Bernard Weish

Last updated October 06, 2023

Bernard Weish or Bernard Weiss (or Bernhard, or Weis, depending on the source) was a purported fictional linguist who has been cited as an authority to support theories on the differences between the Valencian and Catalan languages. There is speculation that the character was created either by proponents of Language secessionism such as the Blaverists (Valencian nationalists) to bolster their arguments, or by those who oppose secessionism / to mock it.

At the beginning of the 1980s, a Dr. Bernard Weiss, claimed to be a philologist specialising in Romance languages in the Department of the University of Munich. He circulated papers to blaverist meetings and contributed articles to the Valencian media in support of secessionist linguistic theories regarding Valencian and Catalan. His supposed expertise gave the Blaverists a scholarly source to support their claims, which they previous lacked from any other universities. Dr. Weiss also made the claim to have discovered 11th century manuscripts written in the Mozarabic language by Valencian troubadours such as Bertran Desdelueg (likewise as Bertrand Ofqours), Luís Llach (freely translated as Miqel Jaqson) and Salvatore Coniglia (something like Johny Rabbity).

Despite these assertions, for six years, Dr. Bernard Weiss remained hidden from public view and refused to be photographed, interviewed, or to take phone calls. When a journalist from the Levante-EMV Valencian newspaper contacted the University of Munich to verify Dr/ Weiss's credentials, the university states that no one by that name was employed there. Despite this discrepancy, the organisers of the First Congress of the Valencian Language, held in May 1985 in Elche, extended an invitation for Dr. Weiss to be the key speaker.

The Valencian newspaper Las Provincias , known for its support of Blaverism, published contradictory reports on whether or not Bernard Weiss actually attended the congress as the main lecturer. Some sources claimed he was in attendance, whilst other stated he was not. This discrepancy cast further doubt on the credibility of the supposed linguist.

ÉXITO DEL PRIMER CONGRÉS DE LA LLENGUA VALENCIANA

Elche (De nuestra redacción)

Con la lectura de conclusiones se cerrará hoy el [...]

(...) las sesiones han alcanzado gran altura, destacando la intervención del professor de la Universidad de Münich Bernard Weiss, con un interesante trabajo sobre la lingüística valenciana.

(Las Provincias, 19-05-85, p.2)

SUCCESS OF THE FIRST CONGRESS OF THE VALENCIAN LANGUAGE

Elche (From our redaction)

Today (the Congress) shall end after the conclusions are read...

Sessions have been a success, highlighting the intervention of the University of Münich Dr. Bernard Weiss, with a very interesting paper about Valencian linguistics.

(Las Provincias, 85-05-19, p.2)

CONCLUSIONES DEL PRIMER CONGRÉS DE LA LLENGUA VALENCIANA

El idioma valenciano es autóctono

Elche (Vicente Pastor Chillar)

(...) El primer día o fecha inaugural resultó frío, por la escasez de asistentes, que se multiplicaron durante el sábado y, particularmente, el domingo, en que llegaron varios turismos y autocares desde Valencia.

La primera conclusión de la asamblea es que la lengua valenciana constituye un idioma románico autóctono, en el que se da un caso único y sin precedentes (...)

Entre los ponentes han figurado (...) el professor Herran Bernhard Weiss, de la Universidad de Munich, cuya lección fue leída por una hermana suya, al serle imposible el desplazamiento (...)

Entre los acuerdos adoptados figura celebrar el Segundo Congreso y solicitar a S.M. El Rey que conceda de Real a la Academia de Cultura Valenciana.

(Las Provincias, 23-05-1985, p.42)

CONCLUSIONS OF THE FIRST CONGRESS OF THE VALENCIAN LANGUAGE

The Valencian language is autochthonous

Elche (Vicente Pastor Chillar)

The first day was cold, due to the shortage of those presents, who got to be numerous on Saturday and, specially, on Sunday, when many cars and buses arrived from Valencia.

The first conclusion of the meeting is that the Valencian language is an autochthonous Romanic language on which a unique situation and without precedents (...)

Between the lecturers we can count (...) Dr. Herran Bernhard Weiss, from the University of Munich, whose paper was read by his sister, since he couldn't trip (...)

Some of the resolutions are celebrating a Second Congress and asking H.M The King the title of "Royal'' to the " Academy of Valencian Culture ".

(Las Provincias, 1985-05-23, p.42)

After this public (dis)appearance, Bernard Weiss vanished from the literary scene and his works were not published again. Blaverists, who had previously fabricated his existence, were forced to admit the truth or face ridicule from their opponents. The alleged manuscripts have yet to be published or made available for public viewing.

Related Research Articles

Catalan, known in the Valencian Community and Carche as Valencian, is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of two autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. It is also an official language in Valencia, where it is called Valencian. It has semi-official status in the Italian comune of Alghero, and it is spoken in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and in two further areas in eastern Spain: the eastern strip of Aragon and the Carche area in the Region of Murcia. The Catalan-speaking territories are often called the Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries".

Valencian or Valencian language is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the Romance language also known as Catalan, either as a whole or in its Valencia-specific linguistic forms. The Valencian Community's 1982 Statute of Autonomy and the Spanish Constitution officially recognise Valencian as the name of the regional language.

