The Spanish in the world

A language is not defined only by the number of speakers, but also by the aspects of reality that it transmits. If English occupies the first place in the field of scientific-technical research and business, Spanish plays an important role as a language of culture. Spanish is considered this way thanks to the originality of Hispanic literature, both that of Latin America and that of Spain. There are several Nobel Prizes awarded for literary works written in Spanish: Miguel Ángel Asturias (1967), Pablo Neruda (1971), Vicente Aleixandre (1977), Gabriel García Márquez (1982), Camilo José Cela (1989) and Octavio Paz ( 1990).

The expansion of Spanish has until recently been a spontaneous phenomenon. In 1991, the Spanish Parliament approved the creation of the Instituto Cervantes. The Cervantes Institute has a network of 70 centers, destined to spread the Hispanic language and culture throughout the world.

Along with this dissemination work, efforts are multiplied to maintain the unity of the Spanish language. The Academies of all the Hispanic countries collaborate with the Royal Spanish Academy of the Language renewing and updating the academic Dictionary. One of its missions is to incorporate the vocabulary that is emerging in the different Hispanic countries. This is an attempt to create a common heritage for all Spanish speakers. With this, the fragmentation of the tongue is also avoided.

New technologies have made it possible to create a database on the Internet that contains a large number of literary texts. A network of search engines makes it possible to find necessary fragments in a few seconds.

Another important task is to unify the language in the media and ensure the proper use of the language. For this purpose, films and soap operas are dubbed. There is a tendency to create a standard Spanish, devoid of regional accents, that can reach all Hispanic audiences.