Catalonia - A Cultural History

Catalonia - A Cultural History PDF Author: Michael Eaude
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
ISBN: 1908493240
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Book Description
Squeezed between more powerful France and Spain, Catalonia has endured a violent history. Its medieval empire that conquered Naples, Sicily and Athens was crushed by Spain. Its geography, with the Pyrenees falling sharply to the rugged Costa Brava, is tormented, too. Michael Eaude traces this history and its monuments: Roman Tarragona, celebrated by the poet Martial; Greek Empuries, lost for centuries beneath the sands; medieval Romanesque architecture in the Vall de Boi churches (a World Heritage Site) and Poblet and Santes Creus monasteries. He tells the stories of several of Catalonia's great figures: Abbot Oliva, who brought Moorish learning to Europe, the ruthless mercenary, Roger de Flor, and Verdaguer, handsome poet-priest. Catalonia is famous today for its twentieth-century art. This book focuses on the revolutionary Art Nouveau buildings (including the Sagrada Familia) of Antoni Gaudi. It also explores the region's artistic legacy: the young Picasso painting Barcelona’s vibrant slums; Salvador Dali, inspired by the twisted rocks of Cap de Creus to paint his landscapes of the human mind; and Joan Miro, discovering the colours of the red earth at Montroig.

A History of Catalan Folk Literature

A History of Catalan Folk Literature PDF Author: Carme Oriol
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789027204509
Category : Catalonia (Spain)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
This book presents the evolution of Catalan folk literature studies in each of the areas that make up the Catalan linguistic and cultural territories. The period considered stretches from the mid-nineteenth century, when the beginnings of a scientific interest in folklore emerged across Europe, to the present day.

Catalan Literature

Catalan Literature PDF Author: Arthur Terry
Publisher: London : Ernest Benn Limited ; New York : Barnes & Noble
ISBN:
Category : Catalan literature
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description
In writing this brief history of Catalan literature, I have tried to bear in mind the needs of the non-specialist reader with some knowledge of Spanish who wishes to know more about an important but, on the whole, neglected area of Peninsular culture. Where English readers are concerned, the task, unfortunately, is long overdue: in a recent and otherwise excellent literary encyclopedia, the whole of Catalan literature is allotted the same amount of space as Jean-Paul Sartre, and this seems characteristic of a situation which few specialists as yet have tried to alter. The chief barrier, of course, is linguistic: yet it is not difficult to acquire at least a reading knowledge of Catalan, and for reasons which are given in Chapter 1, the older literature is relatively accessible to a modern reader compared, say, with that of France or Spain. This accessibility gives an impression of coherence to the entire range of Catalan literature which is reinforced to a great extent by social and historical tendencies. Roughly speaking, Catalan literature follows a recognizable European pattern, with one notable exception: the fact that its course is interrupted for something like three centuries by what is usually known as the period of "Decadence" (see Chapter 2). To see why this should be so demands an awareness of certain historical facts, and these in turn point to the close interpenetration of literature and society which is evident in most phases of Catalan culture. Both the 19th-century revival and the more conscious programs of noucentisme in the 20th are attempts to create a new national identity, a task which has lost none of its urgency in the years since the Spanish Civil War. - Preface.

History of Catalonia and Its Implications for Contemporary Nationalism and Cultural Conflict

History of Catalonia and Its Implications for Contemporary Nationalism and Cultural Conflict PDF Author: Cortijo Ocaña, Antonio
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1799866165
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
Recent political developments in Spain regarding Catalonia have prompted scholars from several disciplines to research the singularity of this region and of the territories of the old Crown of Aragon. Against the backdrop of the pro-independence movement, those in favor and against have insisted on the particularity or commonality of Catalonia and the Països Catalans (Catalan-speaking areas) within the Spanish State. From the Catalan point of view, their singularity is not sufficiently recognized, and respect for their institutions and their autonomy is at stake to the point that many prefer to secede from Spain. Singularity or its absence play a relevant role in the construction of identity, which seems to be key in understanding many Catalans' attitudes towards the central government, a fluid concept that allows for a variety of interpretations. History of Catalonia and Its Implications for Contemporary Nationalism and Cultural Conflict is a critical reference book that centers around the topic of Catalan cultural and linguistic identity. With input from renowned scholars in several fields, the chapters explore the issue of Catalan identity from a variety of perspectives. While highlighting the legal and historical component to identity and also sociolinguistics and political linguistics, this book is ideally intended for scholars in the fields of Hispanic studies, history, linguistics, political science, and literary studies as well as practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in contemporary politics and the political developments in Spain regarding Catalonia.

