Spain's fight over Catalan

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Spain's fight over Catalan language
December 11, 2006


Re "Fighting words in Spain," Column One, Dec. 4

In writing about how the Catalan language "has become a tool of identity
but also of exclusion," The Times seems to miss the point that the choice
to enforce a Spanish-only policy and to outlaw the teaching of Catalan in
the region's schools  made long ago by the Spanish government in its
attempts to expunge the language and culture of Catalonia  was just as
much a political and exclusionary decision as the present Catalan language
policy.

The fact is, all language choices are political, whether those decisions
are made by a national majority to eradicate a minority language from the
public sphere (as in the case of English-only policies in the United
States) or by a national minority/regional majority (as in the case of
Catalan language policies in Spain) to maintain a cherished tongue.

WILLIAM MACINTYRE

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-monday11.4dec11,0,1566202.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters
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