Olympic Nationalisms
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OLYMPIC NATIONALISMS THE1992 OLYMPIC GAMESARE A HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY, A ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHANCE TO BRING THE CATALANNATIONAL IDENTITY TO THE ATTENTION OF THE WHOLE WORLD. ALFRED BOSCH JOURNALIST he story starts in Berlin in 1936. stateless nation -Palestine. At the next confrontation between world powers, Olympic Games and national ex- edition, in Montreal, apart from the tug of aggravated by the divisions and the prob- altation fell under the spell of a war between the English- and French- lems of identity amongst the Koreans courtship that still survives today, fif?. speaking inhabitants of Quebec, the first themselves, cast a cloud over the whole years later. With the arrival of the nuclear boycott took place, by the African event. threat, many of the disputes between countries. Four years later, Russian eupho- At present, the Barcelona Garnes appear world powers which could not be settled ria was soured by the absence of the on the horizon as the Games of recon- on the field of battle were removed to the North Americans and their followers; in ciliation. The Spanish state is keeping a sports stadiums. Los Angeles, national-Reaganism suffered relatively low profile, the international In 1972, the leading role was played by a the eastern bloc's revenge. In Seul, the situation is becoming increasingly relaxed, and the proposals for the organization of the local consumer- are felt by the inha- the Games cast the city in a leading role bitants of Barcelona to be essential and in the attempt to return to the Hellenic 1 unnegotiable. ideals and the traditional role of the "po- Furthermore, the community that is acting lis" in the encouragement of public events as host to the Olympic Games feels un- and as a meeting place for peoples and questionably Catalan, and most people, cultures. In al1 certainty, the antagonism ? without being manifestly in favour of between the blocs will not have anything Z independence, feel more Catalan than O like the significance of previous occasions. u Spanish. At al1 the great celebrations of We can, however, expect a certain i'@ Olympic enthusiasm -the day Barcelona background debate, focussing on ques- was nominated, the arrival of the Olympic tions of national identity, to mark the flag after Seul- people have always as- Barcelona edition of the Olympic Games, sociated the Olympic rings with the and to use the opportunity provided by Catalan national symbols, with the the Games as a means of reaching a Catalan flag or other images character- worldwide audience. The central national istic of Catalonia. conflict in the 1992 Games will probably In this situation, the institutions have be Spain's prime historical dispute, in moved with extreme care. The different which the opposing camps are occupied governments -central, Catalan and lo- by centripetal forces and centrifugal cal- are al1 represented on the Games' forces respectively, or, in the case in ques- Organizing Committee, and so far, rather tion, Spanish nationalism and Catalan na- than openly disputing the emotional tionalism. charge of the Olympics, they have tended Spanish centralism, which is not an inven- to share it out. tion of Franco's, having fed off the inertia Of course, these tensions have not of the established powers ever since the become apparent on an international configuration of the modern state, is the level, and, as I have already mentioned, chief centripetal force. The move for- the horizon of Barcelona192has not been modernization along western lines clouded by disputes between blocs or by presents 1992 as the culminating point of threats to boycott the Games. This has a new Spain, of a country that believes doubtless prevented the conflict between above al1 in making a joint effort and in centripetal and centrifugal forces from unitarist policies as opposed to dispersion growing, and has kept it within insti- and old-fashioned particularism. tutional spheres and away from the gene- The commemoration of the 500th ral public. anniversary of the discovery of America, For the time being, a middle line, or com- the Exhibition of Seville, and Madrid's promise, seems to be gaining ground, nomination as European cultural capital favouring neither one form of nationalism tend to reinforce this view which, with the nor the other, but not hiding existing real- Barcelona Games, converges on the ities either. An eclectic answer, hybrid to magic date of 1992. challenge somewhat uneasily. The basic some extent, which once more underlines In fact, certain "Jacobin" suspicions have fear is that the intervention of the central the moderating role of the city. In fact, the already been raised, and on more than government and the Games' international local authority has played a central part, one occasion there has been alarm at the implications could detract from the image starting with the selection campaign itself, excessive presence of Catalan symbols of Barcelona as the capital of Catalonia, up to the present moment, when responsi- and the Catclan language in the pro- and that this could be detrimental to a na- biliíy for the bulk of the investment in the motion of Barcelona192. But the know- tional identity which, over the years, has Olympics still rests with the City Council. ledge that al1 the Catalan athletes will grown and has fed off the attacks by a Whether as a result of the international compete as part of the Spanish represen- centralism which -unlike today's centra- situation or by mutual cancellation of the tation, and the conviction that the Games lism- can only be described as barbaric. nationalisms involved, it seems that the will give pride of place to a number of To compensate, al1 Catalans see the Games of the XXV Olympiad promise to Spanish symbols (flag, anthem and mo- Games as a historic opportunity, as a be the least chauvinistic and the least con- narchy) have reassured the Mudrid gov- once in a lifetime chance to bring certain trovenial of the modern era. However, ernment and al1 those who follow the realities to the attention of the whole the tensions, hidden o: otherwise, persist, centralist line. world. The presence of Catalan as the and we shall have to wait a few years to Then there is political Catalanism, virtually Games' official language (alongside see if, at a more delicate moment, they a twentieth century phenomenon, with a Castilian, French and English), and the come to the fore once again. It will be in- history of self-rule that only goes back ten cultural events associated with the Olym- teresting to see who tries to add fue1 to the years, which is facing the Olympic piad -for four years, directed chiefly at Olympic flame. • .