The Cervantes Institute and Casa África will present the book “Spanish in Sub-Saharan Africa” this Tuesday, June 16, at 7:00 p.m. This collaborative volume offers an updated and detailed overview of the teaching, learning, and presence of Spanish in 24 sub-Saharan African countries.
The event will take place in the Auditorium of the Cervantes Institute headquarters (Calle Alcalá, 49, 28014 Madrid. Entrance via Calle Barquillo 4) and will feature the participation of José Segura Clavell, Director General of Casa África; Carmen Noguero Galilea, Secretary General of the Cervantes Institute; and Francisco Moreno Fernández, Director of the Global Observatory of Spanish. Admission is free until capacity is reached. Please RSVP to [email protected]. The event can also be followed live on the Instituto Cervantes YouTube channel.
Following the presentation, a discussion will be held with Javier Serrano, editor and coordinator of the publication; Hans Denis Bekale, secondary school teacher in Gabon and author of an article in the book; Oscar Kem-Mekah Kadzue, professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Yaoundé (Cameroon) and author of an article in the book; and Concha Barceló Estevan, director of the Instituto Cervantes in Dakar. The discussion will be moderated by Álvaro García Santa-Cecilia, academic director of the Instituto Cervantes.
The book is a fundamental reference for understanding the expansion and growing role of Spanish in a region that is strategic for the international future of the language. Through extensive research, the book analyzes the situation of Spanish in countries where its teaching and learning are experiencing significant growth, including Ivory Coast, Senegal, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, and Madagascar.
Among its main contributions is the inclusion, for the first time, of specific studies on the situation of Spanish in the Central African Republic and Sudan, thus expanding the available knowledge on the presence of the language in territories little explored from this perspective.
In addition to its educational and sociolinguistic dimension, the publication adopts a multidisciplinary approach that addresses issues related to literature, journalism, science, decoloniality, and linguistic rights, offering a broad overview of the links between Spanish and contemporary African societies.
With this initiative, the Cervantes Institute and Casa África reinforce their commitment to the study, dissemination, and strengthening of cultural and linguistic ties between Spain and Africa, at a time when the continent is consolidating itself as one of the areas with the greatest potential for the growth and international projection of Spanish.
