Back in the day, when I was still a T.V. watcher, I caught a hilarious, bizarre animated bit on one of the Spanish language stations. While the song Karma Hunters is in English, The Pinker Tones pop group is from Barcelona, and their song Mais Pourquoi has a great video which would certainly Glenn Reynolds' pulse racing:
Well, how about bearing with me geeking out after watching that whimsical video? The Catalan language, (there is a controversy regarding the distinctness of the Valencian and Catalan languages) has a grand literary history dating back to the Middle Ages and rooted in the troubadours' tradition. Perhaps the greatest work in the Catalan (or Valencian, if you rate for Valencia) language is (future blog post subject?) Tirant lo Blanc, a chivalric romance which has the distinction of being one of the few books to survive the burning of Don Quixote's books in Cervantes' masterpiece.
The Catalan language was suppressed under the Franco regime which imposed the Castilian Spanish language on Spain's population in the interests of nationalism. With the transition to democracy, the suppression of the Catalan language was ended. As an added bonus, here's an interesting article on modern Catalan poets.
Please note that this post has nothing to do with the fact that I am still a little woozy-headed after being smitten (but not smote) by the startlingly beautiful blue/green-eyed empanada girl working at **REDACTED**- she's originally from Malaga, in Andalucia, and is not a Catalan speaker.
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12 comments:
Best of luck, BBBB!
~
What's luck got to do with it?
Got to do with it?
It's 2nd hand emotion.
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Beware of goddesses running around smiting people.
..unless you like that sort of thing.
The song and vid are awesome.
Yeah, my dad, who speaks Spanish fluently (along with French and a smidge of Portuguese) says that Catalan is definitely a challenge.
I have never had much luck finding a decent brewpub in Barcelona and usually end up with Estrella* or drinking cava at El Xampanyet.
I rate for Galician.
I thing I have received ZRM's verification word by mistake: "Foreding". Does he have mine?
* Not a person.
Song sounds French to me.
They can't make good beer either.
I have never had much luck finding a decent brewpub in Barcelona and usually end up with Estrella* or drinking cava at El Xampanyet.
I usually play to the local strenghts- I typically switch to vino while in the circum-Mediterranean region... and I always make a point of trying out the local hard liquour of choice, be it jenever, grappa, or whisky.
Uh, local "stengths"- ignore the man behind the cretin!
Yeah, well *I*.....
have only left the country once. :(
Yeah, well *I*.....
have only left the country once. :(
Oklahoma doesn't count!
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