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National Theater / National Identity: Els Joglars And The Question Of Cultural Politics In Catalonia, Sharon G. Feldman

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

In June 1996, at a private ceremony held in Barcelona at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Palace of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia), amid the pomp, circumstance, and political rhetoric customarily associated with state occasions, I watched with awe and curiosity as the president of Catalonia Jordi Pujol bestowed the Creu de Sant Jordi, his nation's most coveted medal of honor, upon a distinguished group of men and women whose accomplishments extend from the spheres of art and music to business and athletics. The prestigious Creu was established in 1982, in Pujol's words, "to pay public homage to …