The Origin and Formation of the National Symbols of Catalonia within the Framework of the Renaixença and their Visual Representation in the 19th Century

The article presents the study of national symbols of Catalonia: their emergence and visual representation in the art of the 19th century. National symbolic system of Catalonia date back to the Renaixença movement in literature that initiated the formation of the Catalan language and literature. The scope and purpose of the article included an investigation of the works of the most prominent representatives of the Catalan national renaissance in order to identify the origins of the symbols they deploy. Consideration of symbols serves the purpose of defining the way national aspects get their visual representation. The method of historical typology was used to systematize the sources. Memoirs and publications in the press were analyzed with the textual method, and visual materials – with stylistic and iconic methods. Detailed research of the works of Renaixença has shown that Catalan cultural code initially emerged in poetry. In the second half of the 19th century, the symbols acquired visuality in fine art, namely paintings and visual design of the front pages of Catalan newspapers and magazines. The article provides a detailed account of selected examples of such visuals. At that time, Catalan intellectuals created works devoted to the history of Catalan-speaking lands, seeking to find roots that would picture the ancient nature of their motherland. They searched the archives and looked into medieval literature and folklore to prove the continuity of prosperous medieval Catalonia, part of the Kingdom of Aragon, and nineteenth-century Catalonia. Thinking over national history gave birth to national identity. At the same time history acquired a visual dimension. Churches, monasteries, memorable dates, leaders and thinkers that bore distinct national identity were visualized. Medieval plots penetrated art that tapped into heroic deeds of the past for inspiration. The spread of visual images helped bridge the gap between past and present. The newly acquired continuity of tradition strengthened the national narrative. The process enabled the national unity of the Catalan people with the central idea of an imaginary community of a nation-state.

The Wars of the 1860s and the Atlantic (Americas and Europe)

During the 1860s, widespread warfare beset the Americas and Europe. Fighting resulted from challenges to existing political accommodations, and evolved into civil wars or interstate violence. Concurrently, economic and technological transformations through the 1860s aided long-distance communications, such as the coming of the telegraph and a much faster spread of steam power that helped to disseminate news and share experiences. All over the Atlantic, the triumph of national unification was the most visible result of the bloodbath, expanding state capacities and reinforcing the role of national symbols as common elements of a shared identity. Political and administrative centralization affected the exercise of local power in different ways, mainly in its capacity to recruit members of communities for war; appealing to national values and identities gradually became central in the demands for cooperation and sacrifice. After the end of combat, national authorities established regimes founded either on new constitutions or on amendments added to existing documents, the goal of which was reordering society according to rules capable of regulating and institutionalizing regional conflicts, simultaneously incorporating demands for representation and liberalization. These same groups demonstrated less efficiency when dealing with ethnic and social conflicts, sources of deeper divisions in societies that pretended to be consistent, progressive, and unified.

Current caselaw discrepancies in the protection of national symbols and state representatives between the European Court of Human Rights and Spanish courts: a vicious circle

Despite the general consensus about freedom of expression being a basic fundamental right on every democratic society, the debate about its boundaries has never found such a pacific agreement. Thus, the Spanish Penal Code has several articles that punish its abuse that are highly contested, like articles 490.3 and 543 that penalize the offenses directed towards national symbols or State representatives. This being so, this article examines the controversy generated by the application of this articles through the analysis of two judgements issued by the European Court of Human Rights against Spain, and a third one issued by the Spanish Constitutional Court that could follow the same path. This work will be done to describe the clash that exists between the caselaw of these two jurisdictions, in order to critically analyze the approach Spanish courts have to behaviors that criticize national symbols and state representatives.

Make leave, not war. Intertextual references in the British press coverage of Brexit

In the so-called Brexit referendum which took place on 23 June 2016, a slim majority of British citizens voted in favour of the United Kingdom leaving the EU. Following this decision, the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020. On both occasions, British newspapers responded with a series of articles and front pages where they elaborated on various arguments for and against Brexit and declared sides in the Brexit campaign. The following study, which focuses on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, is based on Brexit-related front pages and articles from print and online editions of British newspapers published in both June 2016 and late January/early February 2020. The analysed periodicals represent diverging viewpoints: some argued against Brexit, whereas others backed the Leave campaign. The main points of interest are the intertextual techniques implied in the analysed media texts, ranging from direct quotation to (visual) allusion. They are viewed and discussed as means of (1) revealing the stance of the analysed newspapers; (2) extending the meaning of a given text; (3) attracting attention; and, last but not least, (4) “infotainment”, i.e. involving and entertaining the readership. The conducted analysis proves visual allusions based on British and European national symbols as well as structural allusions to films, songs and works of literature, proverbs and fixed phrases to be a widely applied journalistic strategy in the British media coverage of Brexit. Carefully targeted by producers of media and appropriately decoded by the readership not only do they fulfil a meaning-making and evaluative function but first and foremost provide entertainment, enhance the attractiveness and thus maintain and/or increase the circulation of the newspaper in question.

