Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Paper Sp 10

Introduction to Catalan Language and Culture

n.b. This paper is available to ALL MML students in either PIB or PII.

Please note: (a) if you take this paper in Part IB you will not be able to take it again in Part II and (b) no candidate may offer more than one of Papers Du. 5, Gr. 3, Pg. 3, Sp. 10, or Uk. 1 in any one year.

Reading List

Catalan is one of the four official languages of Spain. It is not a dialect of Spanish but a Romance language in its own right, being closely related to Occitan, Provençal, French and Italian. It is the first language of about ten million people who live in Catalonia, part of Aragon, the Valencian provinces, the Balearic Islands, the Roussillon and part of the island of Sardinia. Since the end of the Franco regime its importance has increased enormously and life in Catalonia, including Barcelona, is now run almost entirely in Catalan. The Catalan-speaking area is the most economically developed part of Spain and the Catalans react very positively to foreigners who take an interest in their language. Since the Renaixença of the nineteenth century there has grown up a vigorous literature, the counterpart of the extremely rich literary and cultural heritage of the Middle Ages.

It is the aim of this course to provide an introduction to the language and culture of Catalonia. There will be a weekly class with fortnightly supervisions which will include both regular language tuition - supplemented by additional hours with the lector - and the study of representative books and films which cover the major cultural tendencies of the present century from Modernism to the post-modern experience. The examination paper consists of two sections, Section A containing a passage for compulsory translation and Section B on topics of contemporary culture (of which any two must be answered). At the end of the session students are also able to enter for the Certificat Internacional de Catalá awarded by the Catalan government.

The reading list for this paper is available online

Optional extra

In addition to the minimum requirements stated above, students will be invited to participate in the following non-examination course in Catalan which may lead to the International Certificate of Catalan awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya. 

40 language classes by the Catalan lector, (2 per week, Michaelmas, Lent and first 4 weeks of Easter)

The language teaching strategy adopted will be fully communicative aiming at the eliciting of excellence in both the written and oral modes.  The course is designed by the native language assistants using the latest audio-visual methodology together with ancillary exercises with material from CALL and satellite.

Cambridge bookshops (Heffers and Waterstone's) are aware of our reading lists. You may be able to purchase second-hand copies of some of the books from Heffers (tel. 01223 568568). You might also like to try online book-sellers like Amazon, alibris or abebooks.

All lists are also available online: see the Department's Home Page (spanish), under Reading Lists.