Kabitskiy M., Rudnik S. “Catalan countries”: the concept and its perception

M. Kabitskiy - Russian State University of Humanities; Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow, Russian Federation ORCID: 0000-0003-2878-1067
E‑mail: kabitski@yahoo.es

S. Rudnik - Lomonosov Moscow State University; HSE University Moscow, Russian Federation ORCID: 0000-0001-9988-7403
E‑mail: svetkar.rus.91@mail.ru

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ABSTRACT. The ethnic composition of the Spanish population was determined in different ways, depending on the approach to the problem of ethnicity and the criteria used. Among the peoples of Spain, in addition to the “proper Spaniards”, Galicians, Basques and Catalans were often distinguished. At the same time, other authors noted that these identities may be regional rather than ethnic in nature and do not coincide with the communities identified by the linguistic criterion. In particular, the Valencians and Balearians who speak the same language (albeit in different versions) with the Catalans and have many common cultural features with them are not counted and do not classify themselves as Catalans. At the same time, it would be difficult to deny the existence of a cultural, linguistic and historical area that unites these population groups, which led to the spread of the concept of “Catalan countries” commonality (which does not exclude its ambiguous perception). In the XX century this concept has been rethought in the context of discussions about the future of Spain and its peoples and acquired a political connotation. At present, it is even more politicized and is present in the programs of radical nationalist parties, carrying connotations of political nostalgia and secessionist ideas. The article examines modern identity problems of the perception of this concept by different groups of the population in the context of the current aggravation of the national question in Spain.

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2020-4(10)-159-173
УДК 323.1(460)

KEYWORDS: Catalan countries, Catalan nationalism, pancatalanism, blaverism

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