The patriotic discourse

If industrial paternalism was to be the tool for transforming the labor discourse from one of class oppression and conflict to that of natural hierarchy and familial love-- the discourse of patriotism would do something similar for the imperial discourse. Spain would

111 As quoted in Kucich and Sadoff. (2006). Victorian Afterlife: Postmodern Culture Rewrites the Nineteenth Century. p. 155.

131 not be seen as an economic enterprise founded on Colonial theft and slavery, but as a noble and natural “fatherland.”

The term “patriot” or patriota comes from the Latin word for "countryman", and previously from the Greek patriōtēs, meaning 'from the same country', and patris, meaning 'fatherland'. Like the paternalistic discourse, the patriotic discourse would be incarnated through the production of the nation as a protagonist, and the citizens would be disciplined in a new way of relating to it-- with love and devotion-- as well as new ways of relating to each other-- with a sense of alliance, as citizens sharing the same values. This discourse would be produced in a variety of ways through the invention of national ethnicity, culture and history.¹¹² These would legitimize the economic objects of the imperialist discourse, including Colònial and protectionist tactics which required a strong sense of imagined national community in order to reify resilient economic frontiers.¹¹³

Patriotic discourse

Stakeholders Objects Concepts Objectives Values

The nation, its people

National territory Ethnic, cultural, historical

membership

National community

The nation

In the historical documentation of the Vapor Vell, the patriotic discourse appears in a number of different ways. Already, in the biography of Joan Güell, we have seen how he is portrayed as a patriot who, “for nothing in the world, neither before nor after, would have betrayed his country.” It is important to note that this country being spoken of is Spain, not Catalonia, and that Argullol published this book in Spanish, even going so far as to refer to Joan Güell as Juan Güell, the Castilian equivalent of the name. For his part, Joan, or Juan, cultivated a warm relationship with the Spanish monarchy, who would visit each summer in his Summer house in Comillas.

It was within the context of Spanish nation-building that the development of a hegemonic patriotic discourse of Catalonia would begin in earnest. This would be cultivated during the Renaixença, or the “Catalan renaissance” starting around the 1840s and transition into a project of political Catalanism starting around the 1880’s when it became apparent that

112 What Hobsbawm refers to as the “invention” of tradition actually involves a whole range of activities including study, interpretation, education, display, etc. The concept of musealization is useful here in order to describe how, once a tradition is invented, it can become established as such in a given society. (See Hobsbawm, Eric & Ranger, Terence. (1983). The invention of tradition.)

113 Benedict Anderson’s concept of imagined community describes nationalism as a socially constructed community, imagined by the people who perceive themselves to be a part of that group. (See Anderson, Benedict. (1983). Imagined Communities.)

132 the Catalan industrial bourgeoisie would not otherwise be able to succeed in securing the state apparatus or identifying its interests with those of the whole of Spain. It was at this point that, as Pierre Vilar writes, “Catalonia, this little ‘fatherland’, finally became the 'national' focal point.”¹¹⁴

Industrialization was at the heart of the Catalan national project, and this would be reflected in the expression this patriotic discourse would take. By 1888, the inauguration of the monument to Joan Güell would be imbued with Catalanista significance through the use of the Catalan language. According to one of Joan’s grandsons: “Although I was a child I remember it well. The great Sagasta - president at the time of the Council of Ministers - attended the ceremony and even pronounced the ritual words of the occasions in Catalan.”¹¹⁵ In a report of the ceremony published at that time, one of Joan’s friends would make a special point to mention that “Never in our frequent and intimate conversations did we use any language but Catalan, and that given that he had lived many years in America.”¹¹⁶ This emphasis on reasserting the Catalan language after centuries of decline with respect to Castilian Spanish was a central pillar of the Catalanists cultural project, for example through the founding of Catalan language publications such as the Ilustració Catalana and the organization of literary contests like the Jocs Florals.¹¹⁷

So, despite being characterized as a Spanish patriot in his biography written in 1879, less than ten years later Joan Güell, and his protectionist economics in particular, would become a fixture of Catalanista iconography.¹¹⁸ This apparent contradiction was characteristic of the nationalist/industrialist accord of the conservative Catalan bourgeois-- that nationalists could propagate the Catalan identity provided that it coincided with the industrialists’ pro-Spanish stance, in order to secure access to the markets and protectionism

114 Vilar, Pierre. (1980). Spain and Catalonia. Review (Fernand Braudel Center). Vol. 3, No. 4, pp.

527-577. (551). This is a translation of part of Vilar’s classic book on the topic of Catalan nationalism: Catalonia in modern Spain. Research on the economic foundations of national structures. Published in 1962.

