You know how one thing leads to another and tonight I can’t remember exactly how I got there but I ended up reading this really interesting article by Matthew Tree.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12552276/Life-on-the-Receiving-End-Matthew-Tree
He is a Londoner who moved to Barcelona in 1979, taught himself Catalan and now writes and talks about Catalunya.
This article is a good introduction to the history of Catalunya, the reasons behind the push to be an independent state (again!), and the reality of anti-Catalan prejudice in Spanish-Spain.
I came here first as a fairly typical visitor to Barcelona, without any knowledge of the history and only a vague awareness of the importance of the Catalan language. I wanted to learn ‘Spanish’ by which I meant castellano and I loved Barcelona so it seemed a good idea to do it here. Dancing tango meant that I was often in the company of Latin American people who also spoke castellano so I was quite resistant to the idea of learning Catalan. Barcelona also has many immigrant residents who don’t speak Catalan and it is common in the cafes to ask for a cafe amb llet and be ‘corrected’ by the waitress who frowns and says ‘cafe con leche?’
But little by little I have tried to educate myself and of course now am learning Catalan. It is the language of my new family and of Granollers. It is a language I enjoy rolling around my tongue – the words are satisfying. It is also a language which has survived in spite of massive attempts by the Spanish state to stamp it out so there is an additional pleasure in playing a small part in resisting oppression.
Do read the article if you are at all interested in learning more about Catalunya. It is very readable and clearly written – might take you half an hour but it’s worth it, especially if you are one of the many people who visit and care about Barcelona.
Here is one quote to whet your appetite
In 1881, any legal or commercial document written in Catalan – from a testament to a tram ticket – was decreed null and void.
The Catalans’ insisted on using their own language despite all of this – in 1924, the architect Antoni Gaudí once famously said to a policeman who, infuriated by being addressed in Catalan by this venerable old gentleman, asked him if could speak Spanish: ‘Of course I can! I just don’t feel like it!’ he replied, before being taken in for questioning) (Matthew Tree)
I recently had a satellite dish installed at home in order to receive BBC and ITV programmes. The man who did the job was English but has lived here for more than ten years. He seemed pleasant enough until I asked him if he spoke any Catalan and his whole attitude changed. ‘No’ he said ‘ I don’t and to be honest I don’t want to. I hate the sound of it. My wife feels the same – all the English here do’
I said quietly ‘well just as well that I’m Scottish’
Matthew Tree is really quite famous here, the man went and heard him speak once, though I haven’t had a chance. He’s writing books in Catalan now…some days, he’s my hero.
Some of our english friends have the same attitude and don’t like the sound of Catalan, I think because it’s not a ‘sing song’ sound if you know what I mean! But I love the sound of it and lots of the words are marvellous! I’ll read the article.
Hi Oreneta – I’d like to hear him speak. He writes very clearly and succinctly. Makes a good balance against all those English who don’t like Catalan but want to live here.
Hi Jan I don’t come across so many English people here so the TV installer was a bit of a shock. I wonder if people are more scared than anything? Any language you don’t know can seem unpleasant if you feel threatened. I’m not too keen on the sound of Chinese and probably that would stop me living there but if I had to go – then I’d get on with it. It was also more than what he said but the way he said it – it left a bad taste.
When I first arrived and was learning ‘spanish’ I sometimes got annoyed when friends spoke Catalan – I wanted to practice castellano and felt tired and left out of another language. but really – that was just part and parcel of being new and in another country. I imagine people feel the same in england. A woman in my Catalan class from Peru said the first day that she hates the sound of english! I assume she had some bad experience that created this prejudice. the more we know the more open we become I think. K x
Hm. I suspect it’s a power thing. They might be the same English people who ‘can’t stand the sound’ of Gaelic because it unsettles them somehow.