Bernie Sanders (left) and Jeremy Corbyn (right). Image via SouthSidePride Followers of politics on both sides of the Atlantic have been taken by the rise of two political figures, who are said to have much in common. In the US, former Burlington mayor and current US senator Bernie Sanders is mounting a serious challenge to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic party primary. And in the UK, Jeremy Corbyn took the Labour party by surprise after winning that party's nomination earlier this month.
There are certainly plenty of connections between the pair, as they have both rallied the populist left of their respective countries. Though they are certainly big differences between them as well; an article in the New Yorker quipped that "Corbyn makes Bernie Sanders look like [Republican senator] Ted Cruz." But, for translators like me, one connecting factor stands out in particular: supporters of both groups are or have at one time been given the suffix of "...istas". For Sanders supporters, that would be "Sanderistas", and for Corbyn's base, "Corbynistas". For Sanders, the roots of this phrase go back to his time as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, when he took it upon himself to weigh in on the country's brewing Iran-Contra affair in the early 80s. The term "Sandinista", named for 1930s Nicaraguan revolutionary Augusto César Sandino and made relevant at the time by a government in Nicaragua that embraced his ideology and was opposed by the Reagan administration, was on the tip of everyone's tongue. Sanders wrote letters both to Reagan and to the people of Nicaragua, criticizing the US federal government's actions in the country; this and other factors led to his tightly knit group of supporters being cleverly dubbed "Sanderistas". Corbyn's rise as an "ista" has been relatively recent. A largely irrelevant figure in UK politics, he was brought into the race for Labour party leader after the party's defeat in the general elections in May. By August, when it was clear that Corbyn had a real chance of being elected, right leaning publications like the Daily Mail began to refer to his followers derisively by using the term "Corbynista". While the term "Sanderista" seems to have faded (Sanders' fans haven't lost any enthusiasm, but the preferred term now for his fan base seems to be the "Bernieverse"), the recently minted "Corbynista" only seems to have gained in popularity since Corbyn's selection. But in both cases, the choice of "...ista" to describe their respective following clearly appears to have been a put down, an invocation of the Spanish language not out of respect but to instill fear and paint these politicians' supporters as backward, uncivilized. These tactics are an unfortunate reality of the below-the-belt nature of politics in both countries. And though in an English language context, "...ista" seems to be applied only to major candidades who are significantly to the left of the political mainstream, in Spanish it is applied to politicians of all ideologies, and is seen as rather mundane. Pretty much every politician gets his or her own "...istas", from presidents to small town mayors. And since many people from Spanish speaking countries have multiple last names, this can result in some rather awkward new words. For instance, supporters of Mexico's president Enrique Peña Nieto ("Peña Nieto" being a two word last name) are referred to as "Peñanietistas". But oddly enough, the effect of the rise of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua on the English lexicon wasn't limited to the politics. According to the Dictionary.com blog, it was at that same time that the term "fashionista" came into usage in the US, for people who showed an almost fanatical, Sandinista-esque level of commitment to new fashion trends. Meanwhile, as the English fashion lexicon became tinged with influence from Spanish, some Spanish speaking countries began to use the English word "fashion". In shopping malls where I live, it's not uncommon to see groups of women point to dresses and burst out: "Esto es muy fashion!" Sadly, the rise of "...ista" as a put down reveals our lingering intolerance for foreign languages. But the adaptability of terms like "fashionista" shows that there's still hope that some don't see them as a threat, but as an opportunity. |
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