The linguistic norm in Northern Catalonia and community members' attitude towards their own language

Summary: Standard Catalan is based on the Central dialect and, specifically, on Barcelona speech. However, there are standard variants for all dialects, except for the Northern one. Furthermore, the sociolinguistic situation in Northern Catalan differs from that in other Catalan-speaking territories in that the language has almost disappeared. Some cultural activists are still trying to recover the Catalan language by using it in as many situations as possible. The objective of this article is to analyse the variety of Catalan – standard or dialectal forms – used in literature, the media, and education and what this usage demonstrates about Northern Catalans’ attitudes towards their own language. Keywords: Northern Catalan, standard Catalan, sociolinguistics, language attitude

Rerouting Choreography: dance and culture policies in Catalonia between 1975 and 2000

With the death of General Franco in 1975 and the restoration of democracy, Spain entered a new historical stage and thus opened a newchapter for the performing arts. The constitution of 1978 recognized culture as a right of all citizens and declared that the State was to guarantee their access to it in an equal manner (art. 44.1). Thus from 1978 on the performing arts, along with dance, became a matter of Statepolicy and a series of actions were started by different institutions, bodies and levels of the central government and regional and municipaladministrations to favour the creation, dissemination and training of dance.This paper will present the paradigm where dance found itself in 1975 and analyze the policies that were applied in Catalonia between 1975 and 2000 in terms of dance production, exhibition, dissemination and training. It will draw the map and the new paradigm arisen after the first 25 years of democracy with regards to creation (formats and trends), exhibition,dissemination and training, and will analyse the context. The history of 20th century Spain has been marked by political discontinuity: a civil war, forty years of dictatorship and a democracy period. This discontinuity has influenced and affected the development of choreographic culture in each of the levels of creation, its social rooting, the opening of training centres,traditions and styles as well as its research and dissemination as cultural heritage

Defining the effect of service quality measurement on service design procedures: mixed methods analysis of four performing arts festivals in Catalonia, Spain

