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To the contrary, it is a term not used by educated people to refer to modern times.
Think of Europe for instance. The reason nobody uses it is that in those rare cases when someone talks about both Portugal and Spain and Andorra at the same time, they will use Iberian. Other than that people will say Portuguese or Spanish.
If you referred to the Portuguese or Brazilians as Hispanics, they would think you are stupid and uneducated.
The word Hispanic, Hispanico, has been used since there was no America to include the ancient Hispania.
The word is used for cultured Americans with the same meaning it has in Spain, The Hispanic Society (also including Portugal).
Now, that recently "Hispanic" is used by illiterate politicians in the US for political reasons, who the hell cares? They also use that word "Anglo", which is the most ridiculous and ignorant thing there is....and other words that are just equally absurd.
That would be like saying that Renanians or Swabians were not Germanics because there were 10 million people in the US that called themselves Renanians&Swabians and were Polish Kosovars in origin. Who cares?
The past is the past, we are in the present. Terms evolve as do cultures and languages.
Portuguese speakers are lusophones- linguistically and culturally in academic circles, they do not fall under the Hispanic umbrella. It's not that complicated to understand really.
Last edited by rosa surf; 10-23-2015 at 08:04 PM..
hispánico, ca
Del lat. HispanÃcus.
adj. Perteneciente o relativo a la antigua Hispania o a los pueblos que formaron parte de ella.
According that definition Mexicans, Cubans, or Guatemalans aren't Hispanic. And if we follow that first definition literally Spanish people, no matter how ironic it sounds, wouldn't be Hispanic either. How come? would you ask. Well simply because this would be anachronism, Spain as it a modern state didn't exist yet, and wouldn't exist until much later. Hispania was the name given to a geographic entity known today as the Iberian peninsula by the Romans. Hispania, the ancient province, didn't explore the American continent, and it had latin American would speak Latin. But Latin American speaks either Portuguese or spanish and not Latin because Hispania was nothing more nothing less than a region of the Roman empire. It was never a political entity nor an ethnicity.
Certainly this confusion is blame on the Castille-Leon kings who despite falling short of achieving their goal to control the whole peninsula wanted nonetheless to conquer in toponimy what they hadn't been able to on the battlefield. They thought that by naming their kingdom "spain" after the peninsula's latin name hispania making believe they controlled the whole area when in reality they only reigned on most of it.
It is like the continent America and the country United States of America. Colloquially a US citizen is called an American, but say a Cuban is also geographically an American. Just not a citizen of the USA.
That "hispanic" cultural center you are talking about makes as much sense as creating an American cultural center displaying Turumpi, Comanche, Aztec, Toltec and New York cultures.
I can tell by the cultural references you use that either born in the US or lived there. But reality always precedes the creation of words. Hispanic there has a meaning shaped by the demographic reality of that country who needed to come up with a name for its population coming from Spanish speaking countries mainly of Amerindian descent. As often in the US, they opted for a "one size fit all" the term is inaccurate and only makes sense in the american context. Just like "african-american" really means "black", overlooking that many people in Africa aren't black.
I know your only motivations here are to create an emotional reaction and look at the result. I'm not answering or talking to you in particular but just for the love of intellectual debate.
You are a tourist in Portugal, locals will certainly not tell you anything negative about another country. Now, what they think is a different matter. In their minds the Portuguese have probably wondered why on earth a tourist asks them about Spain. I don't think that is a recommendable thing to do. But again, they won't tell you what they think of such odd questions.
They just take the tourist money and make fun of foreigners when they are among themselves.
This response of yours is highly negative and reflects more of what YOU think of the Portuguese rather than reality.
If you have any picts from that trip that you wouldn't mind sharing on the forum I would like to see them.
I don't usually don't take pictures anymore on my trips as Google images or picture tourist books are all I need. I did like Porto and Guimaraes very much--colorful and picturesque.
This response of yours is highly negative and reflects more of what YOU think of the Portuguese rather than reality.
In all honesty I doubt people would have answered anything else that wouldn't be either positive or neutral, not because it necessarily reflects what they think deep inside but, Portuguese people being usually polite, to avoid coming across as assertive or offensive.
If you ask me I would say that some people have a good opinion of Spain, others have a bad opinion, and most don't love nor hate they really just don't care, as they probably close to never interact with Spaniards.
I can't help but thinking that's a surprising question to ask, what motivated such a inquiry if you don't mind me asking?
