Catalonia

This paper's ambition is to explore how the material, social and symbolic legacy of conflicts that have taken place since the turn of the 20th century may be made more resonant and comprehensible to visitors. We take the Spanish Civil War sites in Catalonia as emblematic of the issues and entrenchments which to date hinder their full potential as sites of reconciliation, awareness and identity-shaping for Europeans. After analysing their current situation and embedding in place strategies, which is remarkably different – one in a peripheral mountain location and one in the very core of Barcelona's touristscape –, our research examines the way in which historical memory is constructed, narrated and practiced in those spaces, underlining unsolved issues and contradictions. In retrospect, this research contributes to the critique of the very concept of historical memory, its patrimonialisation and the modes of social construction of heritage in the 'age of mobilities'.

El maar de la Crosa ha estat sempre al punt de mira de molts investigadors del quaternari. El perquè s’explica per
tractar-se d’un dipòsit lacustre a l’interior del cràter d’un volcà; i, sabent que d’altres referents sempre han aportat
bons resultats paleoecològics. A banda, sabem que aquestes zones eren freqüentades per la nostra espècie
prehistòrica, de manera que també s’hi solen trobar assentaments arqueològics a les seves riberes. Tot això, partint de la base de la cronologia de l’erupció que se li havia assignat (plio-plistocè), malgrat els pocs estudis realitzats,
doncs això ens donava la perspectiva d’un dipòsit continu al llarg de tot el quaternari.
Ara, després d’haver fet tres sondatges, una prospecció geofísica i quatre datacions (tres de 14C i una d’isòtops),
coneixem el tipus de rebliment que conté i ens hem acostat més a llur cronologia, malgrat que només podem dir
que és més antic de fa 43,5 ka (14C ) i una probable edat de 90 ka (isòtops). També, que no s’ha trobat cap mena de
sediments palustres, o anòxics de fons de llac, doncs com a màxim la part superficial d’argiles i llims, per sobre
dels piroclasts retreballats, podrien pertànyer a un estanyol d’aigües somes.
Per tant, les perspectives d’obtenir amplis i resolutius resultats paleoambientals, que ens haguessin permès
conèixer el medi en què es desenvoluparen les poblacions paleolítiques, i de més recents, de les comarques
gironines, resten de moment frustrades, doncs les anàlisis paleobotàniques han resultat estèrils. D’altra banda,
tampoc s’hi ha observat cap altra resta paleobiològica susceptible d’anàlisi.

In this essay, we trace the symbolic conundrums of belonging, and of the reconciliation of identities, in the context of Catalan and Scottish sport and politics. Our discussion will commence with a necessarily concise consideration of past academic contentions regarding the national 'psyches' which have been argued to shape contemporary notions of identity and politics in Catalonia and Scotland, before turning our attention to the specific role of sport vis-à-vis these 'psyches' and the growing clamour for greater political autonomy for each of these stateless nations. Based on evidence drawn from the interaction between sport and politics in the two nations, we argue that secessionism is a liminal field of transformation as it includes what is seen as mutually exclusive sets of relationships (Catalans vs. Spaniards; Scottish vs. British, secessionists vs. unionists/centralists), which at the same time allows subjects to pass from one state to another and occupy them non-exclusively.

The aim of this article is to motivate a theoretical frame to explain possible elements of influence on national identity in Catalonia of the XXI century. According to a first brief summary of the existing theoretical discussion, we propose an approximation about the notion of national identity in the context of postmodernity in the Catalan case in order to situate our hypothesis. This hypothesis claims that in Catalonia after Franco dictatorship, and in the early years of democratic order, a relative hegemony over a set of culturalist and communitarian arguments defined the Catalan national identity. We believe that the 21st opened the door to changes to the constitutive items of identity, and frameworks of representation and interpretation of Catalanity. We think that these changes are bound in a process of personalization and liberalization of our society, which add new nuances in the social kaleidoscope. Our hypothesis, therefore, would indicate a change in the configuration of the factors that influences the formation of Catalan identity. Finally, we reflect about the possibility that these new formulations are part of causes of the acceleration of current political process, which is not treated in this article.

