Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Resistance in the 'Oppressor's' Tongue: English-language Welsh Writers and Spanish- language Catalan Writers Coutts, Catriona Award date: 2020 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 26. Sep. 2021 Resistance in the 'Oppressor's' Tongue: English-language Welsh Writers and Spanish-language Catalan Writers Catriona Coutts 500289651 Thesis submitted for the award of PhD in English Literature 2020 1 2 Abstract This thesis will demonstrate that the literature of Wales and Catalonia, two small stateless nations that are dominated by larger states with a different majority culture (the United Kingdom and Spain), can be read as resistance literature. However, crucially, it will focus on authors that write in English or Spanish, rather than in Welsh or Catalan. Traditionally Welsh and Catalan literature has been defined as that written in Welsh/Catalan. English and Spanish are often seen as foreign languages, or even as the ‘oppressor’s tongue,’ and texts written in those languages have, until recently, been excluded from the national literature. This thesis will argue, however, that these texts can espouse some type of national resistance, in spite of the language in which they are written. This thesis will draw on the work of the theorists Barbara Harlow, Benita Parry and E. San Juan Jr., particularly the latter two’s critique of postcolonial studies, and works by anticolonial writer activists like Frantz Fanon and Ngugi wa Thiong’o, in order to establish a resistance literature paradigm. It will also draw on the work of Albert Sánchez Piñol and Daniel G. Williams to differentiate between two types of resistance and consider whether each type is helpful or harmful to the nation. It will then apply this paradigm to the English-language Welsh authors Harri Webb, R. S. Thomas and Rhys Davies, to the Spanish-language Catalan novelist Eduardo Mendoza, and to a Spanish-language text by Albert Sánchez Piñol who has published in both Spanish and Catalan. The thesis will highlight many attributes of resistance literature in their work; the most important and prevalent being: political content, a focus on the message of the text as opposed to its form, an understanding that all struggles against oppression, be it oppression of class, nationality, ethnicity or gender, are part of the same struggle, and an attempt to produce a history of their nation that challenges the account promulgated by the state (the United Kingdom/Spain). 3 Yr wyf drwy hyn yn datgan mai canlyniad fy ymchwil fy hun yw’r thesis hwn, ac eithrio lle nodir yn wahanol. Caiff ffynonellau eraill eu cydnabod gan droednodiadau yn rhoi cyfeiriadau eglur. Nid yw sylwedd y gwaith hwn wedi cael ei dderbyn o’r blaen ar gyfer unrhyw radd, ac nid yw’n cael ei gyflwyno ar yr un pryd mewn ymgeisiaeth am unrhyw radd oni bai ei fod, fel y cytunwyd gan y Brifysgol, am gymwysterau deuol cymeradwy. I hereby declare that this thesis is the results of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. All other sources are acknowledged by bibliographic references. This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree unless, as agreed by the University, for approved dual awards. 4 Acknowledgements Heartfelt thanks /Diolch o galon/ Moltes gràcies/ Muchas gracias To my supervisors Dr Eva Bru-Domínguez and Dr Andy Webb I fy nghyfarwyddwyr Dr Eva Bru-Domínguez and Dr Andy Webb Als meus supervisors Dr Eva Bru-Domínguez and Dr Andy Webb A mis supervisores Dr Eva Bru-Domínguez and Dr Andy Webb To Professor Tony Brown, who introduced me to Welsh Writing in English and has helped me study it ever since. I’r athro Tony Brown, a gyflwynodd Llenyddiaeth Eingl-Gymreig i mi ac sydd wedi fy helpu i i’w astudio ers hynny. Al Professor Tony Brown, per mostrar-me el món de l’escriptura gal·lesa ên anglès i ajudar-me amb el seu estudi. Al Profesor Tony Brown, por mostrarme el mundo de la escritura galesa ên inglés y ayudarme côn su estudio. To Rubén Chapela-Orri for teaching me to speak Spanish and opening my eyes to the situation in Catalonia. I Rubén Chapela-Orri a ddysgodd i fi siarad Sbaeneg ac a agorodd fy llygaid i’r sefyllfa yng Nghatalunya. A Rubén Chapela-Orri per ensenyar-me a parlar castellà i obrir-me els ulls a la situació a Catalunya. A Rubén Chapela-Orri por enseñarme a hablar castellano y abrirse los ojos a la situación de Cataluña. To my parents and sister, Jane, Peter and Fiona Coutts, for their constant support. I fy rhieni a fy chwaer, Jane, Peter a Fiona Coutts, am eu cefnogaeth gyson. Als meus pares i la meva germana, Jane, Peter i Fiona Coutts, pêl seu recolzament incondicional. A mis padres y a mi hermana, Jane, Peter and Fiona Coutts, por su apoyo incondicional. And to all my friends and colleagues who have helped in any way with this project. Ac i fy holl ffrindiau a chydweithwyr a helpodd mewn unrhyw ffordd gyda’r prosiect yma. I a tots els amics i companys que hân col·laborat d’alguna forma ên aquest projecte. Y a todos/as los amigos/as y compañeros/as que hân colaborado de alguna forma ên este proyecto 5 6 Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Contents ............................................................................................................................................................ 7 Note on Terminology ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction..................................................................................................................................................... 11 A Brief History of the Ideas of Resistance in Postcolonial Studies.................................................................. 13 A Paradigm for Resistance Literature ........................................................................................................... 21 A Brief History of Wales and Catalonia ......................................................................................................... 27 Wales and Catalonia – Nations of Resistance? .............................................................................................. 49 Types of Resistance ...................................................................................................................................... 59 Existing Approaches ..................................................................................................................................... 67 Choice of texts ............................................................................................................................................. 74 Thesis Outline .............................................................................................................................................. 79 Chapter 1 – Harri Webb and ‘The Saga of Welsh Resistance’ ............................................................................ 81 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 81 Wales as a Colony ........................................................................................................................................ 87 Resistance .................................................................................................................................................... 98 Wales united .............................................................................................................................................. 108 Recovering History ..................................................................................................................................... 119 A Popular Poet ........................................................................................................................................... 128 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 136 Chapter 2 – “The darker our twilight hours, the more blessed will be the dawn of those who will come after us”: Catalonia – the Nation that was and the State that will be ...................................................................... 137 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................