Struggles for Self-Determination

Katanga, Rhodesia, Transkei and Bophuthatswana: four African countries that, though existing in a literal sense, were, in each case, considered by the international community to be a component part of a larger sovereign state through which all official communications and interactions were still conducted. This book is concerned with the intertwined histories of these four right-wing secessionist states in Southern Africa as they fought for but ultimately failed to win sovereign recognition. Along the way, Katanga, Rhodesia, Transkei, and Bophuthatswana each invented new national symbols and traditions, created all the trappings of independent statehood, and each proclaimed that their movements were legitimate expressions of national self-determination. Josiah Brownell provides a unique comparison between these states, viewed together as a common reaction to decolonization and the triumph of anticolonial African nationalism. Describing the ideological stakes of their struggles for sovereignty, Brownell explores the international political controversies that their drives for independence initiated inside and outside Africa. By combining their stories, this book draws out the relationships between the emergence of these four pseudo-states and the fragility of the entire postcolonial African state structure.

The ukrainian experience of national identity transformation (On the material “under the wings of big mother” by S. Protsiuk)

This article is devoted to the investigation of Ukrainian national identity transformation, conditioned by the events of the Revolution of Dignity in the novel “Under the Wings of Big Mother” by S. Protsiuk. It was found out that the problem of national identity is the key one on the thematic, problematic, ideological, and figurative levels. The basic categories in the process of the new national identity formation in the novel “Under the Wings of Big Mother” by S. Protsiuk are pain, suffering, sorrow, and fear. The transformation of the national identity is subordinate to the moral and ethical discourse of changes, which were prompted by the revolution. The article serves to analyze political obstacles, mental traps and drawbacks of Ukrainian psychological character that prevented Ukrainians from forming a strong national identity. Changes of Ukrainian national identity is caused by the traumatic experience of Ukraine being a part of USSR, marked by genocide, linguicide, culturicide, Holodomor, and political repressions. The transformation of Ukrainian national identity in the beginning of the 21st century made possible the establishment of the key national identities (identitas): history, language, territory, basic national symbols and codes. It was proved that the modification of the national identity and the awareness of the ethnic value and self-identification are possible on the condition of understanding of mental traps and psychological drawbacks of Ukrainians that impeded the Ukrainian people of forming their identity and world view to the full extent.

Kody kulturowe wykorzystywane w ukraińskiej sztuce zaangażowanej (na przykładzie prac A. Jermołenki i O. Komjachowa)

The socio-political experiences of recent years have contributed to the development of new trends in patriotic and engaged art in Ukraine. The aim of the article is to analyze selected works of two popular Ukrainian graphic artists: Andriy Yermolenko and Oleksandr Komjakhov. The reproductions we use come from Mystets’kyy Barbakan. Trykutnyk 92. Antolohiya (Мистецький Барбакан. Трикутник 92. Антологія), pub-lished in 2015 in Kiev, as well as from the social media, in which the artists are very active. The presented analy-sis combines cultural and literary aspects. We show the interactions between the national symbols used and ref-erences to texts of culture important for Ukrainians, and at the same time the attempts to modernize them and a combine in a way that forces verification of the current way of thinking and reworking certain forms of cul-ture anew.

"Heritage painting" in the painting of Kazakhstan. Cultural Memory and Meanings of History

The article is devoted to the study of the works of the leading masters of contemporary art of Kazakhstan K. Azhibekuly and Zh. Musapir. On the basis of the analysis of easel and monumental works of these artists their creative method is designated by analogy with cinematography as «heritage painting». Considering a painting in the context of the study of the work of cultural memory, two significant concepts of the Kazakh fine arts can be identified – national identity and memory, which are inextricably linked, since the identification awareness is based on a shared system of values and memories. It was defined that one of the most important constants of the works of the selected masters is the desire to strengthen the national symbols, value orientations and identification strategies in the modern situation associated with globalization and the homogenization of ethno-cultural features.

The Performativity of State Non-Recognition in Sports: The Case of Spain over Kosovo

This article focuses on the use of sport by the Spanish Government to perform its non-recognition of Kosovo’s statehood. Our main goal is to analyse the practices and narratives through which Spain’s public authorities have carried out this policy in the sporting arena. Likewise, we set two specific objectives: to examine the administrative measures adopted by the Spanish government when a Kosovan team has participated in an event hosted in Spain; and to describe the policies and discourses regarding the display of Kosovo’s national symbols in these competitions. The study is based on a qualitative approach of five major tournaments that have taken place (or due to) in Spain between 2018 and 2019. The documentation has been mainly gathered through desk-research. The three major data sources have been media press releases, Spanish Government’s communiqués and sporting federation’s statements. We underline that the policies adopted by the Spanish authorities respond to a systematic strategy to give no room for a potential understanding of Kosovo as a sovereign state. Likewise, we highlight that Madrid’s attitude towards the Balkan country must be understood keeping in mind its own internal politics, specifically the nationalist claims from Catalonia and the Basque Country.