Refusing bilingualism, appropriating languages Discursive struggles for social meaning in a Spanish/Galician trial on ‘terrorism’

Abstract

This paper analyses a trial held in 2020 in the court known as ‘Audiencia Nacional’ (Madrid), against 12 Galician pro-independence activists accused of ‘glorification of terrorism’. Through the linguistic strategies of the different actors, and the bilingual interaction produced in that space, we can identify the ideologisation processes and political opposition movements existing in the (cross)examination. While previous research has especially focused on community bilingualism and bilingual interaction in institutional contexts such as the courtroom from a perspective of feedback effect, I explore the refusal to switch languages by bilingual speakers (the accused) against the monolingual counterpart (the court). This struggle over language appropriateness is discursively constructed along in-the-moment uses of linguistic difference and cultural history. Finally, since this trial was live-streamed for the media and society, I consider the interdiscursive hybridity triggered by this ‘third party’ in which juridical and political messages are being exchanged.