Galician Language Revival: From Repression to Recognition

The Impact of the 1936 Uprising on Galician Language

The military uprising of 1936 severely halted the development and normalization of the Galician language. This period was marked by the repression of its representatives, many of whom were executed, such as Alexandre Bóveda, or forced into exile, like Castelao. Others, such as Otero Pedrayo, were stripped of their positions while in Portugal.

This repression led to an impoverishment of the economy, which in turn brought about significant migratory processes from rural areas to cities. This demographic shift was directly reflected in the loss of Galician speakers in favor of Castilian.

Factors Contributing to Linguistic Decline

Several other factors influenced the decline of the native Galician language:

• The widespread extension of education, often conducted exclusively in Castilian.
• The emergence of new audiovisual media, predominantly in Castilian.
• Intense propaganda against Galician.
• The introduction of new cultural values that marginalized the native language.

All these elements led Galician speakers to increasingly fill their linguistic gaps with Spanish, diminishing the use of Galician in daily life.

The Slow Recovery: From the 1950s Onward

From the 1950s, a slow process of recovery began for the most prominent areas of Galician language use. A key initiative was the foundation of Editorial Galaxia, a crucial post-war Galicianist project that significantly elevated Galicia's cultural standing.

Editorial Galaxia played a pivotal role by:

• Recovering authors who had published during the Second Spanish Republic.
• Announcing new authors through its influential Illa Nova collection.
• Beginning the publication of the magazine Grial, which remains on the market today.

Standardization and Adaptation of Galician

The re-emergence of works published in Galician spurred a new process for claiming a standard for the language. Editorial Galaxia, in particular, promoted a marked tendency towards the simplification of Galician. This involved:

• Eliminating apostrophes.
• Simplifying scripts and different types of accents.
• Eliminating archaic terms and hiperenxebrismos (excessive purism).
• Adapting the language to the urban environment.

Contributions of the Post-War Generation

The post-war generation made significant individual and collective contributions to the continuity of Galician literature and linguistic studies. Notable works include:

• Carballo Calero:
  • Historia da Literatura Galega Contemporánea (History of Contemporary Galician Literature)
  • Gramática Elemental del Gallego Común (Basic Grammar of Common Galician)
• Eladio Rodríguez: Diccionario Enciclopédico Castellano-Gallego
• José Luis Franco Grande: Diccionario Gallego-Castellano

Carballo Calero's grammar surpassed previous ones (such as those by Saco and Arce) due to his enhanced linguistic training. However, the dictionaries of the time still largely lacked scientific rigor.

Cultural Revival and Legal Recognition

The 1960s represented a significant revival of cultural activity with the emergence of cultural associations throughout Galicia, such as O Facho.

Concurrently, clandestine political organizations like the Galician Socialist Party and the Galician People's Union began to appear in public life, notably using Galician in their pamphlets and demonstrations.

In the late 1970s, a new stage began for the Galician language. It gained legal recognition and institutions were obligated to preserve it, as enshrined in the Spanish Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy of Galicia.