Language and The Nation

In class last week we talked briefly about the idea that national identity is partly built through unity of language within a nation. Nation building through language unity is an interest of the nation-state, and the nation-state achieves this through the use of media, technology and communication to promote a common language.

To take a quick look at this, I will relate this idea to a current situation involving disunity of language within a nation. In Spain, there are currently several different languages spoken. Castellano (Castilian) is the only official language of the nation; yet there are several other ‘co-official’ and ‘recognized’ languages which are official in their respective regions. To name a few: Gallego (Galician) in the North-West, Vasco (Basque) in the North-East, and Catalán in the East. There are still even more unrecognized regional dialects, including Andalucían among others.  For the purposes of my comments, I will focus on Catalán and País Vasco (the Basque Region), which I see as examples of language creating a ‘regional’ identity and a conflict of sorts in terms of national unity. In the case of Catalán, language has created unity within Cataluña, and disunity in Cataluña’s relation to the nation of Spain. How is this identity created? For example, in the region of Cataluña the Catalán language is taught in schools starting at a very young age. The identity of this region has lead to an extreme ‘nationalist’ movement – a movement seeking economic and political independence from the nation of Spain. This can also be contrasted with the case in País Vasco where the result of the Basque language unity created the ETA ‘Euskadi Ta Askatasuna’ or ‘Basque Homeland and Freedom’ - a Basque nationalist and separatist group which has resorted to extreme violent acts to assert their separatist beliefs.

This is not a new issue - These conflicts and separatist movements have existed for many years. What happens in these various regions is the creation of regional identity based on unity of language other than the national language of Castellano. Recently, the 11^th of September, was ‘La Diada’, Catalonian ‘National’ Day. With the current Spanish economic situation, the Catalonian nationalist movement seems to be heightened. Below are a couple of pictures of the demonstrations of La Diada (from El Pais' website), expressing the desire for independence from Spain, to illustrate the scale of this movement. For more click here.

 

 

Why do nations care to create unity of language? Does this have anything to do with the nation-state controlling the media? Throughout history the nation-state has used other means to promote one common language within its borders. However, modern communication technologies and media are powerful tools of communication and influence, so it seems natural that nation-states want to use them and perhaps have certain control of them.  Daya Thussu alludes to the power of media stating, “During the past 100 years, the media have been transformed into one of modern society’s most important institutions, exercising influence in virtually all aspects of social and political life, assuming a central role in the shaping of culture and becoming one of the primary ways by which people learn about and interact with their world and between each other.” (Chapter Three: Creating a global communication infrastructure).

I am fascinated by the idea of identity as it relates to language, and how language contributes to the development of cultural and national identity. The case in Spain - of Cataluña and País Vasco - is just an example of the effects of language and identity, and why a nation-state would be interested in creating national identity through language unity. I’m interested in delving into this subject in further detail and to do so I’d like to get my hands on Manuel Castells’ book The Power of Identity (The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture Volume II), which I know has chapters dedicated to these topics.