HUNGARIAN FLORINS FROM THE MONASTERY OF SANT PERE DE RODES
Data of Numismatics Connected to the Catalan Relationships of Hungary in the Middle Ages
In 1989, during the renovation of a Catalan Benedictine monastery (Sant Pere de Rodes), in the Abbot’s House, a hoard of coins of outstanding significance was discovered. The discovery of this late mediaeval and early modern treasure was published in 1999. Out of the 658 coins hidden in the 1520s 348 pieces were golden. The forty-five Hungarian florin among them come from the period starting with the rule of Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387–1437) and terminated with the reign of Vladislaus II (1490–1516), the latest date on them is 1512. This discovery is not the only occurrence of the Hungarian florin on the Iberian Peninsula since a publication in Spanish pointed it out as early as the 1930s, though Lajos Huszár did not demonstrate the presence of the Hungarian golden coin in the area of the Iberian Peninsula (that is in present day Spain and Portugal) when processing the data of findings. The inner proportions of the Hungarian golden coins in the findings correspond to the proportions of financial transactions in contemporary Hungary. This fact unambiguously suggests that Hungarian florin got out of Hungary in the 1510s, probably together in total. Maybe a Sephardic Jew of Buda wanted to help some relatives in Catalonia, or just did some business with them; however, it can equally be possible that a member of Queen Anne of Foix’s household coming from the South of France sent some money home for some relatives from the funds in hand accumulated in Hungary, or maybe – returning home – he/she took home the funds in hand obtained in Buda. The way how the Hungarian coins got to the Benedictines in Catalonia is not known. According to the last date of the Hungarian florins in the findings the assumed act might have occurred after 1512 but obviously still during the reign of Vladislaus II since none of the florins of Louis II (1516–1526) is included in the findings. The forty-five Hungarian florins found in the Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes are the relics of this Hungarian and Catalan/Sephardic/Southern-French relationship whose detailed description and assessment is shared through this paper.

En aquests apunts ens concentrarem a explicar algunes característiques de l’alumnat d’origen brasiler a Catalunya i de la seva llengua de referència, el portuguès; a parlar d’algunes accions que grups locals duen a terme per donar a aquesta llengua més visibilitat en el sistema escolar; i a reflexionar sobre el seu encaix amb les polítiques lingüístiques actuals per a les llengües i les cultures d’origen en l'àmbit educatiu.

Fernando Pessoa
IBÉRIA
INTRODUÇÃO A UM IMPERIALISMO FUTURO
Lisboa: Ática / Babel, 2012
Edição, introdução e notas de Jerónimo Pizarro e Pablo Javier Pérez López; posfácios de Humberto Brito e Antonio Sáez Delgado.
Revisão: Ana Cunha
Design: lnês Sena
Impressão: Setembro de 2012
ISBN 978-972-617-248-2

De todos los Fernando Pessoa posibles, el autor de los textos sobre Iberia es uno de los más desconocidos y más frecuentemente olvidados. Un Fernando Pessoa entrañado en la realidad de su tiempo, que participa activamente en el debate sobre la siempre candente cuestión peninsular no corresponde, sin duda, al paradigma tradicional que tantas veces se nos ha impuesto, y que dibujaba un retrato del poeta portugués como alguien recluido en sí mismo y distante con respecto a los movimientos sociales que le tocó vivir. Nada, probablemente, más lejos de la realidad. Pessoa no fue ajeno a ninguno de los grandes sucesos históricos, ni ahorró esfuerzos a la hora de escribir sobre los mismos. La “cuestión ibérica” es uno de ellos, un signo de los tiempos sobre el que el autor de Mensagem reflexionó y escribió, llegando a imaginar un libro titulado como éste que el lector tiene ahora entre sus manos, en el que hiciese su personal aportación a la rica y plural tradición iberista en la Península.

In 1659, the kingdoms of France and Spain signed the Treaty of Pyrenees, a peace treaty by which a piece of the Spanish territory became part of France. Since then, Catalan identity has persisted on both sides of the border. However, while this identity is today politically and socially relevant in Spain, it is not in France. This article argues that this variation can be explained by the characteristics of the historical process of the spread of mass literacy in each of these countries. Catalan national identity is not salient in French Catalonia because the first generation of mass literates became so under French rule. In contrast, the nonexistence of a scholastic revolution in Spain prior to the beginning of the 20th century allowed for the successful sowing of a Catalan national identity during the first decades of that century. The fact that mass literacy took place in Spanish Catalonia during a period of Catalan nationalist upheaval led to the endurance of this identity.

