Linguistic convergence in Catalonia before 1975 on the basis of oral testimonies

Abstract

In this paper, we trace the process of the extension of linguistic convergence in Catalonia in the 20th century, focusing on the period prior to 1975. In order to substantiate our study, we have relied on the life stories of people over 90 who told us in which language they had interacted with non-Catalan speakers in different periods of their lives. We were especially interested in finding out when the linguistic convergence towards Spanish in intergroup interactions became the predominant norm in Catalonia, and if there had been other linguistic behaviours. The results of our qualitative research show that there have been two different periods in Catalonia in terms of the languages used in exogroup conversations. In the first period, before the establishment of the Franco regime, linguistic convergence led initially to Spanish but afterwards a change could take place towards Catalan. It was a scenario open to language negotiation and there was, therefore, no linguistic strategy that could be considered the norm. This situation was reversed during the Franco regime because the establishment of new political, social and demographic conditions favoured linguistic convergence mostly towards Spanish, so this behaviour became a social norm.