes and ideologies surrounding the language and consequently how these might reflect popular opinion. As a result of these assessments, I will indirectly be able to assess the effectiveness of the campaigns. Choosing which language to speak is inherently a political decision and a significant act of identity construction, one which people in Catalonia make several times every day. The relationship between identity and language is powerful and plays a key role in the independence movement that Catalonia is currently experiencing. As Bourdieu (1991: 48) discusses, language 2 I use the term Castilian instead of Spanish in order to refer to the language, following the standard usage by Castilian speakers. Marcoux 3 has symbolic power, which comes with its recognition. It is key to examine and analyze Catalonia's language campaigns to increase the use of Catalan and additionally examine the attitudes and ideologies surrounding the language. 2. General Concepts: Language Ideologies and Attitudes and Communities of Practice I believe it is important to introduce general concepts at the beginning of the thesis so that both the author and the readers share a common understanding of the basic concepts. Therefore, in the following section, the background will be set in terms oflanguage attitudes as well as ideologies and communities of practice. 2.1 Language Attitudes Attitudes in general can be defined as '"a disposition to react favorably or unfavorably to a class of objects"' as Garrett discusses in Bradac et a!. (as cited in Llamas, Mullany, and Stockwell 2007: 116). This definition of attitude can be applied to languages, in that people may view a language favorably or unfavorably. As Milroy states, people often are under the assumption that others share similar language attitudes, when in fact this may not be the case (Llamas, Mullany, and Stockwell 2007: 133). The definition of language attitude that I will be adopting for this thesis is how favorably people view the language and therefore how the individual feels about the language on a small scale, such as which language they prefer street signs to be written in. As we shall see below, language ideologies deal with individual's preferences on a larger scale, such as which language to use when delivering material in courses. Discussing language attitudes and possible explanations, Edwards (2006) comes to the conclusion that language attitudes are not based on intrinsic differences in languages or aesthetic differences but rather, they are based on social perceptions. Since language attitudes are based on social perceptions, "Thus, listening to a given variety acts as a trigger or a stimulus that evokes Marcoux 4 attitudes (or prejudices, or stereotypes) about the community to which the speaker is thought to belong" (Edwards 2006: 326). 2.2 Language Vitality and Standardization Two factors which are important in language perceptions as just described are vitality and standardization (Edwards 2006). As UNESCO defines vitality, it asses the language situation and examines the potential state of endangerment of a specific language (Brenzinger at el. 2003 ). It should be noted that this is not a simple process and is connected to standardization. Standardization is a process through which a language is consciously made the norm (Bourdieu 1991: 46). Since a language is made the norm and chosen over another, standardization is associated with social dominance, hence social status and solidarity are key to vitality (Edwards, 2006). This is crucial for any language campaign, since in order to change an attitude, one would need to change social perceptions. As we shall see, the rhetoric of the campaigns has evolved, alluding to the change in how they want to frame the campaign and in their hopes this will inevitably change how people perceive the Catalan language, and subsequently change their language attitudes and ideologies. It would seem that making a language appear fun and enjoyable would garner positive attitudes and ideologies in turn encouraging speakers to use the language more often. This is the case with one of the later language campaigns, 'Pass on Catalan', to be discussed below. However, there is a serious tone to one of the earlier campaigns, La Norma, discussed later, in which speakers fear making mistakes in the language because of the repercussions, causing negative language attitudes and ideologies, and not encouraging the use of Catalan as much as a campaign promoting a fun experience may. Marcoux 5 2.3 Language Ideologies A general definition of ideology is that if refers "to the beliefs that individuals or groups have about the world" (Llamas, Mullany, and Stockwell2007: 216). This can be applied to language and in this sense, Dyer comments how "These ideological stances can provide a means of making sense of the indexicality inherent in language, i.e. how language forms index speakers' social identities" (Llamas, Mullany, and Stockwell2007: 107). With this in mind, the definition of language ideology that I will be using for this thesis is how an individual feels about the language on a large scale, such as their opinions on which language the government should use to publish laws in. Language ideologies play out in language, text, and speech communities differently, "This meta-pragmatic, indexical layer of semiotic systems such as language is not neutral; it is evaluative, relational, socially positioned, invested with interests and subject to contestation and dominance" (Blommaert 2006: 511 ). With this perspective in mind, language is viewed as something that can be dominated, and," ... language is seen as a manipulable, bounded artifact consisting of (grammatical) 'structures' with a clear function, denotation" (Blommaert 2006: 512). As Blommaert (2006) discusses, indexicality is at the core of ideologies. Indexicality has not been clearly defined by many experts in the field, however, Dyer discusses how "Silverstein (1992: 316) refers to ... " first-order-indexicality as "a direct correlation between a linguistic feature and a social characteristic" (Llamas, Mullany, and Stockwell2007: 106). The definition of indexicality that I will be using in my thesis is very similar, and refers to the social information that the listener gathers about the speaker by hearing them speak. The manner in which someone speaks can inform the speaker of social factors such as age, gender, social class, among many others and it is this information that is being indexed. For example, if someone is Marcoux 6 speaking Castilian with a Catalan accent, the listener understands that the speaker is Catalan.