This chapter examines the prospects of a consociational compromise in Spain and Catalonia as a response to the protracted constitutional stalemate between the two governments. While Spain's transition to democracy in the late 1970s had a clear consociational tinge, it has since evolved toward the entrenchment of a majoritarian and mononational interpretation of the state, hostile to its plurinational reality and to minority nationalist aspirations in territories like Catalonia. Hitherto, no institutional resolution has been found to satisfy the demands of both sides. This chapter argues that consociational philosophy has much to offer to Spain and Catalonia. While a more consensual approach to politics is crucial to thawing the frosty relations between the pro-and anti-independence sides, the development of a fully-fledged consociational system has yet to gain much traction.

This book investigates the sociolinguistic dimension of the internationalisation of higher education, examining the linguistic tensions and ambiguities experienced by universities around the world, particularly in non-anglophone contexts. Joining current debates within discursive and ethnographic approaches to language policy, the authors analyse the narrative emerging from university language policy documents, and then trace the stance-taking processes of different stakeholders at a small university in Catalonia. They pay particular attention to how teachers, administrative staff, and exchange students position themselves in connection to the role of Catalan and its coexistence with other languages at the university. This book will be of interest to language policy scholars and practitioners, as well as graduate students in sociolinguistics and applied linguistics

This exploratory cohort study investigated the phenomenon of Digital Diplomacy by sub-state actors within the field of para-diplomacy, specifically the use of social media platforms by Catalonian Secretaries and Delegates of the Generalitat, and in particular how they use Twitter for the international promotion of its independence and/or its nation branding. A stratified significant sample of each year between 2013 and 2017 was collected using R software, and then analyzed using Nvivo. The methodology was based on Abela (2001), Krippendorff (2004), and Neuendorf (2002). The data shows that both Catalan public servants as well as its Delegates Abroad, use Twitter mostly for personal use. However, when analyzing only the contents about international or intermestic topics, it is observed that there is a tendency to publish topics related to independence rather than national brand.

Los héroes catalanes murieron en defensa de su idioma, sus privilegios y sus constituciones que los convertían en el pueblo más libre y democrático de la Tierra. El rey Borbón Felipe V aplastó su soberanía a partir de 1714 con los decretos de Nueva Planta, que convertían el Principado de Catalunya y los reinos de Mallorca y Valencia en colonias de Castilla, desde entonces autotitulada España.

The socio-economic territories of the Upper Paleolithic nomad populations are founded on the basic overview of social
resources, defining them as oriented elements to the production and / or reproduction of these groups. Some human productions
allow us, by their characteristics such as the specificity of the origin of the raw materials, to better understand the economic and
social behaviour. In this work we present an overview and recent results of analyses of raw materials, the procurement areas and
mobility patterns of lithic productions and malacofauna manufactured as part of personal ornaments of Magdalenians of the southern slope of the Catalan Pyrenees.
Key-Words : Raw materials, flint, malacofaunal, Magdalenian, Catalonia, Parco cave.

El presente informe presenta los resultados, conclusiones y reflexiones de la investigación “La ideología de la maternidad intensiva como eje de la violencia simbólica” financiado por la Unitat d’Igualtat de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra con fondos del Pacto de Estado contra la Violencia de Género y que tiene como objetivos generales identificar situaciones de violencia simbólica de género en el ejercicio de la maternidad y contrastar si esas vivencias son entendidas o no como violencia por las personas afectadas y por sus hijas. Para ello, se han realizado historias de vidas a 6 madres y entrevistas en profundidad a sus hijas jóvenes o adolescentes.

El vell racisme biològic no és, avui, la ideologia responsable del gros de situacions de discriminació i intolerància que es produeixen en l'actualitat. Ara per ara, els quadres de desigualtat més importants que afecten a comunitats diferenciades no es justifiquen en raons genètiques, sinó en la presumpció que certs trets culturals, valorats com a negatius, permeten col·loca el grup que els detenta en la banda baixa d'una determinada jerarquia moral. Parlem del que s'anomena racisme diferencialista, racisme identitari, fonamentalisme cultural, etnicisme, i, sobre tot, racisme cultural.

How can we explain that a part of the Catalan population gives support to secession while others reject it? Is it only a matter of identity, or do instrumental calculations related to the economic consequences of a hypothetical secession play an important role as well? In this paper we try to answer these questions analyzing the Political Opinion Barometer (July 2011) of the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió. The results show how, beyond identity, economic factors, among others, have a important role in explaining support for secession, especially among those in favor of secession who have a weak preference for it.

