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Analyse the extent to which language was an essential feature in the appearance and consolidation of Catalan and Basque nationalism

Towards the end of the nineteenth century peripheral nationalisms began to form in the Spanish state, namely in the provinces and regions where languages other than Castilian were spoken. This essay is going to focus on the two most prominent nationalist movements that took place at that time within both the Basque Country and Catalonia.

It is an age-old belief that a people’s individuality resides in its language and therefore the promotion and protection of language has often played an essential part in forming the basis of nationalist theories. One of the first writers to stress the importance of language as a marker of national identity was Herder who wrote ‘language is the soul of a nation, without which a nation cannot exist.’

The vernacular is considered to be one of the most central aspects of identity by many intellectuals. Joshua A. Fishman writes in Language and Nationalism that;

One of the major motivational emphases of modern nationalism has been th...

Posted by: Melissa T. Littlefield

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