MADRID, 22 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The director of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), Santiago Muñoz Machado, has affirmed that he is open to debating any controversy that arises around linguistic norms but “not outside plenary sessions” because the institution “cannot be discussing in the front door” on these issues and, furthermore, because the debates “wear.
“Controversies can always appear and I welcome whatever arises, but public discussions, especially among academics outside the plenary hall, I like less,” he acknowledged in an interview with Europa Press on the occasion of the IX Language Congress, which It is celebrated in Cádiz from March 27 to 30.
This is how the director of the RAE has pronounced after the debate that arose a few weeks ago due to the accentuation of the adverb ‘alone’, in which the modification in the rule was maintained after a “peaceful” plenary session and in which “there were not even winners nor defeated”, as he himself stated at a press conference.
Muñoz Machado has defended that the RAE is an institution that “wins with reserve and introspection” and that it should not be “subjected” to stress and discussions that can be avoided. “Transparency and openness is one thing and presence in debates that can be avoided is another, because you have to take care of an institution as centennial and prestigious as this one,” he asserted.
On the other hand, the IX Congress of the Language will be held in Cádiz, although it was originally scheduled for Arequipa (Peru), but the political situation in the country forced us to find a new venue, which has not led to changes in the planned activities. , as confirmed by Muñoz Machado, who has defended the decision made.
“It was not hasty. We were thinking about it for months before the decision was adopted and it was evident that it could not be done there. We have been very sorry because we were very excited about Arequipa and we had traveled there twice to prepare it, but it’s okay adopted the decision and they have understood it”, he explained.
In this regard, he added that Peru may appear as the venue for a future occasion, although there is a commitment to this country. “We have to follow again the procedure that will consist of having the commitment of the Government of Arequipa. Also in this we need a stable government and that the Association of Language Academies proposes it,” he detailed.
In general, the Congress of the Language will host presentations related to Cádiz, for example a table will talk about the influence of the Constitution of Cádiz on Spanish-American constitutionalism; another on the influence of carnivals as a literary argument and a third on the same subject but as a source of literary creation, as indicated by Muñoz Machado.
In this sense, the director of the RAE has celebrated that, apart from the academic program, the event has a “huge” cultural offer with events, exhibitions and shows. Likewise, there will also be a presentation on the “positive” work of the black legend and what America meant as an exemplary model of colonization.
The celebration of said Congress has caused institutional friction, something that for Muñoz Machado is “inevitable” due to the urgency of the event and the different opinions regarding the programmed actions. However, he has praised the commitment that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cádiz City Council have acquired.
“The generosity of the Government has been great and the work that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is doing is being impeccable and commendable, as is the City Council of Cádiz. The Ministry has provided the necessary resources and has also arranged an entire organizational apparatus important in the service that the Congress can be. The miracle is taking place that some congresses that need at least two years for their preparation are running in practically three months. All that can be said about this is commendable”, has asserted.
At this point, he stressed that the friction has nothing to do with the number of speakers established by the Ministry because, as he has detailed, there will be a total of 290 speakers and only two proposed by the department. “It seems very reasonable to me that they intervene because it is a Spanish Congress and they are organizing it but there is no interference in the program,” he clarified.
Among the strengths of the Congress, the Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts will be approved which, as the director of the RAE has explained, is “one of the purely informative regulations that academies have” and is prepared in case there are “discrepancies” in I turn to him.
“It is an informative dictionary that resolves doubts about the use of language. And perhaps there may be a discrepancy as to whether the solutions it proposes for those doubts are the same. But there will not be a specific discussion about doubts,” he added.
Lastly, Muñoz Machado has identified the main challenges facing the Hispanic language and culture. Thus, he has established that in the United States they are aware of the “deterioration” of second generation Spanish speakers and they have to evaluate the prestige of the language there.
“That those who speak Spanish are not considered to be second-class people, in relation to those who speak English. These are elements that are frankly, in the latter, improving visibly because knowing Spanish is an element of prestige. Growth of the students who study Spanish in the United States there are more than 8 million people who study Spanish, so the growth is exponential”, he indicated.
Likewise, he has appealed to promote Hispanic culture, especially all its linguistic variants, on which work must be done so that they “live” because “they are enriching and not limiting.”
