Valencia’s Language Academy approves declaration, seeks peace with secessionist groups

ValenciaIn a plenary meeting last Friday, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL) agreed to issue a statement jointly with the Reial Acadèmia de la Cultura Valenciana (RACV) whereby both groups express their predisposition to set up joint work groups. Their mission will be to find “the tools and initiatives that allow for effective cooperation between both institutions on any matters they agree upon, whilst ensuring that the Valencian law and each group’s own spheres of action are fully respected”.

The document —which is due to be approved in an extraordinary meeting on Monday— was passed last Friday by the AVL, with 12 votes in favour and 3 abstentions. One of the academy members was absent, say sources within the AVL that spoke to the Catalan News Agency.

The same sources indicated that the vote was brought forward because an ordinary meeting had been scheduled for Friday. On Monday the RACV will be approving the same document.

This paper is a first step towards a thawing of relations between the AVL and the RACV. The former is the only institution that can establish language law in Valencia, whereas the latter argues that the language spoken in Valencia is not part of the Catalan language, which the AVL does concede, albeit not explicitly (1).

In the text both groups reiterate that the legal framework of the “Valencian language” is the 1978 Spanish Constitution and the 2006 Valencian Statute, which establishes that “the Valencian language is the Valencian Community’s own language”. Furthermore, the Statute enshrines the AVL as the institution responsible for language prescription and tasked with “establishing and drafting the language rules of the Valencian language”.

The consensus document recognises the RACV as a century-old institution and a member of several scientific bodies, such as the Spanish Confederation of Local Study Centres. Its goal is to promote research on the various aspects that make up the reality of Valencia, chiefly among which is its language and the defence of the values and identity symbols of the Valencian people.

“Conflicts that have done no good to the social use of Valencian”

On this point, both groups conclude that the language is a common interest for both the AVL and the RACV “regardless of the aims and the characteristics of each society” and note that “so far historic, social and political circumstances have made it impossible for both groups to develop a normal, productive relationship”.

For this reason, the dean of the RACV (Federico Martínez Roda) and the president of the AVL (Ramon Ferrer) stated that they are fully aware of the urgent need to overcome “conflicts that have torn apart Valencia’s society and have done no good to the social use of Valencian”. Furthermore, they are both convinced that it is time to dispose of any negative connotations associated with the language (as a bone of contention, a subsidiary vernacular or the reluctance to accept the historic denomination of Valencian).

On this subject, they stated their willingness to seek agreements and establish a normal working relationship “guided by the objective of making our language an instrument of social cohesion for the Valencian people by promoting its use and attempting to reconcile the historic and linguistic contributions with the personal identity feelings of the Valencian people”.

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(1) N.T. For decades —and for fear that recognising the unity of the Catalan language (as spoken from Catalonia proper to the very south of Valencia) might lead to joint political action by the entire region— Spain has promoted and encouraged any initiative that could drive a wedge between Catalonia and Valencia, including the creation of ad-hoc pseudo-academic institutions to whitewash what is commonly known as “language secessionism” or the deliberate denial of the unity of Catalan.