We will conclude with a poem by Carlos Fages de Climent (1902-1968), an honorable citizen of Castelló d'Empúries, the town of my paternal lineage. Fages, now fully recognized, wrote the poem on a date I cannot specify. New anthem in the Empordà...a region that had traditionally been federalist and is now primarily pro-independence: the ebb and flow of ideas. I myself—if you'll allow me to speak in the first person today, which I hate as much as Pascal:Le moi est haïsable"I would go with my father or uncle, the heir to the farmhouse, to visit Can Canet's bookstore on the Rambla in Figueres, where a gang of 'lifelong federalists' secretly met in the back room of the establishment, hidden only by a flimsy curtain, in a dim light. In later decades, they talked about politics, and that's how I acquired the foundations of what could be called my approach to it: the opinions of others, tolerance, no animosity towards the various peoples of Catalonia and Spain, and an unyielding sense of fraternity with all beings capable of speech. That's why we federated it. Fascinating; today I would only exchange it for a just, effective, and friendly confederation."

A few days ago, four museum experts met at the MNAC in Barcelona and expressed their concern about the institution's direction, the decline in visitors from the city's middle class who, as in other European capitals, have lost interest in the culture of the past, and the blurred character of the concept which every museum must define. Specialists considered the MNAC "a unique and magnificent collection," certainly one that "formalizes Catalan identity and contemporary identity." The idea is sound, but it should be borne in mind that Catalan identity and contemporary identity are rather contradictory, because "contemporary identity," in global terms, does not form any unity, but rather a general fragmentation or a bastardized identity. And furthermore: "The public increasingly misunderstands the identity and mission of Catalonia's most important museum."

Fame was not viewed negatively in the centuries of the classical cultures of Greece and Rome – anyone will read that. Aurea dicta, like the one that was published in the Bernat, Doctor—but it began to be viewed with suspicion from the Renaissance onward. Erasmus and Montaigne, from the final period of humanism, did not appreciate it. Perhaps the phenomenon has to do with the fact that the printing press had made books available to many readers: quantity makes more noise than quality.

For the past few weeks, TV3's weather forecast has included the city of Alghero, on the island of Sardinia, now part of Italy, which was once under the rule of the Crown of Aragon. 22.4% of the population speaks Catalan, a remnant of our ancestors' presence: this must be the reason why Catalan television is reporting the weather in that location. The initiative is commendable, as it informs viewers about the expansion of Catalans in the Mediterranean, something that, broadly speaking, occurred from the birth of James I (1225) and the reign of Peter the Ceremonious until the reincorporation of the Kingdom of Majorca into the Crown on December 13.

In statements to a national newspaper, Pilar Rahola, winner of the 2024 Prudenci Bertrana awardHe spoke with solid arguments about his novel Cornelius, the AlmogavarRahola, who is more of a politician and opinion-maker than a writer of considerable renown, claimed that she had written this book to glorify the Almogavars, those assault troops (sturmtruppen(in German of the second and third Reich), an army of mercenaries that contributed effectively to the expansion of the Catalans in the Mediterranean, active above all during the 13th and 14th centuries.

There are peoples who have lived under a dictatorship and who quickly forget it, quite content. But there are peoples where this memory is never truly eradicated. This is the case of Romania in the matter of József Nyírő, a writer from Hungarian Transylvania.

Even with classic authors, it happens that one day they stop being read. What non-German reader will dedicate days of effort to reading the SplendorGoethe's work, even if it's been artfully translated into a familiar language? Few. Who delves into the Comedy, from Dante, later "divine", although the translation is very fluid, like that of Josep Maria de SagarraAnd, moreover, include the explanatory notes that such a wise and complex book requires? Few. Who will dedicate time to Sartor Resartus (The Patched Tailor), by Carlyle, even though it is one of the great books of the 19th century? Almost nobody.

We have spoken before about the erosion of the moral prestige of intellectuals. It's not that they have become immoral (there are exceptions, of course); it's that the majority of society has stopped believing in anything transcendental, anything particularly well-argued, or anything that transcends the mediocrity of the commonplace (there are exceptions, too, now).

This dance, better known in Catalonia as the "dance of death" (in English and German, the same: dance of death, Totentanz; in French, danse macabreThe 14th-century dance, or "Dance of the Dead," is a dance that originated in the 14th century, most likely due to the enormous mortality caused by the Black Death and the devastating Hundred Years' War. It was widespread throughout the continent and is rarely seen as a stage performance today; but historically it has been very present in the graphic and pictorial arts. The best examples are found, or were found—and drawings of which have been preserved—in Basel, Dresden, and the cloister of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Holbein made a whole series of engravings of enormous quality, and they are still being published. Apart from this, Florence Whitney is the author of a frankly intractable work, from around 1910, called The Danse of Death in Spain and Cataloniaof particular interest to us.

