The meeting of the first Floral Games of 1859
During the meeting of the first Floral Games in 1859, Antoni de Bofarull accused Víctor Balaguer of writing in two languages, Catalan and Spanish. This accusation provokes an energetic reaction from Balaguer, who responds with aggressive epithets. Manuel Milà and Fontanals try to calm the situation, but with little success. This scene is described in Alfred Bosch’s historical essay, ‘Make way!’
The book ