Why Do Spanish Speakers Say el arte but las artes? The Value of Studying the History of Spanish

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Keyword(s):  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
History Of

An American Language

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosina Lozano
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Language Recognition ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
History Of ◽  
The U.S

An American Language is a political history of the Spanish language in the United States. The nation has always been multilingual and the Spanish language in particular has remained as an important political issue into the present. After the U.S.-Mexican War, the Spanish language became a language of politics as Spanish speakers in the U.S. Southwest used it to build territorial and state governments. In the twentieth century, Spanish became a political language where speakers and those opposed to its use clashed over what Spanish's presence in the United States meant. This book recovers this story by using evidence that includes Spanish language newspapers, letters, state and territorial session laws, and federal archives to profile the struggle and resilience of Spanish speakers who advocated for their language rights as U.S. citizens. Comparing Spanish as a language of politics and as a political language across the Southwest and noncontiguous territories provides an opportunity to measure shifts in allegiance to the nation and exposes differing forms of nationalism. Language concessions and continued use of Spanish is a measure of power. Official language recognition by federal or state officials validates Spanish speakers' claims to US citizenship. The long history of policies relating to language in the United States provides a way to measure how U.S. visions of itself have shifted due to continuous migration from Latin America. Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens are crucial arbiters of Spanish language politics and their successes have broader implications on national policy and our understanding of Americans.

Epilogue

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosina Lozano
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
History Of ◽  
American Spanish ◽  
Education Act

This epilogue briefly identifies some of the major changes in Spanish language politics since World War II. These include community shifts in activism. For example, the Chicano Movementreclaimed the language and advocated for culturally affirming bilingual education programs. The epilogue also turns to federal support for Spanish instruction with the 1968 Bilingual Education Act and with the 1975 extension to the Voting Rights Act that provides federal protection for ballots in languages other than English. Spanish is no longer a language of just the Southwest and there are major populations of Spanish speakers in cities like Chicago, New York, and Miami today. In 2013, tens of millions of U.S. residents spoke Spanish in their homes. Spanish language perseverance in the United States is due to a long history of Latin American migration to the country. It began as a language of settlement and power in the nineteenth century and has transformed into a language often deemed as foreign or un-American. Spanish is an American language historically and this book has recovered that history.

scholarly journals Historical Views of Spiritism and Mediumship in Spain, 1880-1930

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 389-404
Author(s):  
Carlos S. Alvarado
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Psychical Research ◽  
Historical Outline ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Siglo Xx

Little is known by non-Spanish speakers about the history of Spiritism and psychical research in Spain. Standard English-language sources such as Frank Podmore’s Modern Spiritualism (1902) and Arthur Conan Doyle’s The History of Spiritualism (1926) do not cover developments in that country.1 There is a useful historical outline of the topic in philosopher and educator Mario Méndez Bejarano’s Historia de la Filosofía en España Hasta el Siglo XX (n.d., Chapter 17, Part 14). Much of relevance can be found in the new historiography about the subject in Spain which, like that in some other countries, has grown in recent decades.2 Other recent studies have included psychical research as well. Particularly useful are the essays compiled by Annette Mülberger (2016) in Los Límites de la Ciencia: Espiritismo, Hipnotismo y el Estudio de los Fenómenos Paranormales (1850–1930), and articles about such topics as the attitudes and approaches of specific investigators (Vilaplana Traviera & Mülberger, 2003), turning tables (González de Pablo, 2006), and prominent clairvoyance studies (Mülberger & Balltondre, 2013). Andrea Graus, the author of the book reviewed here, has also made various significant contributions. Graus, a historian at the Centre Alexandre Koyré, has published various articles about mediumistic investigations, and the ideas of Spanish physicians (e.g., Graus, 2015, 2016). This work has been expanded in the book reviewed here, Ciencia y Espiritismo en España, 1880–1930 (see Figure 1).

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