Jèp de Montoya: "Language, culture, freedom: those words made the hairs on my neck stand up."

BarcelonaCatalonia has three official languages: Catalan, the national language; Spanish, the official language in Spain; and Occitan, known as Aranese in Aran, which is the national language of this territory and is also official throughout Catalonia. Catalan Sign Language is also officially recognized. For the first time, Barcelona will host the headquarters of the two academies of Catalonia, Catalan and Occitan. The president of the Institut d'Estudis Aranesi - Aranese Academy of the Occitan Language, Jèp de Montoya (Les, 1959), celebrates the opening of a delegation that houses the Institut d'Estudis Catalans.

You are one of the greatest scholars of Occitan and have worked for many years to promote the political status of Aranese. When did you first encounter this language?

— At home I spoke Spanish, and in the village, Aranese. In the classrooms we spoke Spanish and in the recreation, Aranese. In the 1960s and 1970s, Aranese was the popular language in Aran, with a very high percentage of speakers, much more so than now. The villages had a very important primary sector, with farms that kept cows and sheep. All this preserved the language in a very rich and exquisite form. I began writing in Aranese around 1970-71 and won the first literary competition of the Val d'Aran Ethnological Museum Foundation in 1976.

What draws you to Aranese?

— The Aran Valley and the Aranese have a very strong conception of the country. We have a vindictive spirit, seeking to maintain our personality and identity. When I won the first literary competition, the president of the Escolo deras Pirenéos, an organization founded in 1904, Jules Ponsolle, was invited to the event. He said: "It is up to us to save our language, our culture, our freedomOur language, culture, freedom. Those words made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. And with that youth, you already have an awareness, a seed planted. I had only learned Aranese by speaking it, like everyone else.

It's curious because, although the language of Oc has medieval origins and is the first cultural manifestation in a European language after Latin, its normativization and standardization is much more recent.

— Official regulations were institutionalized in 1983. We've been in the trenches for a long time, and how. But the great qualitative leap and recognition of our language came in 2006 with the Statute of Autonomy, when the Occitan language became official in Catalonia: a valley of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants made its language official for 7.5 million people. And since it's included in the Statute of Autonomy, it's official in the State. Catalan, Basque, and Galician are always mentioned, but we are recognized by the Statute of Autonomy itself. The Occitan law was passed in 2010, and in 2014, by presidential decree, the Aranese Academy of the Occitan Language was considered the linguistic authority on the Aranese language.

And despite this improved status, how is the social use of Aranese? What is happening in such a small territory, so focused on tourism, in such a globalized world, with such strong minority status by France, where most of Occitania is located?

— The latest survey on language usage indicated that the social use of Aranese is around 16%, and we don't expect the next figures to be extraordinary. We have a huge percentage of immigrants [19%] coming from South America, the Maghreb, and Romania, and the language of communication is surely Spanish. If the percentages of Catalan use decline with a population of 8 million, with a population of 10,000, the figures are disastrous.

Do you fear the disappearance of Aranese?

— Of course, we fear for the language, and it's legitimate to have that fear. Everyone, in their respective capacities, must do everything possible: we must do everything possible with standardization, publications, and dictionaries; and the public service must help anyone who wants to learn our language. Both the Generalitat (Generalitat) and the Conselh Generau d'Aran (General Council of Aran) are responsible for language policy and should provide the means to halt the decline and, if possible, reverse its course.

How is Aranese immersion organized?

— Very similar to the Catalan model. In theory, the language of instruction from ages 3 to 7 is Aranese. In the first years of primary school, some subjects are transferred to Catalan and Spanish, and English and French are also taught.

Do students graduate with five languages?

— They should be able to get by in all five. Obviously, our interest is to ensure that everyone has the most comprehensive knowledge of Aranese possible so that it can continue to be spoken.

Catalonia is the only territory where Aranese is official, while in France, the large territory where Occitan is spoken, it is not official.

— Occitania is divided into four states. Spain, through the Aran Valley. Half of France, from the Loire south, is Greater Occitania. Then there are the Occitan valleys in Piedmont, Italy, and Monaco. It should be noted that Spain has endorsed the European Charter for Minority Languages, while none of the other three states have. At the Academy of the Occitan Language, we are responsible for what we have in our hands and we know what we stand for.

What do they represent?

— We are the Academy of Occitan with a capital O for the entire Occitan territory. That's why we have two sections within our academy: the Aranese section, with people from the country, and another with great influences of the Occitan language who form the standard section: Joan Salas Lostau, Patricio Pojada, Jacme Taupiac, Florian Vernet, Claudi Balaguer, among others, who contribute. We are a beacon for the entire territory, the figurehead. The Occitan intellectual world is terribly happy with the Aran Valley, with the Academy, and with Catalonia. Without the recognition that Catalonia has given to the Aran Valley, the rest of Occitania wouldn't have this organization, and Occitan would be even worse off.

How is Occitan?

— Of the 19 million people in Occitania, there are, optimistically, about 2 million [10%] who are more or less familiar with the language and can maintain a minimal conversation. All the territories are below Aran in terms of usage.

A recent survey He said that 77% of French citizens are in favor of the recognition of regional languages.

— People may have that feeling, but they don't actually practice it. It's rare for people to speak to each other in Occitan. You have to have a lot of confidence. They're either people with a very high intellectual level or people in the primary sector who, due to circumstances, can speak its variant. People are very reluctant to stop speaking French.

What are the goals of the Occitanist movement?

— In France, there's a huge association movement. At one point, it was said there were 500 associations in favor of Occitan, but they have a relative impact. Patrici Pojada, a member of the IEC and IEA, has now become president of the Institute of Occitan Studies, and there seems to be a resurgence. However, when you listen to the President of the Republic, it's clear that Occitan won't reach where we would like it to. At the time, they destroyed everything: they destroyed Occitan, Basque, the Heart, Breton, and the langue d'Oil took over, and here we are.

What should be the Aranese goal?

— We hope it will be widely used in schools, that students will graduate with a high level of proficiency so that it becomes the language of social use. And, as it is a language of Catalonia, the main goal would be for Aranese to be present in Catalan schools, because there is a great lack of knowledge of the language and of the small autonomous region that we are.

What will it mean for the Occitan Academy to be based at the Catalan Academy in Barcelona?

— Both institutions and both languages will find potential for closer collaboration, something we haven't had before. It represents personalized linguistic advice on Aranese and Occitan in the capital of the Statute of Autonomous Communities (Estatut de Catalunya); it's an opportunity to coordinate research and standardization projects; it offers institutional meetings to strengthen the presence of the Occitan language in Catalonia; and it offers public events such as conferences, presentations, and academic workshops that we can hold here.

One of the latest literary news is the translation of the Don Quixote of Era Mancha, directed by Antoni Nogués and Jusèp Loís Sans.

— We have about forty works of universal literature published, Don Quixote, Anna Karenina, Les Misérables, Crime and Punishment...thanks to retired pediatrician Antòni Nogués, who devotes four or five hours a day to translation, and to Jusèp Loís Sans, who has conducted incredible research on translations from Golden Age Spanish into Aranese. That the most important literary work after the Bible, translated into every language in the world, exists in Aranese is an incredible milestone; there are a large number of Cervantes readers around the world who have heard of this.