Evidence suggests that customer satisfaction relates directly to engagement, loyalty, and wordof- mouth. Moreover, a growing body of literature in the cultural tourism sector recognises the importance of guaranteeing high service quality standards. Consequently, extensive research has been carried out on service quality measurement techniques, generating a prominent debate around the appropriateness of the tools used to gather and standardise scores. Most studies focused on implementing post-service surveys resulting in detailed statistical reports. However, such approaches have failed to critically analyse their outcomes by contrasting them with an insight into the perception that organisations’ managers and employees hold towards the features questioned to the audience. Few published studies have addressed service quality management through a mixed-methods methodology that include managers, employees, and customers. Furthermore, there has been no detailed investigation on how the customer satisfaction scores obtained are applied in strategic management decisions. To address such gap of knowledge, this investigation aimed to define a conceptual model that explains the relationship between service design, service delivery, and service quality measurement in the setting of cultural events. The central thesis of this paper is that customer satisfaction measurements should be used as input data frames for service design procedures. This study used a mixed-methods approach to analyse four performing arts festivals in Catalonia, Spain. First, the research implemented a qualitative analysis from a constructivist-interpretive logic, complementing a post-positivism stance. Data for this investigation were collected using semistructured interviews of 43 items. The study registered 24 professionals from 4 cultural organisations following a purposeful sampling. There were no significant differences in the notion of service delivery among employees. Moreover, they expressed similar apprehensions about communication, environment, effectiveness, and customisation features. Secondly, the study applied quantitative analysis to online surveys based on our proposed Performing Arts Festival Model. The questionnaires were composed of 34 items; in total, 208 festival attendants completed them successfully. Statistical tests revealed an influence of sociodemographic variables on attributes´ scores. Similarly, the tests correlated attributes´ scores and overall customer satisfaction. Finally, results displayed a correlation between overall customer satisfaction and loyalty. We could conclusively establish that service quality measures must be used as input data frames for service design procedures to improve customer experience in service delivery touchpoints. The main implication of these results in the field is that the event management process should be cyclical and requires to connect all stages i.e., pre-service, inservice, post-service, and improvement. Correspondingly, every stakeholder must be actively involved with a clearly defined role. Results from this research are limited to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in charge of cultural events celebrated annually. Future research in this area should employ digital tools that allow for a close observance and precise measurement of interactions during service delivery encounters.La satisfacció del consumidor està directament relacionada amb el seu compromís, la seva lleialtat i recomanació. Encara més, la literatura acadèmica sobre turisme cultural reconeix la importància de garantir alts estàndards en la qualitat del servei. En conseqüència, s'han dut a terme recerques extenses sobre les tècniques de mesura de la qualitat del servei, generant un debat prominent sobre la idoneïtat de les eines utilitzades per a recol·lectar i estandarditzar els indicadors. La major part d'estudis s'han enfocat a implementar enquestes posteriors al servei, generant informes estadístics detallats. No obstant això, aquests enfocaments han omès elaborar una anàlisi crítica dels resultats numèrics que els contrastés amb la percepció que tenen gestors i empleats sobre els temes preguntats als consumidors. Pocs estudis publicats han abordat la gestió de la qualitat del servei a través d'una metodologia mixta que inclogués gestors, empleats i consumidors. No hi ha hagut una recerca detallada sobre la manera en que els resultats de satisfacció del consumidor són utilitzats per prendre decisions de gestió estratègica. Per a abordar la bretxa de coneixement, la nostra recerca s'orienta a definir un model conceptual que expliqui la relació entre disseny de servei, prestació de servei i mesura de la qualitat del servei al voltant d'esdeveniments culturals. L'argument central d'aquest text és que les mesures de satisfacció dels consumidors han de ser utilitzades com un marc de dades d'entrada per als procediments de disseny de servei. Aquest estudi va fer servir un enfocament de mètodes mixtos per a analitzar quatre festivals d'arts escèniques a Catalunya, Espanya. Primer, la recerca va implementar una anàlisi qualitativa des d'una lògica constructivistainterpretativa, complementant una posició postpositivista. Les dades per a aquesta recerca van ser recol·lectades fent servir entrevistes semiestructurades amb 43 ítems. L'estudi va registrar 24 professionals de 4 organitzacions culturals seguint un mostreig intencional. No es van trobar diferències significatives en la noció de prestació de servei entre els empleats. A més, van expressar preocupacions similars sobre comunicació, entorn, efectivitat i funcions de personalització. En segon lloc, aquest estudi va aplicar una anàlisi quantitativa a enquestes digitals basades en la nostra proposta de Model per a Festivals d'Arts Escèniques. El qüestionari estava format per 34 ítems; en total, 208 assistents als festivals ho van respondre exitosament. Les proves estadístiques van revelar una influència de les variables sociodemogràfiques en les puntuacions dels atributs. De manera similar, les proves van correlacionar les puntuacions dels atributs amb la satisfacció general del client. Finalment, els resultats van presentar una correlació entre la satisfacció general del client i la seva lleialtat. Podem establir de manera concloent que les mesures de qualitat de servei han de ser utilitzades com un marc de dades d'entrada per als procediments de disseny de servei, millorant l'experiència del consumidor en els punts de contacte durant la prestació de servei. La implicació principal d'aquests resultats en el sector és que el procés de gestió d'esdeveniments necessita ser cíclic i requereix connectar totes les etapes i.e., pre-servei, en-servei, post-servei i millora. Corresponentment, cada agent interessat ha d'estar implicat activament i tenir un paper definit. Els resultats d'aquesta recerca estan limitats a Petites i Mitjanes Empreses (PIMEs) encarregades d'esdeveniments culturals celebrats anualment. Futures recerques en aquesta àrea haurien d'emprar eines digitals que permetin una observació detallada i una mesura precisa de les interaccions durant les trobades de prestació de servei

Multiple exposures: moving bodies and choreographies of protest in contemporary Catalonia

