Myths and symbols in the political culture of Catalan nationalism (1880–1914)

Abstract

Historiography on the phenomenology of nationalisms has often pointed to the importance of myths and symbols in the construction of these political movements, underlining how the past is transfigured and/or particular historical episodes are recast for use in creating a given political discourse in the present. By adopting this viewpoint, the aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of historiographical thinking on the use of myths and symbols in contemporary politics, giving particular attention to how they were brought to bear in the early days of the Catalan nationalist movement. This initial period, covering the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, is of special interest in the case of Catalan nationalism because it was a phase of politicisation marked -much as it was in other nationalist movements across Europe -by a nationalisation of history, a selection of foundation myths and historical milestones, and a crystallisation of the movement's symbols.

October 2017 in Catalonia: The anarchists and the procés

“…After the centralist backlash following the collapse of the First Republic in 1874, Catalan nationalism took shape as catalanism ( catalanismo) 4 ; catalanism moved quickly from being a mostly cultural movement to one with political objectives (Cattini, 2015; Smith, 2014). The first left‐leaning nationalist parties were formed early in the 20th century: the Partit Republicá Català [Catalan Republican Party] (1917), Federació Democràtica Nacionalista [Nationalist Democratic Federation] (1919) and Estat Català [Catalan State] (1922) (Rubiralta, 2004; Termes, 2000; Ucelay‐da Cal, 2018).…”

“…However, the Renaixença, a mid-19th century romantic movement aimed at reviving the Catalan language and culture, represents the first expression of Catalan nationalism. The Renaixença mixed the elites' yearning for aristocratic Aragon, with popular currents and the active contestation of Catalan themes by the working classes (Cattini, 2015;Termes, 1976Termes, , 1999.…”

“…After the centralist backlash following the collapse of the First Republic in 1874, Catalan nationalism took shape as catalanism (catalanismo) 4 ; catalanism moved quickly from being a mostly cultural movement to one with political objectives (Cattini, 2015;Smith, 2014). (Rubiralta, 2004;Termes, 2000;Ucelay-da Cal, 2018).…”

Tourism and nationalism in the production of regional culture: the shaping of Majorca's popular songbook between 1837 and 1936

“…Indeed, by opting for choral singing, the institution was already distancing itself from genres such as the zarzuela, which was more closely identified with Spain (Encabo ; Marfany ). Before long, it became the centre from which emerged patriotic Catalan anthems like the Cant de la Senyera and Els Segadors (Cattini ; Narváez‐Ferri ). Beyond these explicitly nationalist arrangements and compositions, the Catalanising efforts of the Orfeó Català also took the form of systematising what was known of popular musical experience based on a selectivity whose aim was unequivocally regionalising (Ayats ).…”

Modern Myth: Demystification Instructions for Pedagogues

“…In particular, Pavel Gurevich [Gurevich 1983;Gurevich 1997], Jeleazar Mieletinski [Meletinskiy 2012], Kurt Hübner [Hübner 1985], Janusz Sztumski [Sztumski 2004] investigated myth as social phenomenon; Lubmyla Zubrytska [Zubrytska 2005], Władysław Szostak [Szostak 2010] -as a phenomenon of contemporary politics; Jerzy Jaskiernia [Jaskiernia 2010] studied the role of myths in the process of European integration; Marzena Cichosz [Cichosz 2010] considered creation of Polish politicians images by means of myth-making. Giovanni C. Cattini investigates basic influence of myths on political culture of Catalan nationalism [Cattini 2015]; Maribel Fierro considers political myths as one of the sources of literary tropes on reign [Fierro 2015]; Dan Naor investigates evolution of oppression myth [Naor 2006]; Vincent Della Sala analyses myth as a means of society solidarity in the European Union [Della Sala 2015] etc.…”