Spanish author criticizes the linguistic academy due to the influence of social media | Spain

One of Spain’s best-known novelists has launched a blistering attack on the country’s leading linguistic authority, saying it ignores the views of writers when it comes to changes in the language, and that the “anything goes Taliban” instead defers to social media, commentators and influencers.

Arturo Pérez Reverte used a column in newspaper El Mundo on Monday to accuse the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) – of which he is a member – of failing to live up to the mission set out in its famous slogan to “clean, reform and shine” the Spanish language.

These days, he said, “an illiterate critic, YouTuber or influencer can have more linguistic influence than a Cervantes Prize winner.”

The author of the Captain Alatriste series lamented that the votes of professional writers who are members of the Academy “are rarely counted in today’s RAE.” “Many of them, whether living or recently dead, have pointed out errors, impoverishments, and triviality in language, only to find that the now dominant sector of the academy—the “anything goes” Taliban—ignores them or treats them as respectable, but irrelevant, opinions,” he wrote.

“This is really dangerous because writers are not only preserving the language, they are working with it and projecting it into the future.”

Founded in 1713, the RAE is charged with ensuring that “the changes which the Spanish language undergoes in its constant adaptation to the needs of its speakers do not destroy the fundamental unity which it maintains throughout the Spanish world.”

Pérez-Reverte was particularly dismissive of the argument that the academy exists to record language rather than establish rules for its correct use. “If all uses of the majority, no matter how trite or incorrect, are considered automatically valid,” he wrote, “then the very concept of validity loses its meaning.”

“And here lies one of the problems. The current RAE accepts constructions that years ago it considered wrong, not after in-depth linguistic discussion, but because of external pressure. It succumbs too easily and frequently to mere use of the media, politics or social media.”

According to Pérez-Reverte, much of the blame lies with social media and the academy’s adoption of its terminology.

“The RAE’s subordination to social media is damaging its image,” he said. “Academic standards have become colloquial; rigor is negotiable. Anything goes, and any bold fool, if he perseveres, can take precedence over a Cervantes, a Galdós, or a García Márquez.”

The academy did not respond to the Guardian’s requests for comment, but sources there told Europa Press that Pérez-Reverte’s complaints, which she described as “a personal and respectful opinion of course”, would be carefully analysed.

“The RAE plenary session will check whether it has the support of any other academics, the scope and accuracy of the data on which it is based, and, if necessary, will propose appropriate measures to correct, to the greatest extent possible, the operational deficiencies declared by Academician Pérez-Reverte.”

“Its discussion will begin immediately, and it is expected that the academic will be able to present his proposals and defend them before the institution’s plenary session.”