Hispanic Studies

Hispanism (sometimes referred to as Hispanic Studies or Spanish Studies) is the study of the literature and culture of the Spanish-speaking world, principally that of Spain and Hispanic America. It can also entail studying Spanish language and culture in the United States and in other presently or formerly Spanish-speaking countries in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, such as Equatorial Guinea and the Philippines. A practicing scholar who specializes in this field is known as a Hispanist.

During the 16th century, Spain was a motor of innovation in Europe, given its links to new lands, subjects, literary sorts and personages, dances, and fashions. This hegemonic status, also advanced by commercial and economic interests, generated interest in learning the Spanish language, as Spain was the dominant political power and was the first to develop an overseas empire in post-Renaissance Europe. In order to respond to that interest, some Spanish writers developed a new focus on the Spanish language as subject matter. In 1492 Antonio de Nebrija published his Gramática castellana, the first published grammar of a modern European language. Juan de Valdés composed his Diálogo de la lengua (1533) for his Italian friends, who were eager to learn Castilian. And the lawyer wrote in his Gramática castellana (Antwerp, 1558) that Castilian was spoken by Flemish, Italian, English, and French persons.

For many years, especially between 1550 and 1670, European presses published a large number of Spanish grammars and dictionaries that linked Spanish to one or more other languages. Two of the oldest grammars were published anonymously in Louvain: Útil y breve institución para aprender los Principios y fundamentos de la lengua Hespañola (1555) and Gramática de la lengua vulgar de España (1559).

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