Catalan is cool if what we do in it is cool… or then again maybe it isn’t

Abstract

Although there are spheres, like music and radio, in which young people enjoy a large offering in Catalan, in other fields, such as television, theatre or cinema, there has long been a void. In television, this problem has been solved, at least partially, with the appearance of Channel 3XL, addressed to young people between the ages of 16 and 20. Nevertheless, the range of available products is still quite small in theatre (even though it is also true that young people don’t tend to go to the theatre, regardless of the language involved), as well as in cinema (the proportion of films in Catalan in comparison to those in Spanish is very low). This paper is based on the idea that “Catalan is cool if what we do in it is cool” and gives two practical examples: Plats bruts, a TV sitcom featuring a lively colloquial language (albeit full of non-prescribed words), which became a big success, and Tarragona’s Ball Parlat de Dames i Vells, a popular festival that draws spectators of all ages and young people in particular.

Key words: social use of Catalan, youth, communication media, television, popular culture, cultural consumption.