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22 de nov. 2018

Article by Quim Torra "Language and the Beasts". False controversy

Anti-Catalan media and even political leaders pounced on an article, written by the President of Catalonia years before he entered the world of polítics, twisting the content to portray him as a racist and a supremacist. Here is an English translation: judge for yourselves!

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Language and the beasts

"They are here, amongst us. They repudiate any expression of Catalan-ness. It's a sickly phobia"

by Quim Torra 12/19/2012

In my parents' house there was an old copy of a book that all my brothers had read: "About when beasts spoke", by Manuel Folch i Torres. My father was inflexible and, just as Thackeray's The Rose and the Ring and Josep Maria Folch i Torres' Bolavà, held that one could not grow up without having read them. It was a delightful book in which owls, bears, elephants, deer and bumblebees spoke, a collection of fables for children's education. Now when you look at your country you see beasts talking again. But they are of another type. Snakes, vipers, hyenas. Beasts, though, in human form, that those up hatred. A hatred - outraged, nauseated, like copper-green -, against everything that the Catalan language stands for. They are here, amongst us. They repudiate any expression of Catalan-ness. It's a sickly phobia. There is something Freudian about these beasts. Or a small glitch in their DNA chain. Poor individuals! They live in a country of which they know nothing: its culture, its traditions, its history. They deaf and blind to anything that smells Catalan to them. It brings them out in spots. They spurn everything that is not Spanish and in Spanish. They have names and surnames, these beasts do. We all know one. These beasts abound. They live, die and multiply. One of them was responsible the other day for an incident that has not reached Catalonia and deserves to be explained, as an outstanding example of the bestiality of these beings. Poor beasts, it's all they're capable of. One of the few airlines that accepts Catalan with normality is Swiss. If you have taken any of their flights to the ancient Confederation, you will have found how they use our language when it comes to taking off or landing the craft. This is an exception, for unfortunately, the rest of the companies still treat us exactly as what we are, the last colony in Europe. Well, a couple of weeks ago one of these beasts travelled on a Swiss flight. On arriving at the destination, the usual observations prior to the landing were announced in Catalan. The beast, automatically, secreted his angry spittle. The stench of a sewer left his seat. He moved, restless, desperate, horrified at having to hear four words in Catalan. He had no escape. A mucous sweat, like a toad with a cold, dripped down from his armpits. You have to imagine the beast, after such a long time - they can live in their Spanish world without any problems -, listening to four words in a language they hate. Outraged, he decided to write a letter to a German newspaper in Zurich, complaining about the treatment he had received because "his rights were violated" as Spanish was the "first" official language of Spain. And the complaint of the beast was published, splashed across the page. Thank goodness, our good friends of the Casal Català of Zurich  responded and left clear things (so many embassies and Sea Consulates and look, a small Catalan club is the one who has mobilized thanks to the decency and dignity of his members). But why do we have to mobilize each time? When will the beasts' attacks end? How can we endure, in 2008, so much anguish, so much humiliation and contempt?




La llengua i les bèsties
"Són aquí, entre nosaltres. Els repugna qualsevol expressió de catalanitat. És una fòbia malaltissa"

per Quim Torra 19/12/2012

A casa els pares corria un vell exemplar d’un llibre que tots els germans havíem llegit: De quan les bèsties parlaven, d’en Manuel Folch i Torres. El pare era inflexible i, com La rosa i l’anell de Thackeray i en Bolavà de Josep Maria Folch i Torres, considerava que un no podia fer-se gran sense haver-los llegit. Era un llibre deliciós on òlibes, óssos, elefants, cervatons i borinots parlaven, un recull de faules destinades a l’educació dels infants.Ara mires al teu país i tornes a veure parlar les bèsties. Però són d’un altre tipus. Carronyaires, escurçons, hienes. Bèsties amb forma humana, tanmateix, que glopegen odi. Un odi pertorbat, nauseabund, com de dentadura postissa amb verdet, contra tot el que representa la llengua. Són aquí, entre nosaltres. Els repugna qualsevol expressió de catalanitat. És una fòbia malaltissa. Hi ha alguna cosa freudiana en aquestes bèsties. O un petit sotrac en la seva cadena d’ADN. Pobres individus! Viuen en un país del que ho desconeixen tot: la seva cultura, les seves tradicions, la seva història. Es passegen impermeables a qualsevol esdeveniment que representi el fet català. Els crea urticària. Els rebota tot el que no sigui espanyol i en castellà. Tenen nom i cognoms, les bèsties. Tots en coneixem alguna. Abunden, les bèsties. Viuen, moren i es multipliquen. Una d’elles va protagonitzar l’altre dia un incident que no ha arribat a Catalunya i mereix ser explicat, com un exemple extraordinari de la bestialitat d’aquests éssers. Pobres bèsties, no poden fer-hi més. Una de les escasses companyies aèries que vénen acceptant amb normalitat el català és Swiss. Si han agafat algun dels seus vols a la vella Confederació, hauran constatat com es ve emprant la nostra llengua a l’hora d’enlairar-se o aterrar l’aparell. Una excepció, ja que, malauradament, amb la resta de companyies venim essent tractats exactament com el que som, la darrera colònia en terres d’Europa. Doncs bé, fa un parell de setmanes viatjava en un vol de Swiss una d’aquestes bèsties. En arribar al destí, s’anuncià en català les típiques observacions prèvies a l’aterratge. La bèstia, automàticament, segregà la seva salivera rabiosa. Una fortor de cloaca sortia del seu seient. Es removia, inquieta, desesperada, horroritzada per haver de sentir quatre mots en català. No tenia escapatòria. Una suor mucosa, com de gripau refredat, li rajava de les aixelles. Cal imaginar-se-la, a la bèstia, després de tant temps!, elles que poden viure en el seu món espanyol sense cap problema, escoltant quatre mots en una llengua que odia. Indignada, va decidir escriure una carta en un diari alemany de Zuric, queixant-se del tracte rebut ja que "es violaven els seus drets" al ser el castellà la "primera" llengua oficial d'Espanya”. I, a tota plana, la queixa de la bèstia va sortir publicada. Gràcies a Déu, els bons amics del Casal Català de Zuric han replicat i han deixat les coses clares (tantes ambaixades i consultats de Mar i, mira tu, un petit Casal Català és qui s’ha mobilitzat gràcies a la decència i dignitat dels seus membres). Però per què ens hem de mobilitzar cada vegada? Quan acabaran els atacs de les bèsties? Com podem el 2008 aguantar tanta vexació, tanta humiliació i tant menyspreu?


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