This response of yours is highly negative and reflects more of what YOU think of the Portuguese rather than reality.
I disagree, I am just realistic. If you lived here for a decade like me, you would know that there often is quite a difference between what the Portuguese say - after all they are extremely polite people - and what they really think and say when they are among each other.
Plus, apart from the border regions, where very few people live anyway, the Portuguese have hardly anything to do with Spain, so your questions surely made them roll their eyes inside.
I get the impression that a lot of people make the mistake to think that just because Portugal is a small country, it somehow clings to the Hispanic world. Well, that is not the case at all. The Portuguese have a long history, a lovely language, and a quarter billion native speakers out there with whom to communicate. Spain might be our neighbor, but they feel as remote as Germany. There are no Spanish programs on TV or on the radio. There seems to be little exchange. There are Spanish tourists coming here, but then again, there are also British, American, and Nordic tourists...
I disagree, I am just realistic. If you lived here for a decade like me, you would know that there often is quite a difference between what the Portuguese say - after all they are extremely polite people - and what they really think and say when they are among each other.
Plus, apart from the border regions, where very few people live anyway, the Portuguese have hardly anything to do with Spain, so your questions surely made them roll their eyes inside.
I get the impression that a lot of people make the mistake to think that just because Portugal is a small country, it somehow clings to the Hispanic world. Well, that is not the case at all. The Portuguese have a long history, a lovely language, and a quarter billion native speakers out there with whom to communicate. Spain might be our neighbor, but they feel as remote as Germany. There are no Spanish programs on TV or on the radio. There seems to be little exchange. There are Spanish tourists coming here, but then again, there are also British, American, and Nordic tourists...
This is so true! I get so annoyed when people start saying how Portugal and Spain are so similar and how they are nearly the same. It's not true. There are large differences between both countries. Why do people choose to be so ignorant!
And I agree that the Portuguese are not really direct. They try not to be so harsh but they want to tell the truth at the same time.
According that definition Mexicans, Cubans, or Guatemalans aren't Hispanic. And if we follow that first definition literally Spanish people, no matter how ironic it sounds, wouldn't be Hispanic either. How come? would you ask. Well simply because this would be anachronism, Spain as it a modern state didn't exist yet, and wouldn't exist until much later. Hispania was the name given to a geographic entity known today as the Iberian peninsula by the Romans. Hispania, the ancient province, didn't explore the American continent, and it had latin American would speak Latin. But Latin American speaks either Portuguese or spanish and not Latin because Hispania was nothing more nothing less than a region of the Roman empire. It was never a political entity nor an ethnicity.
Certainly this confusion is blame on the Castille-Leon kings who despite falling short of achieving their goal to control the whole peninsula wanted nonetheless to conquer in toponimy what they hadn't been able to on the battlefield. They thought that by naming their kingdom "spain" after the peninsula's latin name hispania making believe they controlled the whole area when in reality they only reigned on most of it.
It is like the continent America and the country United States of America. Colloquially a US citizen is called an American, but say a Cuban is also geographically an American. Just not a citizen of the USA.
That "hispanic" cultural center you are talking about makes as much sense as creating an American cultural center displaying Turumpi, Comanche, Aztec, Toltec and New York cultures.
I can tell by the cultural references you use that either born in the US or lived there. But reality always precedes the creation of words. Hispanic there has a meaning shaped by the demographic reality of that country who needed to come up with a name for its population coming from Spanish speaking countries mainly of Amerindian descent. As often in the US, they opted for a "one size fit all" the term is inaccurate and only makes sense in the american context. Just like "african-american" really means "black", overlooking that many people in Africa aren't black.
I know your only motivations here are to create an emotional reaction and look at the result. I'm not answering or talking to you in particular but just for the love of intellectual debate.
Hispania and IberÃa are used interchangeably to designate anything related to Hispania and Iberia...and their descendants or the land they colonised.
If interpreted exactly Hispania or Iberia would not include contemporary societies, but then nobody would use such terms as Albion, Gallic, Germanic, etc, etc.
I don't care what words Americans use to explain their reality, but to pretend that Portugal is not included in the term Hispanic, Hispania, Iberia or Iberian is just DEMENTIAL.
As to using Lusitania...Lusitania was part of Hispania and most was inside modern day Spain.
And then you go again with your morbid obsession with race, quite worrisome under the light of the news we hear about your country and the ease of obtaining weapons, we are talking about cultures.
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