The film has arrived at the establishments of the branchAlbert Serra Afternoons of solitude, with the special participation of Andrés Roca Rey, a quality bullfighter. The fact that we can now see it three times, preferably on alternate days rather than consecutively, will perhaps give everyone a more seasoned idea of what the art of bullfighting entails.

As there were no large circulation newspapers in England at that time, Joseph Addison and Richard Steele founded a broadsheet in 1711 with the name The Spectator, which had a short life: during the first stage, between 1711 and 1712, everything was written by Steele; sometimes also by Addison and someone else, leaving aside a section of "letters to the editor" that maintained a permanent dialogue between the opinions of the founder and those of the readers, as it still happens. Later, in 1714, Addison took charge alone, and there was still a string of installments. Donald Bond made a complete, very useful edition in 1965: very recent. (Literature has a different tempo from the time of history.)

One of the most brilliant aspects of Lewis Carroll's two books about Alice is the ongoing discussion between her and her interlocutors about the meaning of words, the need for speakers to agree on the same meaning given to each word, and the continued appearance of linguistic perplexity. Thus, for example, in Alice in Wonderland, the Eagle responds in this way to something he has heard: "Speak less convolutedly! I don't understand the meaning of half of the long words you have used, and I'll tell you more: it seems to me that you don't either!" (This is a very common phenomenon, now that all languages, not just Catalan, proceed in the forward direction.) Further on in the same book, Turtle says: "Look, if a fish came to me and told me he was going on a journey, I would say to him: "With what page?"" And Griffo says: "Don't you mean "luggage"? And Turtle answers: "I mean what I say." It reads something similar to Alice Through the Looking GlassHumpty Dumpty says: "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean." And Alice replies: "The question is, can words be made to mean different things?"

In the book of Exodus, XX, which along with Leviticus is the most full of rules, rituals and commandments in the Bible, we read some very brutal things, typical of this vengeful god who is Yahweh, and others, more peaceful, that are valid for almost all mono religions.

The bourgeoisie—a word that, in all fairness, only designates the upper middle class of a fairly large city—presents some fairly clear constants, throughout the continent, in terms of its attitude towards forms of high culture: the folore (as it was said before) is something else, and it differs from what we call "culture" here because culture always presents new things, and folklore very few, or none.

Now it turns out that only one student has enrolled in the Romance Philology program at the University of Barcelona: Roc Àngela Novella. A new and rare angelic vocation, strong as stone. These studies, which flourished especially when directed by her, Martí de Riquer, They have been on the verge of disappearing since the retirement of that great scholar. A movement led by one of his daughters and a whole group of professors from that department, and others, has prevented its disappearance; but the sword of Damocles hangs over the head of this specialty, which, in fact, along with the degree in literary studies (or comparative literature), is the most generalist at this university. Years ago, a certain quídamo presented a report to unify, under the form of a humanities degree, the subjects of philosophy, philology, and history—which is what would have made the most sense at the time. But it did not prosper: it laughs at the taifa kingdoms of the Caliphate of Córdoba.

A woman named Katarzyna Basinska, a researcher at the University of Cambridge in England, one day, having no idea what to do, invented a computer procedure that, she claims, will allow us to speak with the deceased. It's yet another symptom of the discrediting of religions and the long-ago diagnosed "death of God." Or a blasphemous impersonation. Or a complete nonsense.

Do not trust, dear readers, the lists of books for the summer proposed by the newspapers, with the exception of this one: they are at the service of the publishers and the bookstores, places where - this can perfectly happen - one might not find any edition of the Treat, by Plato - a reading that teenagers would really enjoy - or by The Princess of Cleves —ideal for any lady who wants and endures adulterous summer love. Bookstores are full of classics; many publishers in the country publish magnificent translations of books written in foreign languages, more or less ancient, that could delight readers any time of year. But these books are rarely recommended.

The procedure for calling for selectivity – short and shallow – is flawed everywhere. In this year's tests, First, it was said that spelling mistakes would only deduct marks on Catalan language and literature exams; then, seeing that these mistakes would inevitably also be present on history exams or any other subject, perhaps even math, they said they would lower the mark. in any subject; and then, seeing that it would all end in disaster, they said they wouldn't count for much anywhere, or not at all, because...

Now that the Sónar festival has been over for weeks It is time to suggest to the reader the relationship that can be established between the convulsions that flourished in France throughout the 18th century and the attitude of those attending that festival, and others, of frenetic music.

The program called Beastly date which now broadcasts on TV3 every Wednesday explains more than just the need for abandoned dogs to be adopted by people who want one. Visitors to the corresponding establishments do a great favor to the animals themselves and, in the process, to the animal shelters. The program goes beyond what, years ago, Pol Izquierdo had directed, which was called Beasts, which showcased the care that dog lovers have for these animals—surely the most perfect creation of all those featured in Genesis, even though it doesn't expressly speak to them.