Catalan Countries
Catalan Countries Països Catalans | |
---|---|
(Catalan-speaking areas in dark grey) The Catalan Countries comprise the following regions: | |
State | Region |
Andorra | [note 1] |
France | Northern Catalonia[note 2][note 3] |
Italy | Alghero[note 4] |
Spain | Aragon (for La Franja or the Western Strip) Balearic Islands Catalonia (core area) Murcia (for Carche) Valencian Community |
The Catalan Countries (Catalan: Països Catalans, Eastern Calatan: [pəˈizus kətəˈlans]) are those territories where the Catalan language is spoken.[1][2] They include the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencian Community, and parts of Aragon (La Franja) and Murcia (Carche),[3] as well as the Principality of Andorra, the department of Pyrénées-Orientales (aka Northern Catalonia, including Cerdagne, Roussillon, and Vallespir) in France, and the city of Alghero in Sardinia (Italy).[1][4][5][6] It is often used as a sociolinguistic term to describe the cultural-linguistic area where Catalan is spoken. In the context of Catalan nationalism, the term is sometimes used in a more restricted way to refer to just Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands.[7][8][9] The Catalan Countries do not correspond to any present or past political or administrative unit, though most of the area belonged to the Crown of Aragon in the Middle Ages. Parts of Valencia (Spanish) and Catalonia (Occitan) are not Catalan-speaking.
The "Catalan Countries" have been at the centre of both cultural and political projects since the late 19th century. Its mainly cultural dimension became increasingly politically charged by the late 1960s and early 1970s, as
Different meanings
Països Catalans has different meanings depending on the context. These can be roughly classified in two groups: linguistic or political, the political definition of the concept being the widest, since it also encompasses the linguistic side of it.
As a linguistic term, Països Catalans is used in a similar fashion to the English
As a political term, it refers to a number of political projects
Component territories
Catalan / Valencian cultural domain |
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Catalan and its variants are spoken in:
- the Spanish Autonomous Communitiesof
- Catalonia – even though in the comarca of Val d'Aran, Occitan is considered the language proper to that territory;
- Aragon, in a Catalan-speaking area known as "La Franja de Ponent" ("Western Strip");
- the Balearic Islands and
- as Valencian, in the Valencian Community, with the exception of some western and southern territories where Spanish is the only language spoken;
- Andorra, a European sovereign state where Catalan is the national and only official language.
- most of the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, also called Le Pays Catalan (The Catalan Country) in French or Catalunya (del) Nord (Northern Catalonia) in Catalan;
- the Italian city of a variant of Catalanis spoken.
Catalan is the official language of Andorra, co-official with Spanish and Occitan in Catalonia, co-official with Spanish in the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community—with the denomination of Valencian in the latter—and co-official with Italian in the city of Alghero. It is also part of the recognized minority languages of Italy along with Sardinian, also spoken in Alghero.
It is not official in Aragon, Murcia or the Pyrénées-Orientales, even though on 10 December 2007 the
Cultural dimension
There are several endeavors and collaborations amongst some of the diverse government and cultural institutions involved. One such case is the
A number of cultural organizations, specifically Òmnium Cultural in Catalonia, Acció Cultural del País Valencià in Valencia, and Obra Cultural Balear in the Balearic islands (collectively the "Llull Federation"), advocate independence as well as the promotion of Catalan language and culture.[36][37]
Political dimension
The political projects that centre on the Catalan Countries have been described as a "hypothetical and future union" of the various territories.
Many in Spain see the concept of the Països Catalans as regional exceptionalism, counterpoised to a centralizing Spanish and French national identity. Others see it as an attempt by a Catalonia-proper-centered nationalism to lay a hegemonic claim to Valencia, the Balearic Islands or Roussillon, where the prevailing feeling is that they have their own respective historical personalities, not necessarily related to Catalonia's. The Catalan author and journalist Valentí Puig described the term as "inconvenient", saying it has generated more reactions against it than adhesions.[41]
The concept has connotations that have been perceived as problematic and controversial when establishing relations between Catalonia and other areas of the Catalan linguistic domain.[42][43][44] It has been characterised as a "phantom reality" and an "unreal and fanciful space".[45][46] The pro-Catalan independence author Germà Bel called it an "inappropriate and unfortunate expression lacking any historic, political or social basis",[47] while Xosé Manoel Núñez Seixas spoke of the difficulties in uniting a historicist concept linked to common membership of the Crown of Aragon with a fundamentally linguistic construct.[48]
In many parts of the territories designated by some as Països Catalans, Catalan nationalist sentiment is uncommon. For example, in the
There are other parties which sporadically use this term in its cultural or linguistical sense, not prioritizing a national-political unity, as in the case of the Bloc Nacionalista Valencià. The
Some of the most vocal defenders or promoters of the "Catalan Countries" concept (such as Joan Fuster, Josep Guia or Vicent Partal) were Valencian.
