The independentist titulario of the New Kingdom of Granada. The institutional canon of courtesy in the first Colombian constitutions (1800-1830)

Abstract

Political constitution, as a text genre, was born in the Hispanic world at the beginning of the 19th century. In America, the event takes place simultaneously with the birth of modern republics, such as the Colombian republic. In the Spanish American emancipation speeches, the process of regional linguistic identity was boosted through the implementation of a new nomenclature for the Administration of the independent era. Empirically, this work is based on the Colombian constitutional regulation on the linguistic forms applicable in the postcolonial era. In this precept, idiomatic changes are evidenced in two design areas: institutions and, especially, titles of honor (known as titularios). The object of the present study is to determine whether the first institutional titulario of the independent Colombia represents a break with the linguistic models of the metropolis. The analysis carried out shows that, in the first Colombian constitutionalism, two canons coexist: the honorific canon of the Hispanic tradition, and new forms of courtesy, borrowed from French.