The linguistic conjunction regime in the Catalan education system has been subject to several controversies over the years and we can see one position in favour and another against the model. In this article we identify the main arguments in the public debate for and against the system and analyse its normative basis in accordance with contributions of political theory on linguistic justice. Ultimately, our goal is to assess to which extent there is room for rapprochement or reconciliation between the arguments of the two positions. Our main argument is that both positions, which have employed fairly stable reasoning over time with a shared tendency to avoid explicit identity arguments, may have a certain margin for rapprochement. Some interpretations of the values that underline the arguments of both position, such as ideals of equal treatment of languages, equality of individual opportunities and the guarantee of pluralism, could support a linguistic conjunction system of in schools in which Catalan has a prominent role, Spanish enjoys sufficient recognition, and equal competence in both languages is guaranteed at the end of the school period.

Aquest article pretén realitzar una primera aproximació al coneixement del paisatge històric del Segrià meridional, una regió que comprèn grosso modo els termes municipals d'Almatret, Llardecans, Maials i la meitat meridional del de Seròs. L'estudi agafa com a marc cronològic la longue durée, de manera que se centra en els principals processos que s'han anat produint al llarg de les diverses èpoques històriques i que han dut a la conformació del paisatge actual. D'aquests, pren una rellevant importància dins l'article l'anàlisi de les restes de centuriacions romanes, que sens dubte suposaren un abans i un després en el territori i marcaren fortament la seva evolució posterior. Entre d'altres aspectes, se centra també l'atenció en diverses partides creades en temps baixmedievals, que hom pot estudiar sobretot a partir de la documentació dels segles posteriors, així com en les transformacions d'època contemporània, principalment de l'any 1956 ençà.

[This paper aims to provide a first approach to knowledge on the historical landscape of southern Segrià, a region comprising roughly the municipalities of Almatret, Llardecans, Maials and the southern half of Seròs. The project establishes a long-term chronological framework focussing on main events from several historical periods that resulted in the current landscape arrangement. One of main events in the paper that set a milestone in the territory and played a key role in its evolution is the analysis of the remains of Roman centuriations. Other aspects touched upon are the 'partides' (Catalan land division) created in late medieval times, mainly studied through documents from later centuries, and contemporary transformations, particularly from 1956 onwards.]

"Sallent será para la Revolución Social lo que Jaca fue para la revolución democrática"

Con toda seguridad uno de los lugares más intensos del conflicto entre el movimiento obrero y la legalidad republicana en la década de 1930 fue la población de Sallent. La terrible situación social de la mina y su entorno y la radicalización de los mineros hacia posturas netamente revolucionarias serían los factores clave de vida sociopolítica de esta población durante aquellos años.

Public organizations around the world are embarking on open government initiatives, pursuing transparency, public participation and collaboration, and are working to redefine their relationships with citizens and with each other. In this endeavor, they are more and more using social media as public information tools that may have an impact in terms of transparency, accountability and legitimacy. This paper presents the first results of the project “Social media, transparency, and open government in Catalonia”, aimed at assessing the social media strategy of Catalan public administrations. Our main research question is exploratory in nature: how are Catalan public administrations using social media in order to become more transparent? We preliminary conclude that, although more information is usually perceived as more openness and transparency, social media is mainly used as an extra channel for delivering messages, instead of as a means of empowering citizens.

Вопросы сепаратизма являются одними из самыми актуальными для современной политической ситуации в Европе. Яркими примерами этих тенденций являются Великобритания и Испания. Обе страны столкнулись с общими проблемами, но решают их по-разному. Если Лондон согласился провести референдум и признать его результаты, то Мадрид всеми силами противиться этому. В связи с этим встает вопрос, почему два государства избрали разные пути решения одной и той же проблемы. Для этого необходимо проследить в первую очередь исторический путь отношений центра и регионов: сопоставить ситуации вхождения регионов в состав единого государства, рассмотреть юридические основы, определяющие положение провинций внутри страны, а также экономические особенность отдельных частей. В результате этого сравнения становится очевидным, что главной причиной различия является разница в юридической традиции двух стран, сложившейся в ходе исторического развития.

This is the book review published in the International Journal of Iberian Studies. To cite this review:

Calzada, I. (2020) [Review of the book Smart City Barcelona: The Catalan Quest to Improve Future Urban Living, by A. Vives]. International Journal of Iberian Studies 33(1): 103-104. DOI: 10.1386/ijis_00018_5.