The subject became very controversial during the politically agitated
This confrontation between politicians from
A 2004 poll in Valencia found that a majority of the population in this region considered
In 2015, the Spanish newspaper ABC reported that the Catalan government of Artur Mas had spent millions of euros to promote Catalanism in Valencia over the previous three years.[56]
As for the other territories, there are no political parties even mentioning the Països Catalans as a public issue neither in Andorra, nor in la Franja, Carche or Alghero. In the Balearic islands, support for parties related to Catalan nationalism is around 10% of the total votes.
Even though the topic has been largely absent from the political agenda as of late, in December 2013 the
In August 2018, the ex-mayor of Alghero, Carlo Sechi, defined algherese identity as part of the Catalan culture whilst politically defining Alghero as part of the Sardinian nation.[60]
The
Catalans in the French territory of Northern Catalonia, although proud of their language and culture, are not committed to independence.[62] Jordi Vera, a CDC councillor in Perpignan, has said that his party favoured closer trade and transport relationships with Catalonia, and that he believed Catalan independence would improve the prospects of that happening, but that secession from France was "not on the agenda".[62][63] When Catalans took to the streets in 2016 under the banner of "Oui au Pays catalan" ("Yes to the Catalan Country") to protest the French government's decision to combine Languedoc-Roussillon, the region which contained Northern Catalonia, with Midi-Pyrénées to create a new region to be called Occitanie, the French magazine Le Point said that the movement was "completely unrelated to the situation on the other side of the border", and that it was "more directed against Toulouse [the chief city of Occitanie] than against Paris or for Barcelona."[64] Oui au Pays catalan, which stood in the 2017 French legislative election, said that's its aim is a "territorial collectivity" within the French Republic on the same lines as Corsica.[65] Every year, though, there are between 300 and 600 people in a demonstration to commemorate the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees, that separated Northern Catalonia from the South.[66]
Etymology
The term Països Catalans was first documented in 1876 in Historia del Derecho en Cataluña, Mallorca y Valencia. Código de las Costumbres de Tortosa, I (History of the Law in Catalonia, Majorca and Valencia. Code of the Customs of Tortosa, I) written by the Valencian Law historian Benvingut Oliver i Esteller.
The term was both challenged and reinforced by the use of the term "Occitan Countries" from the Oficina de Relacions Meridionals (Office of Southern Relations) in Barcelona by 1933. Another proposal which enjoyed some popularity during the Renaixença was "Pàtria llemosina" (Limousine Fatherland), proposed by
None of these names reached widespread cultural usage and the term nearly vanished until it was rediscovered, redefined and put in the center of the identity cultural debate by Valencian writer Joan Fuster. In his book Nosaltres, els valencians (We, the Valencians, published in 1962) a new political interpretation of the concept was introduced; from the original, meaning roughly Catalan-speaking territories, Fuster developed a political inference closely associated to Catalan nationalism. This new approach would refer to the Catalan Countries as a more or less unitary nation with a shared culture which had been divided by the course of history, but which should logically be politically reunited. Fuster's preference for Països Catalans gained popularity, and previous unsuccessful proposals such as Comunitat Catalànica (Catalanic Community) or Bacàvia[67] (after Balearics-Catalonia-Valencia) diminished in use.
Today, the term is politically charged, and tends to be closely associated with Catalan nationalism and supporters of Catalan independence. The idea of uniting these territories in an independent state is supported by a number of political parties, ERC being the most important in terms of representation (32 members in the Parliament of Catalonia) and CUP (10 members). ERPV, PSAN (currently integrated in SI), Estat Català also support this idea to a greater or lesser extent.
See also
- Basque Country
- Blaverism
- Catalan independence movement
- Catalan language
- Catalans
- Galicia irredenta
- Gate of the Catalan Countries
- Iberian federalism
- Occitania
- Pan-nationalism
- Pi de les Tres Branques
Notes
References
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- ^ Fàbrega, Jaume. La cultura del gust als Països Catalans. El Mèdol, 2000, p. 13.
- ^ Flor i Moreno, 2010, p. 135, 262, 324 and 493-494.
- ^ Maseras i Galtés, Alfons «Pancatalanisme. Tesis per a servir de fonament a una doctrina». Renaixement, 21-01-1915, pàg. 53-55.
