Linguistic diversity

The focus of this residency is the continuation of the language rights residency that was held online in 2020 due to the global pandemic. This second edition will be face-to-face and will be attended, among others, by some of the residents who already participated virtually last year.

Linguistic rights are a basic human right, on an individual and collective level. Rights that affect our options for personal, social, economic and cultural development. The linguistic diversity we experience, and share time and space with, has marked the history of humanity. As has the loss of this diversity, the lack of these rights. Linguistic diversity helps us understand how we look at the world and the other people and societies who share it with us. Languages forge identities, bonds of growth and translations that are vehicles for various paths of creation and contribution. Today, the world is estimated to have between 5,000 and 6,000 languages. This cultural biodiversity is just as endangered as our biological biodiversity, as are other forms of cultural expression.

At faberllull, we pose questions such as: Is there enough consideration in the world for the human and civil rights associated with the individual and collective right to choose the language or languages we wish to communicate in? Is forced cultural homogenisation rebuffed? What defines the concept of a territory’s own language? Is there sufficient recognition of individual linguistic rights (right to be recognised as a member of a linguistic community, right to public and private use of a language, etc.) and collective linguistic rights (right to cultural services, right to fair presence of the language and culture in the media, etc.)?

At faberllull, we want to reflect on the value of linguistic diversity and to do with everyone who has a project on linguistic rights. So, we’re launching a call for activists who defend cultural and linguistic diversity, revitalisation and critical anthropology agents, linguists and anthropologists, researchers working in this field. The projects must follow the lines of work and thought described above.