Bulls and Donkeys. National Identity and Symbols in Catalonia and Spain
9TH ANNUAL JOAN GILI MEMORIAL LECTURE Miquel Strubell i Trueta Bulls and donkeys. National identity and symbols in Catalonia and Spain The Anglo-Catalan Society 2008 2 Bulls and donkeys. National identity and symbols in Catalonia and Spain 9TH ANNUAL JOAN GILI MEMORIAL LECTURE Miquel Strubell i Trueta Bulls and donkeys. National identity and symbols in Catalonia and Spain The Anglo-Catalan Society 2008 2 3 The Annual Joan Gili Memorial Lecture Bulls and donkeys. National identity and symbols in Catalonia and 1 Spain In this paper, after an initial discussion about what identity means and how to measure it, I intend to review some studies and events in Spain in which identity issues arise. The conclusion will be reached that identities in Spain, in regard to people’s relationship with Spain itself and with Catalonia, are by no means shared, and the level of both stereotyping and prejudice, on the one hand, and of collective insecurity (even “self-hatred”) on the other, are, I claim, higher than in consolidated nation-states of western Europe, with the partial exceptions of the United Kingdom and Belgium. Let me from the outset say how honoured I am, in having been invited to deliver this paper, to follow in the footsteps of such outstanding Catalan academics as Mercè Ibarz, Antoni Segura, Joan F. Mira, Marta Pessarrodona, Miquel Berga … and those before them. The idea of dedicating what up till then had been the Fundació Congrés de Cultura lectures to the memory of Joan Gili (Barcelona 1907 - Oxford 1998) was an inspiration. Unlike some earlier Memorial lecturers, however, I was fortunate enough to have a special personal relationship with him and, of course, with his wife Elizabeth.
[Show full text]