Llengües i poders a la Catalunya Nord

Abstract

In the Northern part of Catalonia contained within France we note evidence of a situation where there is a marginal and minority power of the language and the Catalan culture and an omnipresent power of the central state of France throughout most of the ways that this culture is expressed. This weakness is determined by the migration of the economical power from «Catalonia North». However we notice there is evidence of an upsurge in the symbolical power of the various Catalan socio-cultural spheres and a progressive decline of diglossic attitudes. We observe that in the current phase there is a paradoxical reconstruction of the identity, which seems irreversible. It is a situation where the expressions of literature of the self hatred of yesteryear are long gone, as are the pejorative diglossic attitudes like during previous phases. Young writers have emerged in the last twenty years that contribute to the Catalan literature with a new vision and new issues. The literature does not represent much power in comparison to the economical, institutional and political forces, nevertheless they forecast changes in the mentalities and attitudes that may turn into more tangible realities.