This article explores the significance of the moving body in contemporary Catalan culture, specifically by reading cross-disciplinary reframing of the dancer’s body in relation to the increasing deployment and visibility of choreographies of protest (Foster 2003) in urban social movements, demonstrations and public assemblies such as those galvanized by the pro-Independence movement. After careful consideration of the relationship between dance and genealogies of protest in Catalonia, the article will outline the different ways in which contemporary dance has interacted with contemporary Catalan theatre culture, before going on to focus more closely on disentangling the different aesthetic, political, and ethical rationale and effects of the recent mobilization of the dancer’s body beyond the spaces of the contemporary dance circuit. Reflecting on how the dancer’s body functions in three recent (2014–2017) shows witnessed in Barcelona—Àlex Rigola’s adaptation of Joan Sales’s novel Incerta Glòria (Uncertain Glory) at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, Carme Portaceli’s staging of the testimonies of women victims of Francoist violence during and after the Spanish Civil War, as recovered and reframed by feminist historian Carme Domingo, in Només són dones/Solo son mujeres (They’re only Women) at the Josep Maria de Sagarra theatre in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, and Sol Picó’s collaborative, processual work with women dancers and musicians of diverse cultural origins in WW–We Women at the Mercat de les Flors—I aim to articulate how they function as choreographies of protest: plotting the different modes of subjectivation enacted and their relationship to narratives of individual, social and cultural vulnerability, precarity and trauma in the contemporary Catalan space

Traduccions catalanes de literatura neogrega (1881-2003)

La literatura neogrega a casa nostra és coneguda fonamentalment gràcies a una sèrie de traduccions que per la seva importància i per la dels torsimanys que les van fer possibles han ocupat un lloc preeminent dins de la història de la traducció catalana. El nombre d'obres traduïdes i la dilatada història en què s'han anat originant conformen un corpus prou important per a la seva divulgació. L'objectiu d'aquest article és presentar cronològicament les traduccions neogregues al català des dels orígens i, al mateix temps, els traductors i les circumstàncies socioculturals que les han fet possibles a partir dels conceptes de reescriptura i manipulació, nocions clau per a entendre les transformacions que les traduccions poden exercir en la creació del cànon literari d'una llengua estrangera.In Catalonia, Modern Greek Literature is basically known thanks to a series of translations which, because of their importance and that of the translators who made them possible, have become preeminent within the general history of translation in the Catalan countries. Just as well, we think that the number of works that have been translated in the long span of time originating them makes up an important corpus, relevant enough for its circulation. Here we present, chronologically, all modern Greek works translated into Catalan, as well as the translators and the sociocultural backgrounds that made them possible. We also analyse this phenomenon from the conceptual framework of rewriting and manipulation, which is key for understanding the transforming power of translations and how they end up making the literary canon of a particular foreign language

