Introduction

This chapter looks at a wide range of language-related issues which arise from the novels under discussion. The majority of the novels which will be discussed were first published between 1975 and 1982. In keeping with Benedict Anderson's comments on the dual uses of language within nationalisms, the chapter explores both novelistic representations of the symbolic content and functions of national languages, and the subtle ways in which novelistic language may express collective history and the national identity. The chapter examines treat national identity as an extremely complex phenomenon of most of the novels. In the specific context of post-Franco Catalonia other linguistic concerns also arise: a reaction against the distortion of identities produced by Francoist meanings concealed within everyday language; the effect of cultural mixing on the national identity, and especially concerning immigration, bilingualism and 'borrowing' from other cultures. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.