The lecture theatres of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan are today and tomorrow the venue for the symposium Language, Literature and Nation, in which language and literature specialists from universities all over Spain will take part, such as Jordi Ginebra (Rovira i Virgili University), Francesc Feliu (University of Girona), Jon Kortazar (Euskal Herriko Unibersitatea), Miquel Nicolàs (University of Valencia), Sebastià Moranta (Philipps-Universität Marburg) and Alfons Gregori, Doctor of Comparative Literature, and Head of Catalan Studies at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan.
Exhibition Pompeu Fabra, a Complete Language
For two weeks, to coincide with the symposium Language, Literature and Nation, the Network of Catalan Studies Abroad is celebrating Fabra Year, taking the exhibition Pompeu Fabra, a Complete Language to the Colegium Novum of the Mickiewicz in Poznan. During the next fortnight the Polish public will be able to discover the figure of Pompeu Fabra through this exhibition, created by the General Directorate of Linguistic Policy.
The exhibition Pompeu Fabra, a Complete Language presents Pompeu Fabra’s contribution to the Catalan language, the great popularity of his figure and work all over Catalonia and the boost for the language that his work represented. It is a travelling exhibition created by the General Directorate of Linguistic Policy and managed by the territorial services of the Catalan Ministry of Culture and the Consortium for Linguistic Normalization. Jordi Ginebra, the curator of Fabra Year, is responsible for the content of this exhibition. This itinerancy is one of the activities in the internationalization programme during Fabra Year, of which the IRL is in charge.
The Catalan Studies Centre in Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan
In April Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (Poland) unveiled a Catalan Studies Centre, which aims to promote and consolidate research in Catalan studies in this university, and also in the other Polish universities that offer courses in Catalan language and culture.
This centre was created through the Institut Ramon Llull and it has been made possible thanks to the contribution of the Balearic Islands to the consortium. The Minister for Culture, Participation and Sport of the government of the Balearic Islands, Fanny Tur, was present at the inaugural events. During the two inaugural days various activities were programmed, including the theatrical performance of La Plaça del Diamant and the symposium Great Writers of the 20th Century in Catalan.
Professorships and the research centre for Catalan studies abroad
Professorships and the research centres for Catalan studies abroad are the instrument for formalizing and materializing the long-term collaboration between universities and Catalan institutions, with wide-ranging objectives in teaching, research and the transfer of knowledge. At the same time they facilitate the study and in-depth research of subjects related to Catalan studies in a broad sense, from an innovative and interdisciplinary perspective.
The Institut Ramon Llull promotes Catalan language and culture studies in universities abroad, with which it enters into agreements for the introduction or consolidation of Catalan studies and gives support to universities, teachers and students through various programmes and lines of support. More than 150 universities all over the world teach Catalan; in Poland, besides the UAM in Poznan, it is taught at the universities of Krakow, Wrocław) and Warsaw.
Catalan language and culture in Poland
In recent years, Polish readers have responded very positively to translations of Catalan authors such as Blanca Busquets, Albert Sánchez-Piñol and Jaume Cabré. Jaume Cabré’s novel Jo confesso, whose translation by Anna Sawicka won the 2015 Ramon Llull Prize for Literary Translation, became a bestseller.
Due to this interest, in 2016, the IRL, in collaboration with the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, organized the Literary Translation Seminar in Krakow, whose aim was to promote the training of literary translators from Catalan into Polish. The course was the beginning of the participation of Barcelona and Catalan literature as special guest at the Warsaw Book Fair.
You can consult the complete programme of the symposium Language, Literature and Nation in the attached file.
