Catalonia and the Uzbek SSR

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Catalonia and the Uzbek SSR

• Interpretations of Autonomous

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Presentation Outline

• Brief history of Catalan language and the
  formation of Catalonia
• Brief history of Uzbek language and formation
  of the Uzbek SSR
• Comparison of Catalonian reaction to end of
  Franco regime and Uzbek reaction to fall of USSR
• Present day language situation in Catalonia and
  Uzbekistan

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Catalan language

• Romance language that is a link between French
  and the Iberian languages
• Has been the predominant language in Catalonia
  since the Middle Ages
• Literary tradition dating back as far as that of
  Castilian Spanish
• Renaixença of late 19th century
• In Spain the majority of people speak the central
  dialect based in Barcelona
• Also spoken in Balearic Islands, Valencia, and
  Provençe

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Catalonia in Spain
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Catalonia
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History of Catalonia

• Catalonia had autonomous status until the fall of
  the Second Spanish Republic in 1939
• Became an Autonomous Community once again in 1979
  after the fall of the repressive Franco regime
  and the Constitution of 1978
• Government is the Generalitat which consists of a
  Parliament, President, and Executive Council
• In Catalonia all government officials are
  required to speak both Castilian and Catalan.
• The Generalitat of Catalonia has a lot of power
  within the state, though no international
  representation

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Uzbek Lanugage

• It is a Turkic language, closely related to
  Kazakh and Turkmen and the literary language of
  Chaghatai
• There was once a continuum of dialects spoken
  across Central Asia, but Uzbek was separated and
  enforced as a state language under Soviet Control
• This modern Uzbek was a compilation of the
  dialects closest to the central region near
  Tashkent

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Present Day Uzbekistan
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Formation of the Uzbek SSR

• When the Soviets came into power, there existed a
  Pan-Turkic Muslim society across Central Asia
  known as Turkestan
• Many of these people were nomads, while others
  were settled in cities
• The continuum of dialects of Turkic languages was
  sometimes mutually intelligible, sometimes not
• Soviets played a divide and conquer strategy to
  take power away from these people ? they rewarded
  the Uzbek parties political loyalties, drew
  Kazakh borders to punish their Turkic culture,
  and separated Tatar elites from Turkestan

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Why form an autonomous region anyway?

• In Catalonia an autonomous region was the organic
  result of a group of people with their own
  language and culture who wanted to assert their
  independence from the rest of Spain
• The Uzbek SSR was the opposite. The Soviets
  created a cultural history for a previously
  non-existent cultural group for the sole purpose
  of stripping them of their power. They did not
  have a unified language or culture until the
  Soviets created one.

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What happens when a repressive leader is no more?

• Catalan culture survived the Franco regime with
  minimal battle wounds. As soon as possible an
  Autonomous Community was formed and a Catalan
  Generalitat put in place
• In 1977 100 of children were taught in
  Castilian. Due to new immersion style teaching
  techniques, almost a third of this was Catalan by
  1987, though not all of these students were
  necessarily native Catalan speakers.

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What happens when a repressive leader is no more?

• Although the Soviets created Uzbek language and
  cultural history, it has survived past the Soviet
  Union.
• Uzbeks unified against the Soviet Union to assert
  their independence.
• Now, many Europeans and Tajiks in Uzbekistan feel
  unsafe due to new and highly enforced monolingual
  Uzbek policies

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Are repressed populations taught to repress?

• From both the examples from Catalonia and
  Uzbekistan it may seem that way
• Catalonia has continued to push the use of
  Catalan, though there has been minimal cultural
  damage to non-Catalan residents
• Uzbekistan today is not very friendly to
  European, especially Russian, influence. The
  nation is, however, only about 15 years old, so
  we can hope they soon see the error of their
  ways.

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• By exalting the Uzbek national subject, the
  state perilously excludes the non-Uzbek others
  living in the republic. The most obvious
  indicator of alienation is the mass emigration
  since the end of the Soviet Union of Russians,
  Ukrainians, Germans, and Jews, who had lived in
  Uzbekistan for several generations. Their flight
  constitutes a brain drain of valuable skill for
  the development of Uzbekistan and results in less
  societal diversity.
• - Morgan Liu, The Perils of Nationalism in
  Independent Uzbekistan

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Works Cited

• Akiner, Shirin. "Uzbekistan Republic of Many
  Tongues." Language Planning in the Soviet Union.
  Ed. Michael Kirkwood. New York St. Martin's
  Press, 1990. 100-121.
• Fierman, William. Language Planning and National
  Development The Uzbek Experience. New York
  Mouton de Gruyter , 1991.
• Liu, Morgan. "The Perils of Nationalism in
  Independent Uzbekistan." Journal of the
  International Institute. International Institute
  of the University of Michigan. 03 Nov. 2005
  lthttp//www.umich.edu/iinet/journal/vol4no2/uzbek
  .htmlgt.
• Smith, Michael G. Language and Power in the
  Creation of the USSR 1917-1953. New York Mouton
  de Gruyter, 1998.
• Marcos-Marin, Francisco A. Conceptos básicos de
  política lingüística para España. Madrid
  Catedrático de Lingüística General, Universidad
  Autónoma, 1994.
• Mateu, Melcion. "The Rise of Catalonian
  Literature." Transcript European Internet Review
  of Books and Writing. Transcript 3. 18 Oct. 2005
  lthttp//www.transcript-review.org/section.cfm?id3
  8lanengt.
• McLean, Renwick. "Catalonia Seeks Status as
  'Nation'." NYTimes.com. The New York Times. 18
  Oct. 2005 lthttp//www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/inter
  national/europe/01spain-brief.html?ex1129867200e
  nf7339ac383508fb3ei5070gt.
• Siguan, Miguel. Multilingual Spain. Amsterdam
  Swets Zeitlinger, 1993.