- ^ "Llei de creació de l'Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua - Viquitexts". ca.wikisource.org. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
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- ^ The Valencian Normative Dictionary of the Valencian Academy of the Language states that Valencian is a "romance language spoken in the Valencian Community, as well as in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, the Principality of Andorra, the eastern flank of Aragon and the Sardinian town of Alghero (unique in Italy), where it receives the name of 'Catalan'."
- ^ 20minutos (7 January 2008). "Otra sentencia equipara valenciano y catalán en las oposiciones, y ya van 13". www.20minutos.es - Últimas Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 October 2019.
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- ^ NacióDigital. "L'AVL reconeix novament la unitat de la llengua | NacióDigital". www.naciodigital.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "El PP valencià reconeix la unitat de la llengua per primera vegada a les Corts - Diari La Veu". www.diarilaveu.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ Flor i Moreno, 2009, p. 181
- ^ Arnau Gonzàlez i Vilalta (2006) The Catalan Countries Project (1931–1939). Department of Contemporary History, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
- ^ Statutes of Valencian Nationalist Bloc Archived 28 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Bloc.ws. Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
- ^ Political project of Republican Left of Catalonia. Esquerra.cat. Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
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- ^ Catalan, the language of eleven million Europeans. Ramon Llull Institute
- ^ Charte en faveur du Catalan. cg66.fr
- ^ "LEY 10/2009, de 22 de diciembre, de uso, protección y promoción de las lenguas propias de Aragon". Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ "La Xarxa Vives s'incorpora als òrgans de govern de l'Institut Ramon Llull" (in Catalan). Xarxa Vives d'Universitats. 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008.
- ^ Neix la Fundació Ramon Llull. 3cat24.cat (31 March 2008). Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
- ^ (in Catalan) La Generalitat crea la Fundació Ramon Llull a Andorra per projectar la llengua i cultura catalanes. europapress.cat. Europapress.es (18 March 2008). Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
- ^ La Fundació Ramon Llull s'eixampla – VilaWeb Archived 19 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Vilaweb.cat (16 January 2009). Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
- ^ L'Ajuntament de Xeraco aprova una moció del BLOC per a adherir-se a la Fundació Ramon Llull. Valencianisme.Com. Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
- ^ Varios municipios valencianos se suman a la Fundación Ramon Llull para fomentar el catalán. Las Provincias. Lasprovincias.es. Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
- ^ "El Govern balear anuncia que abandona el consorci de l'Institut Ramon Llull" (in Catalan). Institut Ramon Llull. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ "Federació Llull" (in Catalan). Acció Cultural del País Valencià. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ "Què és?" (in Catalan). Obra Cultural Balear. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ ISSN 1696-2060.
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- ^ Ridaura Martínez, María Josefa (2016). "El proceso de independencia de Cataluña: su visión desde la Comunidad Valenciana". Teoría y Realidad Constitucional (in Spanish) (37): 384.
- ^ Valenti Puig Archived 24 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine. Joanducros.net. Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-85109-907-8.
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- ^ "Duran ve un error hablar de 'Països Catalans' porque solivianta a muchos valencianos". La Vanguardia. 15 June 2012.
- ISSN 1130-0426.
- ^ Corral, José Luis (30 August 2015). "Cataluña, Aragón y los países catalanes". El Periódico de Aragón.
- ISBN 978-1-84519-704-9.
- ^ Núñez Seixas, Xosé Manoel (2010). "The Iberian Peninsula: Real and Imagined Overlaps". In Tibor Frank; Frank Hadler (eds.). Disputed Territories and Shared Pasts: Overlapping National Histories in Modern Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave. p. 346.
- ^ "Arxiu Històric Electoral - Informe sobre Comunitat Valenciana". 20 August 2007. Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ Datos Electorales – Elecciones Autonómicas de 2007. cortsvalencianes.es
- ^ El difícil salto de Esquerra Republicana. Elpais.com (30 May 2009). Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
- ^ Bloc Nacionalista Valencià Archived 28 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Bloc.ws. Retrieved on 12 September 2013.
- ^ "Casi el 65% de los valencianos opina que su lengua es distinta al catalán, según una encuesta del CIS". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 19 December 2004.
- ^ Wheeler 2003, p. 207.
- ^ Generalitat Valenciana. "Barómetro de abril 2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
- ^ Caparrós, Alberto (3 May 2015). "Mas inyecta cuatro millones en dos años para fomentar el catalanismo en Valencia". ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ^ Eleccions al Parlament de les Illes Balears. contingutsweb.parlamentib.es (8 June 2007)
- ^ "El Ple aprova defensar l'autonomia del Parlament". Parlament de les Illes Balears (in Catalan). 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "El Parlament balear aprova que 'els Països Catalans no existeixen'". e-notícies (in Catalan). 10 December 2013.
