Mercedes Bengoechea
| |
|---|---|
Mercedes Bengoechea in Córdoba, 2017
| |
| Born | Mercedes Bengoechea Bartolomé December 29, 1952
Madrid, Spain
|
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Feminist sociolinguist |
| Awards |
|
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Complutense University of Madrid |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | University of Alcalá |
Mercedes Bengoechea Bartolomé (Madrid, December 29, 1952) is a Spanish feminist sociolinguist, professor of English philology and a proponent for the defense of the use of gender-neutral language from an academic foundation.[1][2][3] She has had a long career as an advisor to various entities, including the Institute of Women and the Instituto RTVE (IORTV).[4] Since 1994, Bengoechea has been a member of the Comisión Asesora sobre Lenguaje del Instituto de la Mujer (Language Advisory Committee of the Institute of Women) (NOMBRA). She has been vocal at the Commission for the Modernization of Legal Language of the Ministry of Justice, as well as coordinator of the first Annual Report of the National Observatory on Gender Violence.[5] She defends the need to implement a non-sexist use of language, in the face of resistance from institutions such as the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE).[6][7] She has received various awards for her research and innovative work within her specialty.
She graduated in Modern Languages from the Complutense University of Madrid (1978), and received her Ph.D. in 1991.[4]
She is a professor of sociolinguistics in the area of English Philology, attached to the Department of Modern Philology at the University of Alcalá, of whose Faculty of Philosophy and Letters she was dean between 2003 and 2008.
Since 1994, Bengoechea has been a member of NOMBRA. Between 2005 and 2008, she was a member of the Expert Commission on Language and Childhood of the Instituto RTVE. In 2007, she was in charge of coordinating the first annual report of the National Observatory on Gender Violence. Between 2010 and 2011, she was a member of the Commission for the Modernization of Legal Language of the Ministry of Justice, a period in which she was awarded the First Class Distinguished Cross of the Order of Saint Raymond of Peñafort, granted by this Ministry (June 24, 2011).[8]
Throughout her career she has also received different distinctions, including the María Isidra de Guzmán Research Award for her book Adrienne Rich (1993), the Dones Progressistes Award, granted by the Federation of Progressist Women of the Valencian Community for her research work within the NOMBRA group of the Women's Institute on gender and language (2006).[9] L'Associació de Dones Periodistes de Catalunya granted her work Nombra.en.red. En femenino y en masculino carried out jointly with José Simón, the Prize for Innovation in Non-Sexist Communication (Prize for Innovation in Non-Sexist Communication) in 2008.[4]
| International |
|
|---|---|
| National |
|
| Academics |
|
| Other |
|
