Linguistic differentialism in the Balearic Islands: Actors, discourse, and evolution

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive explanation of what linguistic differentialism entails in the Balearic Islands, based on a data set that allows the analysis of the main players (including both individuals and groups), of the narrative that they deploy, and of how this ideology has been structured over time. We also offer a historical overview of the gonellisme movement, as well as an interpretation from the identitarian and political standpoints, two aspects that often form the background of certain sociolinguistic controversies. Likewise, we compare the case of the Balearic Islands to similar ones, such as the Valencian blaverisme or the “light Catalan” controversy in Catalonia.

Keywords: linguistic differentialism and secessionism, language ideologies, gonellisme, corpus planning, critical sociolinguistics.