To access the review:
https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/ijis/2020/00000033/00000001/art00012

Since 2012, Catalans have been working harder towards independence from Spain through the use of mass demonstrations and various referendums, both referendums deemed illegal as well as legal. Civil society movements in Catalonia have been fighting for more and more autonomy under Spain, hoping to finally be able to form a state of their own, and as Spain has been ravaged by the economic crisis the movements have been increasingly gaining momentum in the Catalan region (Barcia, 2014). Beyond the natural right to independence, do Catalans have the right -- and the legal means -- to separate from Spain under international law? Not only does the rest of Spain not want to see Catalonia go, but Catalan independentists face two major issues: the vagueness of international law on self-determination of non-colonized groups, and the special case of self-determination under the existence of an EU system. This paper attempts to underline the ambiguity of independence under international law and suggests there should be more done to clarify the legality of independence under international law.

Scotland is not the only sub-state unit in Europe where relevant political actors make claims for independence. To generate insights on these independence demands, we compare the drivers, arguments and popular support for secession in Scotland, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Flanders. We argue that national identity, party politics and the economy are behind the independence requests, and the exact articulation of these elements varies from case to case. Currently, the most salient of these demands are the ones from Catalonia; Basque demands for self-determination are less prominent than in the past, whereas the demand for a vote on independence is much less articulated in Flanders. Although the Scottish independence referendum has set a precedent for solving independence disputes, we argue that the possibilities of exporting the Scottish referendum experience to other realities are limited.

La serie de conflictos entre cristianos y musulmanes que caracteriza a la Edad Media y que colectivamente ha sido llamada controversialmente la «Reconquista» está identificada con cierto interés en las fuentes documentales y narrativas de la península ibérica. En algunos períodos y a pesar de su importancia, hay algunos vacíos apreciables en las crónicas y anales sobrevivientes de la época en la zona. A pesar de ello, las fuentes narrativas de otras áreas del mundo cristiano medieval parecen haberse interesado en este conflicto, pese a que no fueron escritas en la península. A finales del siglo xi, los reinos cristianos peninsulares aprovecharon la oportunidad del desequilibrio político de los reinos de taifas del sur para expandir no solo su hegemonía política, sino su supremacía territorial. Al mismo tiempo, el papado reformista empezó a ver las disputas territoriales peninsulares como una oportunidad más para la guerra santa entre la Iglesia romana y el mundo musulmán. Las guerras peninsulares, desde tiempos de Carlomagno, ya habían empezado a atraer el interés de miembros de la nobleza franca con intervenciones militares en el valle del Ebro. Es por esta relación que las regiones del Reino de Francia y, luego, de otros lugares del mundo cristiano, empezaron a interesarse en esta zona. Los romances épicos, como la historia de Roldán, atraen el interés literario en el conflicto ibérico y las hagiografías empiezan a nombrar tangencialmente los eventos peninsulares, reflejando así un creciente interés en estas guerras que empiezan a ser vistas desde un matiz religioso.4 Este capítulo intenta demostrar cómo desde el siglo xi ya se comenzaba a ver este conflicto desde el norte como un tipo de guerra santa. También intenta mostrar a través de un limitado número de fuentes narrativas existentes de distintas regiones de la Europa cristiana, desde el siglo xi hasta principios del siglo xiii, cómo estas fuentes reflejan la cambiante disposición de este conflicto desde la perspecti- va de estos autores. De la misma manera, intenta mostrar cómo la relación de las guerras ibéricas con los conflictos en el Levante mediterráneo, que colectivamente llamamos las cruzadas, ayudaron en su cambiante percepción de la validez de este teatro bélico. Por otra parte, esta sección muestra la forma en que estos textos, a pe- sar de su lógica parcialidad regional, aportan en algunas ocasiones otra perspectiva útil sobre los eventos peninsulares con relación a las fuentes locales.

The National Library of Catalonia possesses a collection of eighty printed books of polyphony published between 1503 and 1628. This is one of the richest and most diverse collections of printed music to be found in the archives and libraries of the Iberian Peninsula and the only known collection here to contain exemplars of the first editions of Ottaviano Petrucci. This set of printed books does not come from any ecclesiastical institution in particular but rather it reached the Library’s holdings in the early 20th century from the personal collections of various scholars and bibliophiles and from subsequent acquisitions and donations of different provenances. The institutions or individuals who possessed these books in the 16th and 17th centuries, however, are unknown to us. This paper presents a complete census of the collection of these printed books at the National Library of Catalonia and traces the possible origin of some of the books through inscriptions and indications of use found on their pages or covers, or through book inventories kept in Barcelona’s archives.