BlogHispanic Canadian Voices
Laura Pausini, Toronto, and 1990s Nostalgia
Last Thursday, I went to Laura Pausini’s concert in Toronto.
If you grew up in the 1990s in Latin America, Spain, or Italy, chances are you know who she is and can still remember songs like Surrender.
If that doesn’t ring a bell, here’s a little context. Laura Pausini is an Italian singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 1993 when she won first prize at the Sanremo Music Festival with her song “La Solitudine” (“Loneliness”). She sings primarily in Italian and Spanish, but has also recorded songs in English, French, and Portuguese.
When I arrived at the Coca-Cola Coliseum, I wasn’t surprised to see that more than half the audience was Hispanic and over thirty years old. Many of those people had probably spent countless hours of their teenage years listening to her CDs, just as I did. The concert lasted three hours and felt like a nostalgic journey back to my thirteen-year-old self, dreaming of becoming a singer like her. Musically, it met every expectation.
A Musical Journey Through Latin America, Spain, and Italy
But the show also became a geographical and linguistic journey that, frankly, I wasn’t expecting.
She sang her greatest hits, of course, but she also performed songs by Shakira, José Luis Perales, Violeta Parra, Celia Cruz, Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny, and many more. It was a spectacular tour through Latin America, Spain, and Italy.
Multilingualism on Stage: Speaking to Diverse Audiences
As I said, her repertoire is multilingual, and after such a long career, she’s used to singing in several languages. What truly astonished me, however, was the ease with which she switched from one language to another while speaking to the audience. I’m not talking about awkward translations or the handful of phrases that many artists learn in the language of the countries they visit. From 8:00 to 11:00 p.m., Laura Pausini spoke fluently to the more than 7,500 Spanish-, Portuguese-, Italian-, and English-speaking people who had come to see her. She made all of us feel included, heard, and, somehow, the protagonists of the night.
The Monolingual Habitus and Linguistic Diversity
Laura Pausini’s multilingualism reminded me of Ingrid Gogolin, a German educator and researcher known for her concept of the monolingual habitus in schools: the assumption that all students speak the dominant language of a society, which effectively renders invisible the linguistic diversity that exists in much of the world today.
The monolingual habitus is not limited to schools; it extends into the way our societies function. Social media is full of videos showing people attacking immigrants for not speaking the “official” language.
You might be thinking, but a country needs a common language so that people can communicate and society can function. And that’s true. Yet the existence of dominant or official languages does not mean that other languages cease to exist, nor that they cannot coexist and be welcomed in schools, workplaces, or even concerts and movie theaters.
Why Mother Tongues Matter in Immigrant Communities
As an Argentinian and a Spanish speaker, I burst into tears last month while watching Project Hail Mary when Mercedes Sosa’s rendition of the song “Gracias a la Vida” began to play. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a film about an American scientist who travels into space to save the world. It stars Ryan Gosling. The story has absolutely nothing to do with my homeland, and yet hearing such a familiar voice singing such a beautiful classic in such an unexpected context touched something deep within my roots.
Language, Identity, and Belonging in Multicultural Canada
Clearly, Laura Pausini has a gift for learning languages, and she makes a genuine effort to connect with her audience. But I wonder whether she fully realizes how valuable the space she creates at her concerts truly is, a space where multiple languages are welcomed naturally and celebrated equally.
Her music shaped my youth. Watching her perform live left me reflecting on the importance of speaking and hearing our mother tongues, even in the most unexpected places. In a multicultural country like Canada, where so many people navigate multiple languages and identities every day, those moments of recognition and belonging can be more powerful than we realize.
Maria Pia Maiti