115 Farràs, Andreu. (2016). Els Güell. La historia d’una de les famílies més influents a Catalunya els últims dos segles. Edicions 62.

116Romaní, Francesc. (1888). “Monumento a Güell.” Espana Regional. Cited in: Farràs, Andreu.

(2016). Els Güell. La història d’una de les famílies més influents a Catalunya els últims dos segles. Edicions 62.

117 One of the primary projects of Catalan nationalism was the effort to reassert the Catalan language after centuries of decline with respect to Castilian Spanish. The founding of Catalan language publications such as the Ilustracio Catalana and the organization of literary contests like the Jocs Florals went a long way in developing a Catalan tradition of high literature. In this competition, the winner of the second and third prizes would receive gold and silver, representing nation and faith- but the highest honor was a simple rose- representing love. The idea here was that the rose would perish, but the poem which had earned it would endure forever. See, for example, Hughes, Robert. (2003). Barcelona, the great enchantress.

118 As an example of Joan’s protectionist discourse, see: “Consideraciones sobre algunos puntos económicos y administrativos” (1852). There, he writes: “Es ciertamente una calamidad para España que su capital, a diferencia de Londres y París, sea completamente improductiva: allí no hay industria, ni comercio ni aun puede decirse agricultura; de aquí se deriva naturalmente que sea el país más a propósito para aceptar las doctrinas del libre-cambio, de sí ya seductoras, y además sus partidarios, convencidos del interés que tienen en ganar la opinión del centro del Gobierno, han sabido cubrirlas con el manto del interés de la renta, halagando así a las clases de que generalmente se compone aquella población.”

133 of the Spanish empire.¹¹⁹ Essentially this was a federalist platform. It would be the loss of the Spanish colonies of Cuba and the Philippines in 1898 that would trigger a spike in political Catalanism and the founding of the first modern political party in Catalonia, the Lliga Regionalista, in 1901.

The quintessential example of this nationalist/industrialist accord can be found in the figure of Joan’s son, Eusebi Güell.¹²⁰After taking over management of his father’s businesses he would also take a direct role in politics and in the construction of Catalan culture. In 1882, he joined the Centre Català, an institution which sought to unite Catalonians in the defense of their national economic and political interests.¹²¹ In 1885, he would author a portion of the Memorial de Greuges: Memory in defense of the moral and material interests of Catalunya, which was presented to king Alfons XII as perhaps the first manifesto of political Catalanism.¹²² Notably, this platform would include:

● A declaration of Spanish loyalty,

● A vindication of the Catalan language which had been removed from schools, public contracts, and courts,

119 See, for example, work of Josep Fradera and Joan Marfany: Fradera, Josep M. (2003). Cultura nacional en una sociedad dividida: Cataluña, 1838-1868. Madrid: Marcial Pons. Fradera, Josep M. (2009). La Pàtria dels catalans : història, política, cultura. Barcelona: La Magrana. Marfany, Joan Lluís. (1995). La Cultura del catalanisme: el nacionalisme català en els seus inicis. Barcelona: Empúries. Marfany, Joan Lluís. (2017).

Nacionalisme espanyol i catalanitat (1789-1859): cap a una revisió de la Renaixença. Barcelona: Edicions 62.

120 Born in 1846, Eusebi Güell spent his early years studying law, social science, political economy, physics and mechanical chemistry in Barcelona and Paris. He was twenty six when his father died, leaving him in charge of his business affairs, including the management of the Vapor Vell. He would also participate as a shareholder of a variety of companies# (most of them linked to his father-in-law, Antonio López,) founding Asland (the first Portland cement company in Spain), and even publishing a book on microbiological theory:

Immunity by Leucomaines. 1886. A reprint of this work has been published in 2010 by Nabu Press, in English.

(He was on the board of: Crèdit Mercantil, Banco Hispano-Colonial, Compañía de Tabacos de Filipinas, Compañía Transatlántica, Ferrocarrils de Barcelona a França, La Previsión, companyia d’assegurances, Mines del Rif, Sociedad Hullera y Carbonera Española, Banca López Bru, etc.)

