Identidad etnosociolingüística y política lingüística. A propósito del Paraguay contemporáneo

The aim of this contribution is to analyze the role of ethno‑sociolinguistic representations in the current dynamics of a bi/multi‑lingual setting, the “multicultural and bilingual” Paraguay, where the majority language of the country (Guarani) is in a minorization process, and where an official glotto‑political action is being taken with the aim to allow the minority language to recover or conquer the social functions of a historical language, as is the case of Castilian (Spanish) in the same country. Although the importance of demo‑linguistic circumstances cannot be denied, it is obvious that the relevance of the sociolinguistic imaginary in the positive or negative evolution of the conflict and its relation with the type of institutional language policy that has (or has not) been implemented needs to be stressed. It is, after all, the success or failure of linguistic normalization and the impact on the glotto‑political process of linguistic loyalty which is at issue, an attitude which is itself linked to ethno‑linguistic identity representations.