THE POLITICAL ERSECUTIO R I O F the CATALAN LANGUAGE
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HISTORY THE POLITICAL ERSECUTIOr I OF THE CATALAN LANGUAGE PHlLlP V IN AN ALLEGORICAL ENGRAVING OF HIS VlCTORY IN THE WAR OF SUCCESSION. THELOSS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY IMPLIES, IPSO FACTO, THE IMPOSITION OF THE LANGUAGE OF THE INVADERS OR OPPRESSORS. THISIS EXACTLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE CASE OF CATALONIA. 1920 CARICATURE INSPIRED BY THE SUPREME COURT'S SENTENCE AGAINST THE DRET CATALA (CATALAN LAW). he Catalan language can be reignty implies, ipso facto, the imposi- language of the oppressor state, and found in several independent tion of the language of the invaders or by suppressing the language which until states: France, Spain, Andorra oppressors. This is exactly what has then had been the official one of the and Italy. Leaving aside Andorra, where happened in the case of Catalonia. dominated or defeated citizens. This Catalan is the only official language, Northern Catalonia (the Roussillon, Va- process has various stages according to and Italy, where the small number of Ilespir, Conflent, Capcir and part of its sociological situation. In 1661 Louis Catalan-speakers have not yet ob- the Cerdanya) fell under the iurisdiction XIV started the Frenchification of the Li- tained the rights of a linguistic minority, of the French monarchy bithe Treaty of terary University of Perpignan. Later, we shall concentrate our attention on the Pyrenees in 1659. This changed not the Marquis of Louvois (1676) gave or- France and Spain where the Catalan only the political, iudicial and adminis- ders that the sermons in the cathedral language is of greater importance. trative institutions of the regions, but of Perpignan were to be given in French It is paradoxical, but the policy of lan- also meant that the French language only. The Consell Superior del Rosselló guage extermination conducted by was fiercely imposed. gave orders that only francophones France is practically the same as that of In the same way, when Catalonia, the could occupy political offices and carry Spain. That is to say, the linguistic su- Balearic lslands and Valencia lost the out public duties. By an edict of the year perstructure which differentiates the po- war against the Spanish army (1708- 1700, Louis XIV prohibited the use of litical, administrative and military struc- 141, the entire political, financia1 and the 'Catalan language for any public ture of each of the two states is a result legislative systems were transformed, document, under penalty of its being of the same opposition to the normal as well as the administration of iustice declared null and void. Because of the use of the Catalan language, persecu- and the administrative institutions them- lack of observante of this law, in 1738 ted without respite for centuries. selves. Apart from this, a cultural and it was decreed that in al1 the parishes It is an accepted fact that the dominant linguistic attack on Catalonia was started only French was to be used in sacra- language of a country is the one used both in public and in secret. mental books. In 1754 it was reiterated by those who have the political power. In both these cases, the persecution that wills were not to be written in Cata- As a result, the loss of national sove- was begun by imposing the dominant lan or they would be declared invalid. The same process of persecution was ging ot piays in Catalan. In 1870, the guistic persecution once again, and dic- pursued in the rest of Catalonia and the liberals banned the inscription of Cata- tated a series of measures in order to Balearic lslands and Valencia immedia- lan Christian names in the civil registry. keep Catalan a secondary language. tely after they were defeated by the The Spanish governments did the iob The town councils were allowed to Spanish army. This process began in the thoroughly: public administration, the speak in Catalan, but not to write it; if a political institutions in Valencia ( 1 7071 courts, schools and university, publish- teacher spoke Catalan in class he was and in Catalonia and the Balearic Is- ing, theatre, Christian names, street na- transferred to a place where only Casti- lands (17151 (except Menorca which mes, notarial deeds, etc. No European lian was spoken, etc. was under British sovereignty). The De- language had ever been prohibited by The Second Republic (193 1-91 was a cree of Nueva Planta officially prohibi- law so many times, nor persecuted so golden age. After 2 15 years of relent- ted the use of Catalan. In