Laienlinguistische Repräsentationen und Praktiken der Textvereinfachung in Lateinamerika und Spanien

Abstract

The article examines the phenomenon of linguistic simplification inLatin America and Spain using the example of the diaphasic and diastratic va-rieties ofPlain Language(lenguaje claro/ciudadano) andEasy-to-Read Language(lectura fácil) from the perspective of language theory, sociology of language,translation studies and discourse analysis. In addition, the historical continuityof the linguistic ideal of simplicity and clarity, the efforts to bridge languagebarriers in a colonial discourse, as well as the social risks of current simplifica-tion tendencies are highlighted. The empirical part offers an exemplary in-ventory of folk linguistic representations of linguistic simplification on thebasis of selected guidebooks as well as their comparison with the actually app-lied strategies in adapted texts on the Chilean platformLey fácil