Casa de la premsa, història i arquitectura

L’objectiu d’aquest treball és la realització d’un aixecament arquitectònic. Alhora, s’estudiarà també l’arquitecte, els sistemes constructius aplicats i sobretot l’historia ja que l’edifici era un dels pavellons de l’exposició de 1929 a Barcelona. El Palau de la Premsa o antiga Prefactura de la guàrdia urbana, és un edifici de l'avinguda Rius i Taulet de Barcelona, que va servir per acollir els professionals dels mitjans de comunicació durant l'Exposició Internacional de 1929. De titularitat municipal, va ser projectat el 1926 per l'arquitecte Pere Domènech i Roura, fill de Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Consta catalogat al patrimoni Arquitectònic de la ciutat BCIL protecció B: Bé cultural d'interès local L’aixecament arquitectònic, va ser el tipus de proposta del PFC que més hem va atraure de totes les possibles opcions. Volia fer un edifici característic i singular amb història. Després de buscar edificis entre les meves possibilitats, vaig trobar la casa de la premsa, edifici inclòs al catàleg de Patrimoni Arquitectònic de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona. A simple vista hem va impactar ja que les façanes recollien gran riquesa arquitectònica i visual barrejant diferents estils (neoromànic, neogòtic i neomudèjar) amb diversos elements característics del modernisme com la totxana a cara vista, la ceràmica o el ferro. Disposa d’una superfície aproximada de 2.000 m2 (600m2 de sòl) repartits entre un soterrani i tres plantes, l’ús original de l’edifici i l’arquitecte Pere Domènech, hem vam fer reafirmar l’elecció. Dintre del marc personal, aquest projecte es podria explicar en dues fases donat que la confecció ha estat realitzada d’aquesta manera. Vaig agafar el projecte amb ganes, prenent les dades in situ, agafant la informació i realitzant el grafisme de les plantes i alçats. Per raons personals va haver una parada d’uns anys i es va reprendre el projecte realitzant les seccions i tota la confecció per aquesta entrega. Cal indicar que no només ha estat important reflectir en els plànols les mides de l’edifici sinó dotar-lo del caràcter que aquest ens transmet. Per a fer-ho, ha estat bàsic entendre l’edifici, la seva construcció, evolució i entorn. Per aquest motiu, a part de la confecció gràfica, es vol detallar la repercussió de l’exposició de 1929, un acostament a una part molt important de l’historia de la nostre ciutat, així com la biografia de l’arquitecte amb la finalitat d’acabar d’entendre aquesta obra

Modernist architecture in Barcelona reveals a new trace fossil from the Miocene of Montjuïc (NE Spain)

A new ichnotaxon, Lapillitubus montjuichensis n. i gen. n. isp., is described from the middle Miocene (Serravallian) of Montjuïc mountain (Barcelona, northeastern Spain). This ichnotaxon consists of a horizontal to vertical, cylindrical burrow with an agglutinated lining exclusively composed of lithoclasts. Lapillitubus montjuichensis is interpreted as the result of the burrowing activity of a deposit- or suspension-feeding annelid worm. This new ichnotaxon extends the record of the informal group known as clast-armored or agglutinated trace fossils. In addition, since part of its type material is located in the blocks that make up the façades of several modernist buildings in the city of Barcelona, this new ichnotaxon highlights the importance of fossils in urban settings for those cases in which natural outcrops are reduced, restricted or even missing

Modernist architecture in Barcelona reveals a new trace fossil from the Miocene of Montjuïc (NE Spain)

A new ichnotaxon, Lapillitubus montjuichensis n. i gen. n. isp., is described from the middle Miocene (Serravallian) of Montjuïc mountain (Barcelona, northeastern Spain). This ichnotaxon consists of a horizontal to vertical, cylindrical burrow with an agglutinated lining exclusively composed of lithoclasts. Lapillitubus montjuichensis is interpreted as the result of the burrowing activity of a deposit- or suspension-feeding annelid worm. This new ichnotaxon extends the record of the informal group known as clast-armored or agglutinated trace fossils. In addition, since part of its type material is located in the blocks that make up the façades of several modernist buildings in the city of Barcelona, this new ichnotaxon highlights the importance of fossils in urban settings for those cases in which natural outcrops are reduced, restricted or even missing

An OSA-CBM Multi-Agent Vehicle Health Management Architecture for Self-Health Awareness

Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) systems on modern aircraft or autonomous unmanned vehicles should provide diagnostic and prognostic capabilities with lower support costs and amount of data traffic. When mission objectives cannot be reached for the control system since unanticipated operating conditions exists, namely a failure, the mission plan must be revised or altered according to the health monitoring system assessment. Representation of the system health knowledge must facilitate interaction with the control system to compensate for subsystem degradation. Several generic architectures have been described for the implementation of health monitoring systems and their integration with the control system. In particular, the Open System Architecture - Condition-Based Maintenance (OSA-CBM) approach is considered in this work as initial point, and it is evolved in the sense of self-health awareness, by defining an appropriated multi-agent smart health management architecture based on smart device models, communication agents and a distributed control system. A case study about its application on fuel-cells as auxiliary power generator will demonstrate the integration.Postprint (published version