The Catalan Countries are those territories where the Catalan language is spoken. They include the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencian Community, and parts of Aragon and Murcia (Carche), as well as the Principality of Andorra, the department of Pyrénées-Orientales in France, and the city of Alghero in Sardinia (Italy). It is often used as a sociololinguistic term to describe the cultural-linguistic area where Catalan is spoken. In the context of Catalan nationalism, the term is sometimes used in a more restricted way to refer to just Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The Catalan Countries do not correspond to any present or past political or administrative unit, though most of the area belonged to the Crown of Aragon in the Middle Ages. Parts of Valencia (Spanish) and Catalonia (Occitan) are not Catalan-speaking.

The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self-government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organized.

Valencian Union was a regionalist political party in the Valencian Community, Spain.

Valencian Sign Language, or LSV, is a sign language used by deaf people in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is closely related to Catalan Sign Language (LSC); they are variously described as similar languages or as dialects of a single language.

The names of the Valencian Community are diverse, even though Comunitat Valenciana is the only denomination with official status in its Statute of Autonomy. Nonetheless, this legal document includes in its Preamble other legal denominations that portray the history and nature of the territory: Regne de València and País Valencià.

Blaverism is a Valencian regionalist ideology in the Valencian Community (Spain) that emerged with the Spanish transition to democracy characterised by strong anti-Catalanism, born out of its opposition to Joan Fuster's book Nosaltres, els valencians (1962), which promoted the concept of the Catalan Countries which includes Valencia. They consider Fuster's ideas as an imperialist Catalan nationalist movement that tries to impose Catalan domination upon Valencia.

The first names, or glossonyms, of the Catalan/Valencian language formed in a dialectal relation with Latin, in which Catalan existed as a variety. These names already expressed the relationship between the two languages. New names that related Catalan to Rome came about to dignify the Catalan language in the thirteenth century, though Latinists called it vulgar and the people planus, or pla.

The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with more than five million inhabitants. Its homonymous capital Valencia is the third largest city and metropolitan area in Spain. It is located along the Mediterranean coast on the east side of the Iberian Peninsula. It borders Catalonia to the north, Aragon and Castilla–La Mancha to the west, and Murcia to the south, and the Balearic Islands are to its east. The Valencian Community is made up of three provinces: Castelló, Valencia and Alicante.

Miquel Adlert i Noguerol was a Valencian novelist and publisher.

Valencians are the native people of the Valencian Community, in eastern Spain. Legally, Valencians are the inhabitants of the community. Since 2006, the Valencian people are officially recognised in the Valencian Statute of Autonomy as a nationality "within the unity of the Spanish nation". The official languages of Valencia are Valencian and Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Valencian regional election</span> Municipal election in Valencia, Spain

The 2019 Valencian regional election was held on Sunday, 28 April 2019, to elect the 10th Corts of the Valencian Community. All 99 seats in the Corts were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with the April 2019 Spanish general election. This was the first early regional election ever held in the Valencian Community, as well as the first Valencian election to not be held concurrently with other regional elections.

Valencian regionalism is a cultural and political movement that advocates the revival of the identity of the region now within the Valencian Community in eastern Spain. Politically, the regionalists support the administrative decentralisation of the Spanish state and, for some, the recognition of Valencian foral law and increased autonomy for the Valencian Community. The movement emerged during the early years of the Bourbon restoration in the last third of the 19th century. It took political shape during the early 20th century, and persisted in a controlled and attenuated form through the Francoist State. After the restoration of democracy, the regionalist tendency was challenged by a Valencian nationalism with some left-wing and pan-Catalanist associations. Regionalism took on a right-wing and anti-Catalanist outlook which became known as Blaverism, and was represented politically by the Valencian Union until the absorption of that party into the People's Party in 2011.

This is the results breakdown of the local elections held in the Valencian Community on 24 May 2015. The following tables show detailed results in the autonomous community's most populous municipalities, sorted alphabetically.

Valencian Nationalist Left is a left-wing valencian nationalist political party founded in the Valencian Community in 1979, as a refoundation of the previous Valencian Regional Union.

Valencian Coalition was a far-right blaverist political organization active in the Valencian Community between 2004 and 2011. CV was linked to more extreme factions of anti-Catalan valencianism, like the Grup d'Acció Valencianista (GAV).

This is the results breakdown of the local elections held in the Valencian Community on 22 May 2011. The following tables show detailed results in the autonomous community's most populous municipalities, sorted alphabetically.

The Norms of El Puig, also known as Norms of the RACV, are the linguistic rules developed by the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (RACV) proposed for Valencian treated as an independent language, as opposed to a variety of Catalan. The Norms were presented in 1981 at the Monastery of Santa Maria in El Puig and were drafted with the intention of regulating the Valencian language in accordance with and encompassing both the linguistic reality of present-day Valencian as well as longstanding Valencian literary and orthographic tradition. The Norms of El Puig were the official Valencian standard in the early 80s, and have been promoted by the Valencian Governments at various times. Nowadays, they are used by some publishers, associations and taught by the cultural society Lo Rat Penat that issues its own qualifications in Valencian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Academy of Valencian Culture</span>

The Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (RACV) is a public law corporation, combining features of a public and private entity, founded in 1915 to research and study the Valencian language and culture.

References

^ Levante, Letters to the director, 1985-04-21
Vicent Bello, La Pesta Blava, Ed. 3i4, València 1988, p. 242-247 ISBN 84-7502-228-6

External links

The Blavers' wrong information

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.