A Sense of Catalunya: A Trip to Vic

Gothic cloister, Vic cathedral

Two weeks before Christmas we took a two-hour train journey to the mountainous Catalan interior to visit the town of Vic. The purpose of the trip was to see els pastorets, a traditional Catalan nativity play we could have seen in any town but this one was a bit unusual. It was put on by the 'Linguistic Pairs' project of the Centers for Linguistic Normalization, a program active in many Catalan towns in which volunteers who speak Catalan and others who are learning Catalan are paired up for weekly practice and 'intercultural' exchange.

Ninth century Moorish capital, crypt of Vic cathedral

Thus these Pastorets were enacted by an international cast, the program notes reflecting strong representation not only from Cataluyna but also from Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and North Africa. The sight of Africans dressed as traditional Catalan peasants including the red barretina and Muslims representing members of the nativity of Jesus seemed deliberately calculated to decenter assumptions about Catalan identity.

The play followed the traditional formula of three acts. First, the nativity of Jesus, second, the battle between good and evil personified by demons and angels (always a crowd pleaser), and finally, the shepherds (pastorets) on the mountain. The dialogue however was adapted to current realities include a humorous yet pointed discourse on language politics by the dimoni de la llengua.

The pastorets are yet another cultural form in which Catalans take religion into their own hands and use traditional idioms to engage current social issues.

And while we were in Vic we took a walk around the town's medieval and early modern center jostling with the throngs of holiday shoppers, enjoying the now familiar Catalan urban sights of historic buildings, construction sites, anti-fascist graffiti and holiday lights.