121 In 1887, the Centre would split into more progressive and conservative halves. Eusebi would join the latter, renamed as the Lliga de Catalunya. A document titled “General Catalanist Economic Criteria,” written by Ferran Alsina, the technical director of the Vapor Vell, provides a good summary of the economic platform of the conservative industrial class.

122 Eusebi Güell was received as an honored citizen at the return banquet of the Memorial de Greuges.

In the Ilustració Catalana magazine from 1888, this moment is described as follows (See appendix, document 3, p.3): "Prou li costa, segons diuhen, lo decidirse a sortir de casa seva per presentar se 'n publich: l'amor a Catalunya pogué més que sa modestia, y, convençut de qu' era arribada l'hora de parlar, ell que no havia parlat may en publich y que talvolta havia fet lo proposit de no parlarhi may, alsa aquell jorn la veu per dir al Rey, de modo que 'u sentis tota Espanya, que "les aspiracions de Catalunya no son altres que alcancar la vertadera estabilitat en la conservacio de son rich patrimoni de creencies, lleys y costums, tradicions y llengua, recorts y esperances, de tot allo, en fi, que li dona fesomia, caracter y vida propia" y que, si les paraules pe'l Rey pronunciades al contestar a la Comissio que 'n aquell moment s' obsequivava, feyan que Catalunya pogues abrigar la confiansa de tenir en lo Poder Real un apoyo ferm y segur pera la realisacio de ses aspiracions, lo Rey, en cambi, podra tenir la seguritat de trobar en "aquestes forses solides y permanents de cada provincia un apoyo mes fort y mes segur que 'l que puguin oferirle 'ls partits politichs, conconstants com el vent, bellugadissos com les ones y com elles tambe de curta y, efimera existencia."

134

● Complaints about the failures of Spanish government, including legislative instability, lack of strong governance, civil wars, revolution, crisis and continuous pronouncements, as well as the constant threat of free-trade policies,

● Complaints about the attack on Catalan Civil Code, and

● The necessity of protectionism.

Besides his involvement in political Catalanism, Eusebi would promote a patriotic discourse through his patronage of the arts, for example as one of the founders of the Ilustració Catalana as well as his involvement with the Jocs Florals. He would be best known, however, for his pioneering role in bringing the patriotic discourse into the factory through his work with Antoni Gaudí and the Catalan modernist movement.

Gaudí, and the architectural movement he would make famous, is perhaps the section of this thesis which requires the least introduction. The name Gaudí, has become a central pillar of Barcelona’s city-branding since the Olympics in 1992-- and there is, perhaps, some basis for this. When I first visited the Sagrada Família, Gaudí’s most ambitious (and still unfinished) masterpiece as a tourist back in 2013 it struck me as the most surprising and unique architectural objects I have ever seen. Modernisme is the Catalan take on art nouveau architecture which flourished in Catalonia at the turn of the 20th century. Perhaps the first example of the style is the Castell dels Tres Dragons (“Castle of the three dragons”) built for the 1888 universal exhibition in Barcelona’s Ciutadella Park. One of the characteristics of this style was its price tag. Much of the construction was artisanal and had to be carried out by specialized local craftsmen. Not only would many of these buildings be built with capital acquired from industry, many factories themselves would be built in this style. Eusebi Güell’s relationship with the architect Antoni Gaudí is the prime example of this dynamic.¹²³ Eusebi financed the Palau Güell (1886), Parc Güell (1900), “El Capricho”, in Comillas (1883), and the crypt of Colònia Güell (1908), all of which were built by Gaudí at exorbitant cost.

The modernist movement materialized the identity and values of the bourgeoisie class through aesthetic forms inspired by nature, highlighting Catalan craftsmanship. In this, the architectural movement shared a pedagogical axes characteristic of the Romantic nationalist movement in general-- the idealization of rural life as the model of a harmonious world, free from any social conflict. It was an art form completely alien to the realities of urban working life-- as though, through the evocation of a harmonious agrarian past, one could conjure up a balm for the tensions of the present.

Whereas the Vapor Vell had been built as a copy of an English factory in 1844, by the end of the 19th century factories like the Colònia Güell would be built according to a new strategy. Not only were they intended to maximize technical efficiency, but the factory itself,

123 Güell Malet, Carmen. (2007). Gaudí y el conde de Güell. El artista y el mecenas. Madrid: mr Ediciones, p. 81.

135 through its architectural discourse, would take a hegemonic role in promoting the powerful idea that Catalan culture was a culture of industrial work. They would do this by becoming, themselves, genuine works of art-- monuments to Catalonia.