Culture, language and politics. The Catalan cultural resistance during the Franco regime (1939-1977)

Abstract

The Franco regime attempted to commit cultural and identity genocide against Catalonia, but only the combined action of resistance inside the country and in exile prevented it. The 1940s were a decade of pure resistance, but by the 1950s there was a revival inside the country which paved the way for the cultural and political blossoming of the 1960s. In the ensuing decade, self-governance was attained in the Catalan Lands after the final crisis of the Franco regime, but there was no compensation for the repression it had undergone, nor was a sufficiently steadfast policy adopted to guarantee the future of Catalan language and culture.

Keywords

• catalan language and culture
• anti-franco resistance
• franco regime
• exile
• political transition