- ^ NacióDigital. "Carlo Sechi: "Ens sentim catalans, però som part de la nació sarda" | NacióDigital". www.naciodigital.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ Constitución Española en inglés. constitucion.es
- ^ a b Hadden, Gerry (23 November 2012). "No Independence Fever Among French Catalans". PRI.
- ^ Trelawny, Petroc (24 November 2012). "Catalonia vote: The French who see Barcelona as their capital". BBC.
- ^ Thépot, Stéphane (11 September 2016). "Oui au Pays catalan ou non à l'Occitanie ?". Le Point.
- ^ "Le mouvement Oui au Pays Catalan présent aux législatives". L'Indépendant. 29 January 2017.
- ^ "Manifestation à Perpignan pour commémorer la séparation de la Catalogne en 1659". France 3 Occitanie (in French). Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- ^ L'Acadèmia aprova per unanimitat el Dictamen sobre els principis i criteris per a la defensa de la denominació i l'entitat del valencià. Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua
Bibliography
- Assier-Andrieu, Louis (1997). "Frontières, culture, nation. La Catalogne comme souveraineté culturelle". Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales. 13 (3): 29–46. ISSN 1777-5418.
- Bel, Germà (2015). Disdain, Distrust and Dissolution: The Surge of Support for Independence in Catalonia. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781782841906.[dead link]
- Crameri, Kathryn (2008). "Catalonia". In Guntram H. Herb y David H. Kaplan (ed.). Nations and Nationalism: A Global Historical Overview. Vol. 4. ABC-CLIO. pp. 1536–1548. ISBN 978-1-85109-907-8.
- Gómez López-Egea, Rafael (2007). "Los nuevos mitos del nacionalismo expansivo" (PDF). Nueva Revista. 112: 70–82. ISSN 1130-0426.
- Jordà Sánchez, Joan Pau; Amengual i Bibiloni, Miquel; Marimon Riutort, Antoni (2014). "A contracorriente: el independentismo de las Islas Baleares (1976-2011)". Historia Actual Online (35): 22. ISSN 1696-2060.
- Mercadé, Francesc; Hernández, Francesc; Oltra, Benjamín (1983). Once tesis sobre la cuestión nacional en España. Barcelona: Anthropos. ISBN 84-85887-24-7.
- ]
- Wheeler, Max (2003). "5. Catalan". The Romance Languages. London: Routledge. pp. 170–208. ISBN 0-415-16417-6.
Further reading
- Atles dels Països Catalans. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2000. (Geo Estel. Atles) ISBN 84-412-0595-7.
- ISBN 84-7502-302-9.
- Fuster, Joan. Qüestió de noms. (Online in Catalan)
- Geografia general dels Països Catalans. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana. 1992–1996. 7 v. ISBN 84-7739-419-9(o.c.).
- González i Vilalta, Arnau. La nació imaginada: els fonaments dels Països Catalans (1931–1939). Catarroja: Afers, 2006. (Recerca i pensament; 26)
- Grau, Pere. El panoccitanisme dels anys trenta: l'intent de construir un projecte comú entre catalans i occitans. El contemporani, 14 (gener-maig 1998), p. 29–35.
- Guia, Josep. És molt senzill, digueu-li "Catalunya". (El Nom de la Nació; 24). )
- Història: política, societat i cultura als Països Catalans. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1995–2000. 13 v. ISBN 84-412-2483-8(o.c.).
- Mira, Joan F. Introducció a un país. València: Eliseu Climent, 1980 (Papers bàsics 3i4; 12) ISBN 84-7502-025-9.
- Pérez Moragón, Francesc. El valencianisme i el fet dels Països Catalans (1930–1936), L'Espill, núm. 18 (tardor 1983), p. 57–82.
- Prat de la Riba, Enric. Per Catalunya i per l'Espanya Gran.
- Soldevila, Ferran. Què cal saber de Catalunya. Barcelona: Club Editor, 1968. Amb diverses reimpressions i reedicions. Actualment: Barcelona: Columna: Proa, 1999. ISBN 84-8256-860-4(Proa).
- Stegmann, Til i Inge. Guia dels Països Catalans. Barcelona: Curial, 1998. ISBN 84-7256-865-2.
- Ventura, Jordi. Sobre els precedents del terme Països Catalans, taken from "Debat sobre els Països Catalans", Barcelona: Curial..., 1977. p. 347–359.
External links
- Catalan Countries in the English version of the Catalan Hiperencyclopedia.
- Lletra. Catalan Literature Online
- The Spirit of Catalonia. 1946 book by Oxford Professor Dr. Josep Trueta
- Catalan Countries