Linguistic norm matters in décimas of the Colombian insurgency

Abstract

The years of social and war conflict preceding the Independence of continental America met several literary manifestations of patriotic sign. The décima was one of the most used propagandistic means due to the emotive and narrative charge that the verses could transmit. Many compositions recognize the important role peasantry had in the insurgent epic and in the national essence of the newborn republics. It is intended, in this way, that the popular character speaks its own language, tracing a normative dichotomy, since it opposes to the cultured way of speaking, even though the empiric argument is limited and sometimes the sociolinguistic boundaries are not clear. The matter of norm is to be found in the texts of that period, since it is in them that the different Spanish socio-cultural uses are present, and because the academic doctrine was weak and of limited effectiveness.