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Catalan and Spanish in an independent Catalonia: Linguistic authority and officiality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2018

David Atkinson
David Atkinson*
Affiliation:
University of Limerick, Ireland
*
Address for correspondence: David Atkinson School of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics, Room MC1-002, Millstream Building, University of Limerick, Irelanddavid.atkinson@ul.ie
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Abstract

Pro-independence parties won a narrow majority of parliamentary seats in the December 2017 elections in Catalonia. Should Catalonia at some point become independent from Spain, the respective status of Catalan and Spanish is a major issue about which there is significant divergence of opinion, not least within the independence movement in Catalonia. This article approaches the question of language officiality in a hypothetically independent Catalonia through the theoretical lens of linguistic authority, particularly the concepts of anonymity and authenticity. The data, an on-line discussion thread following an interview with a Catalan language activist, reveal a striking diversity of language ideological positions on both the nature of linguistic authority in Catalonia as things stand, as well as how such authority should be constructed and managed in the event of independence, particularly as regards questions of officiality. (Catalonia, linguistic authority, language ideologies, officiality)*

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 47 , Issue 5 , November 2018 , pp. 763 - 785
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank two anonymous referees and Jenny Cheshire for their very helpful comments on a previous draft of this article.

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