Salamanca, (EFE).- “Constitution”, “reconciliation” and “reform” are some of the words that marked the Spanish transition to democracy, a relationship that includes the exhibition “Language and politics”, with which the International Center del Español de Salamanca has launched its activity this Wednesday.
The exhibition, which can be seen free of charge until September 24, coexists these days in the facilities of the old Bank of Spain with the VI “Festival de Ajedrez. Salamanca Cradle of Modern Chess”, but the goal is for the center to dedicate itself mainly to the study and dissemination of Spanish.
Texts and period press
Articulated with covers and texts from the press of the time, “Language and politics. The Spanish transition to democracy” takes a tour of the influence of words on the political and social change of that key time in the country’s history.
“The exhibition raises the value of the word in our society to bring people together and foster harmony, represented here in the concepts and expressions used in politics at the time”, explained the rector of the University of Salamanca (USAL), Ricardo Rivero, in the presentation before the media.
“Monarchy”, “Constitution”, “communism”, “State”, “democracy”, “nationality”, “nation” and “unity” are some of the most repeated words in the press that narrated those years of change and so reflect exposure with resources like keyword clouds.
The curator of the sample, Javier de Santiago Guervós, has highlighted this lexical selection process by which the decisive words and their content were agreed upon. One of the objectives of this work is to show the role of language in the democratic transition and give visibility to political communication.
The word as a vehicle of change
The creator of the story line and the historical context, Professor María Gajate, wanted to value “the importance of the word as a vehicle for political change” and “the power of the press also at the current time of the electoral campaign.”
With the beginning of the road to democracy in Spain, a vocabulary arises born from the need to name the new situations that occur in the political reality of the country and language becomes a fundamental tool for political change.
The USAL exhibition shows how moderation in language translates “the need and conviction of political groups to iron out differences, in the search for harmony and reconciliation.”
Thus, gratifying, reassuring, moderate and peaceful words are the protagonists of the first years of the Transition: concord, coexistence, tolerance, understanding, reconciliation. “In short, legally endorsed political reform that avoids terms such as rupture or revolution”, highlights the exhibition with which the International Center for Spanish in Salamanca inaugurates its exhibition and language study activity. EFE