The Struggle for Catalonia

The Struggle for Catalonia PDF Author: Raphael Minder
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 1849048037
Category : POLITICAL SCIENCE
Languages : en
Pages : 383

Book Description
Analyses with rare impartiality what sets the Catalans apart from Spain, and how the separatist debate is playing out.

A Companion to Catalan Culture

A Companion to Catalan Culture PDF Author: Dominic Keown
Publisher: Tamesis Books
ISBN: 1855662272
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Book Description
This volume attempts to equip the English-speaking reader with a fuller understanding of the uniqueness and quality of the culture of Catalonia by providing a comprehensive portfolio of the creative contribution of the nation across a broad spectrum of achievement.

Authoring the Past

Authoring the Past PDF Author: Jaume Aurell
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226032345
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Book Description
Authoring the Past surveys medieval Catalan historiography, shedding light on the emergence and evolution of historical writing and autobiography in the Middle Ages, on questions of authority and authorship, and on the links between history and politics during the period. Jaume Aurell examines texts from the late twelfth to the late fourteenth century—including the Latin Gesta comitum Barcinonensium and four texts in medieval Catalan: James I’s Llibre dels fets, the Crònica of Bernat Desclot, the Crònica of Ramon Muntaner, and the Crònica of Peter the Ceremonious—and outlines the different motivations for the writing of each. For Aurell, these chronicles are not mere archaeological artifacts but rather documents that speak to their writers’ specific contemporary social and political purposes. He argues that these Catalonian counts and Aragonese kings were attempting to use their role as authors to legitimize their monarchical status, their growing political and economic power, and their aggressive expansionist policies in the Mediterranean. By analyzing these texts alongside one another, Aurell demonstrates the shifting contexts in which chronicles were conceived, written, and read throughout the Middle Ages. The first study of its kind to make medieval Catalonian writings available to English-speaking audiences, Authoring the Past will be of interest to scholars of history and comparative literature, students of Hispanic and Romance medieval studies, and medievalists who study the chronicle tradition in other languages.

A History of Catalan Folk Literature

A History of Catalan Folk Literature PDF Author: Carme Oriol
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027261857
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 291

Book Description
A History of Catalan Folk Literature is the fruit of a collaborative effort between fifteen researchers from various universities and research centres who have joined forces to create a broader study of Catalan folk literature that addresses the Catalan linguistic and cultural territories in their entirety. Since the thirteenth century, Catalan culture has created a rich and abundant literary legacy, and since the mid-nineteenth century this has been complemented by a tradition of folklore studies that remains very much alive today. Within this comparatively recent discipline, folk literature has played a particularly important role. The book presents the evolution of Catalan folk literature studies in each of the areas that make up the Catalan linguistic and cultural territories referred to above. The period considered stretches from the mid-nineteenth century, when the beginnings of a scientific interest in folklore emerged across Europe, to the present day.

Barcelona

Barcelona PDF Author: Robert Hughes
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0679743839
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 593

Book Description
A monumentally informed and irresistibly opinionated guide to the most un-Spanish city in Spain, from the bestselling author of The Fatal Shore. In these pages, Robert Hughes scrolls through Barcelona's often violent history; tells the stories of its kings, poets, magnates, and revolutionaries; and ushers readers through municipal landmarks that range from Antoni Gaudi's sublimely surreal cathedral to a postmodern restaurant with a glass-walled urinal. The result is a work filled with the attributes of Barcelona itself: proportion, humor, and seny—the Catalan word for triumphant common sense.
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