addition, the repeatedly. less linguistic persecution, Catalan was magistrates of the occupation were gi- Despite al1 this, however, before the once again the official language when ven instructions, in secret, to introduce end of the 1890s, the Madrid govern- the Statute of Autonomy was pro- Castilian with "furtive and careful ef- claimed in 1932. forts to achieve the required effect with- However, when the democrats lost the out the effort being noticeable". Civil War (1936-91 and General Franco In 1768, the enlightened government of set up a personal dictatorship, he car- the Count of Aranda forbad the use of ried out an inhuman pogrom against the Catalan in primary and secondary Catalan language, which could be des- schools and in schools of rhetoric in al1 cribed as a genuine cultural agression. Catalan-speaking countries, and also Catalan was banned, with military force, recommended the bishops to do the from the entire educational system, the same in their dioceses. media, the telegraph service and com- As a result of the royal decree of 1768, mercial dealings. Books were not allo- the publication of text-books was for- wed to be written in Catalan, and bidden in the University of Cervera, and everything published in Catalan was the Bishop of Majorca, Juan Diaz de la burned. Civil servants who spoke in Ca- Guerra, ordered that al1 the books of talan were faced with instant dismissal. the chapter Cathedral of Palma, and the During the political transition (1975-71, parishes, were to be written in Casti- the popular pressure which arose to- lian. In the city of Palma, Dr. Joan Vives wards the end of the Franco dictator- was imprisoned for preaching the ser- ship prepared for the return of official mon of Lent in Catalan in 1773. recognition of the Catalan language. In 1772 merchants were prohibited This occurred when the statues of auto- from keeping their account books in Ca- nomy of Catalonia, Valencia and the talan, and in 1881 Manuel de Godoy Balearic lslands were passed. ordered that plays were to be staged ment, obsessed with the desire to era- In spite of the legal restoration of Cata- only in the Castilian language. dicate the Catalan language comple- lan, there are reticences even today on The school has been the instrument em- tely, even banned its use on the tele- the part of the democratic government ployed most by the ruling powers to phone. when it comes to making its definitive de-Catalanize the citizens. In 1837, the Yet even that was not enough, and in normalization effective. Although Cata- highest political government of the Ba- 1902, when the liberal Count of Roma- lan was officially recognized in the learic Islands, as part of a progressive nones was ruling, a royal decree was 1978 Constitution, and in the respective policy, prohibited the use of Catalan in issued which prohibited the teaching of statutes of autonomy, an effort is being schools. And in Barcelona in 1581, with the Christian doctrine in Catalan. made to check and restrict its complete the moderates in power, the prohibition At the end of the nineteenth century autonomy by the use of judicial senten- of the use of Catalan in schools was however, literary Catalanism had be- ces, and to keep it in an inferior posi- reaffirmed, and the bailiffs were or- come a doctrinal movement. When the tion. dered to "prevent this abuse in public ideology reached the masses, it created The distance between the present legal and private educational establishments political forces which later became poli- limitations and the sociological reality is of both sexes". tical parties. so great, that only the pressure of po- In 1860, O'Donnell's liberal govern- These political parties acted as a check pular and social forces will be able to ment ordered the translation of al1 on the Spanish governments, and these place Catalan in the same position it street names into Castilian. The same stopped looking down on the Catalan held when persecution first began in liberals prohibited the use of Catalan in language as a "dialect". Dialects are 1715. It must not be forgotten that the public documents and notarial deeds in languages of people who have been Catalan language affects a quarter of 1862. defeated militarily or politically. This the Spanish population, and for this When the moderates were in power in "truce" lasted until the dictatorship of reason no democratic government can 1867, Gonzalez Bravo, Minister of the General Primo de Rivera (19231. ignore the immense responsibility Interior, once again prohibited the sta- The dictator Primo de Rivera started lin- involved. • .