The Galician Language: A Historical Overview
The Nineteenth Century
The nineteenth century saw a resurgence of literary Galician. The rise of Romanticism fueled the development of a Galician ideology focused on defending the Galician language and culture. The war against the French allowed the use of Galician in printed propaganda, such as in Showcase Feat D Rio de Janeiro (1810) by Fernandez Neira. The use of Galician extended to political matters, reflecting the language of its intended audience. The structures of the old regime were modified by the liberal state administrative apparatus, with liberal ideas enshrined in the Constitution of Cadiz. The political changes brought by the French Revolution (liberty, equality, and fraternity) and the centralizing uniformity of the state led to the reorganization of the territory in 1833. The Kingdom of Galicia as an administrative unit disappeared and was replaced by four provinces. This intensified the process of Castilianization, not only in administrative and judicial courts but also in education. The Moyano Law of Education (1857) mandated literacy in Spanish throughout the state.
The War and Postwar Period
Always Galicia by Castelao (1944), published in exile in Buenos Aires, became a cultural touchstone for Galicia. In 1950, Editorial Galaxia was founded. In 1951, the magazine Grial was launched, banned in 1962, and relaunched in 1963. The first Galician political parties of the postwar period emerged in the 1960s: the Galician Socialist Party, the Galician People’s Union in 1963, and the Nationalist Bloc in 1964. The Galician language became a channel for clandestine publications. In 1963, publications commemorating the centenary of Cantares Gallegos led to the institutionalization of May 17th as Dia das Letras Galegas (Galician Literature Day). In the following decades, periodicals in Galician emerged, such as Obstinacy of Our Earth and Firefly magazine. The end of the dictatorship and the adoption of the Constitution of 1978 saw the incorporation of the Galician language and literature into the education system in 1979. Following the Statute of Autonomy, the Law of Linguistic Normalization of 1983 established the official status of the Galician language and its full integration into education. Its use in administration was established in 1985. TVG was launched, and the General Plan for the Normalization of the Galician Language was approved by the Galician Parliament. While the language expanded its areas of use, in many cases, it was no longer being transmitted to children. Galician remained the majority language of the older population but not among children.
Renaissance
During this time, Galician was still the majority language of the population. However, the process of imposing Spanish continued, spreading among the middle class and in cities. The resurgence of literary Galician was largely driven by individuals from Castilianized social classes. Castilian was the language of the ruling minority, the common language that enjoyed unique social prestige. It was a cultivated language, and its knowledge was essential for social advancement. This situation led to what is known as bilingualism, where the population was forced to learn another language, Castilian, becoming bilingual. Castilian speakers did not experience this pressure, which was seen as a privilege of the dominant group. In 1840, the Galician movement emerged, opposing the centralizing and uniforming character of the state. The Galician-Castilian conflict became a struggle to save Galician from cultural marginalization, a struggle with a history dating back to figures like Father Sarmiento but which did not gain momentum until later developments. Within Galicianism, three stages can be distinguished, representing a path in defense of Galician identity, culminating in the reclaiming of Galicia as a nation. These movements are known as Regionalism, Provincialism, and Nationalism. Provincialism emerged as a political movement aiming to make Galicia a single province, with Antolin Faraldo as a representative figure. The provincialists led a civil and military uprising that was suppressed by the Spanish army, ending with the execution of twelve officers. After this failure, the focus shifted to culture and language. The press became a channel of expression for Galician writers. Prominent figures in this literary movement included Francisco Añón and John Manuel Pintos, known as the precursors who paved the way for the Rexurdimento (Renaissance). The Rexurdimento took place in the 1860s. In 1861, the first Floral Games of Galicia were held, and the following year, the Album de la Caridad was published, with the winning poems becoming the first anthology of contemporary Galician poetry. In 1863, Rosalia de Castro published Cantares Gallegos, the first book written entirely in Galician, where she criticized those who looked down upon Galicia and the Galician language. In the 1860s, the first dictionaries and grammars of Galician were published after over three centuries of divergence from other Romance languages.