Three ideas and one absence marked the opening of the course of the Valencian Language Academy (AVL), held this Thursday: Valencian is not an imposed language because “you cannot impose what is your own”; You cannot “accept institutions governed by people who do not give a single word.” good day” and the language “either it is defended or it is lost.” The first words were part of the speech of Verònica Cantó, president of the regulatory body of the Valencian Generalitat; The second was delivered by the prestigious philologist Vicent Pitarch, who received the Academy medal, along with the musical group Zoo, and the third by the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, and General Secretary of the PSPV-PSOE, Diana Morant. The absence refers to the fact that no counselor of the Generalitat, governed by the PP, made an appearance.
As representatives of the Generalitat, governed by the PP, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Álvaro Cuadrado, the general director of Treball, Cooperativisme and Labor Security, Andrés Lluch, and the president of the School Council of the CV, Salvador Oliver. Among the public, numerous socialist officials, such as the Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé, and Compromís, such as the parliamentary spokesperson Joan Baldoví.
The interventions alluded to the policies developed by the Consell, such as the reduction of Valencian in the educational system or promotion plans, or to the statement by the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, that Valencian “has been imposed for too long.” in allusion to the previous left-wing government, supported by other positions, such as the Minister of Education and Culture, José Antonio Rovira. In this sense, the president of the Valencian Academy of Language (AVL), Verònica Cantó, asserted that the entity “does not and will not participate in strategies of institutional erosion and delegitimization” of the language and defended that it is not an imposed language because “ “You cannot impose what is your own.”
“Valencian is not only the own and historical language of Valencian men and women, as our Statute of Autonomy rightly recognizes, but it is also the language of hundreds of thousands of Valencians, with which we have identified for almost eight centuries and on which we have built our roots,” he stressed. He cited the British historian Eric Hobsbawn, who stated that language is one of those long-lasting elements that allows, together with emotions, culture and, especially, the attitude of a society with the will to be, to build a political project for the future. . “I speak of a political project because the language should not be subject to ideological swings, but rather it should be an essential part of a common political project for all,” he emphasized.
The president of the AVL has stated that the Academy is “the first public institution that has to firmly believe that the Valencian has a future”, but has specified that “it does not have to be the only one”. For this reason, he has demanded “the collaboration, complicity and trust of the rest of the institutions, and above all, of the Valencian government.” In this regard, he insisted that “the main challenge” of Valencian lies in its use and “without competition there is no use and without use there is no language.” “Valencian society needs to speak Valencian in all areas and registers. It is one of the many challenges that minority languages like ours have to take on,” he concluded.
For her part, the Minister of Science and former mayor of Gandia stressed that “protecting the language is also a political decision, as is abandoning it to its fate, practicing regulatory denialism or cutting public resources to entities that are dedicated to keep it strong and alive.” “It’s sad, but it’s happening again. Because protecting the Valencian is guaranteeing its presence in all spheres of public life,” he defended. The language “either defends itself or is lost,” “does not survive spontaneously, as we have unfortunately been able to see in this land,” he warned.
With its medals, the Academy values the life and professional career, the civic and professional commitment of the philologist and sociolinguist Vicent Pitarch (Vila-real, 81 years old) with the Valencian language and culture; as well as the “push” and ability to project Valencian throughout the world through music, in the case of Zoo.
After a complete profile of the vice president of the Academy Joan Rafael Ramos, in charge of the laudatio, Pitarch stated: “Dark, adverse times are returning and not only in Europe.” “Given this panorama, our AVL medals admit to being considered an official, of course public, recognition of civic activism. A sample of the capacity for resistance and civil reconstruction that keeps Valencian society standing,” he continued. “The action of civil society requires the assistance of the institutional sphere (…), Therefore, I understand that what we cannot accept – which we consider not only unintelligible but also intolerable and a little surreal – is that we have institutions governed by people determined to never utter a single ‘Bon dia’. “Militancy in the field of popular culture is the reason that unites us and has brought us here. I understand that we are here to testify that a very encouraging movement is emerging from the Valencian Country, rooted in the regions and active in numerous social environments, very attentive to the wake-up call that Vicent Andrés Estellés gave us, through the verses of ‘You will assume the view of a village‘, he indicated.
On behalf of the musical group Zoo, its singer Toni Sánchez, -better known as Panxo- highlighted that they try “not to personalize it and share it” with the other groups that work in Valencian, since, in his opinion, work is being done ” very worthy and very admirable” so that the language “is recognized, admired, that there are people who are curious and who approach it with affection and respect.” The exhaustive laudatio Zoo was led by the academic M. Àngels Francés, who highlighted the “international impact” of the group and the influence of its urban, musical and illustrated poetry on the new generations of young Valencians.
