Content and objectives
Most Spanish speakers live in the Americas and Europe. However, the Spanish language also plays a role on the African continent that should not be underestimated, especially in the two Spanish exclaves Ceuta and Melilla, Western Sahara, Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. The aim of this conference is to examine the challenges and opportunities of the Spanish language in Africa in the past, present and future. Individual contributions will examine these various regions of Africa with a clear connection to the Spanish language from a current perspective. The focus will be on sociolinguistic and language policy aspects, but dialectological and linguistic contact phenomena will also be addressed.
Specific topics that may be addressed in individual contributions are the following: the positioning of Spain or the Spanish language vis-à-vis Africa; methodological and theoretical considerations on the positioning of Africa in the Spanish-speaking world and in Spanish linguistics; language contacts, language policy and the role of language institutions in the African areas studied (e.g., Real Academia Española, Academia Ecuatoguineana de la Lengua Española, Instituto Cervantes); language ideologies and language attitudes; new theoretical approaches from postcolonial and decolonial perspectives; functions, status and characteristics of Spanish in Africa.
The conference is relevant and innovative within Spanish linguistics because it will bring together a group of international specialists who, from different theoretical and methodological approaches, are dedicated to the different African regions mentioned above. In this way, the encounter will encourage a supra-regional and international exchange on the role and significance of the Spanish language in Africa. Although each of the individual contributions will focus on one of the regions studied (Ceuta, Melilla, Western Sahara, Morocco, Equatorial Guinea), together they will offer an overview of the situation of Spanish in Africa at present, taking into account also its past, as well as an exchange on its potential and its challenges for the future.
Sections
The presentations will be organized along the following geographical areas: Ceuta, Melilla, Western Sahara, Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. Experts with different backgrounds and working in academic institutions in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, USA, Italy, Germany and Switzerland have confirmed their participation. All presentations will be held in Spanish.
