Abstract
Since its launch, Esperanto has attracted people involved in language politics. For them Esperanto provides an equitable solution when international problems are discussed, overcoming the barrier posed by the use of national languages and identities. However, its relation with the nation-state is far from being straightforward. Although a significant majority of the Movement claims Esperanto to be a <em>neŭtrala lingvo</em>, a neutral language, this has been fiercely contested by Esperanto activists committed to advancing particular programs for changing the world. From a sociolinguistic point of view, all Esperanto speakers are at least bilingual and quite often multilingual, without exception, so they always belong at least to one speech community in some way connected with a nation-state. This article illustrates the different facets of the Esperanto Movement from its beginning in 1887. Particular attention is paid to the concept of neutralism and how it has evolved in time. From the <em>belle époque,</em> Esperanto has been forced to re-define its position according to changes in sociopolitical contexts. In the current era of ‘glocalization’, where the spread of English worldwide is counterbalanced with old and new forms of local identities often linked with minority languages, Esperanto represents an alternative to the idea that global English leads to more social inclusion.
Highlights
The traditional Westphalian model of the relation between nationalities and languages has been challenged in recent years—for instance, by Beaulac (2004)—for failing to account for the complexity of language and identity in the contemporary world
Three analytical approaches have been used to this end: first, the author’s observation of the Esperanto community over the last 20 years, using the analytical tools of linguistic anthropology; second, discourse analysis of the most influential texts presenting the ideologies involving Esperanto; third, sociology of language and sociolinguistics, as language-in-use reveals some distinct aspects which are relevant to our study
The latest generation of Esperanto speakers seems to understand the current situation of mulilingualism in terms of ‘glocalization’ (Bastardas i Boada, 2012) which consists of globalization, which emphasises the role of English worldwide as no other language in the history of humankind, and localization, where various movements in support of traditional minority languages challenge the Westphalian model of nation-state from within
Summary
The traditional Westphalian model of the relation between nationalities and languages has been challenged in recent years—for instance, by Beaulac (2004)—for failing to account for the complexity of language and identity in the contemporary world. A typical example is the community of practice of chess players, who define themselves by playing chess (the object level) and talking about chess and its philosophy (the meta-level): this process of collective sense-making builds their sense of belonging, which comprises specific cultural traits, including a jargon and a distinct sense of humour, often expressed through specific metaphors (Astori, 2015) In our case, it is the practice of using the planned language that forms the community (Janton, 1993). In the rest of this article, we will mainly explore the second factor, which is the Esperanto language representation, examining how it was re-defined by the community of practice and presented to the general public according to the varying contexts of the times. While it is possible to distinguish different sub-periods after the Second World War, for the purpose of this paper a uniform modern period suffices
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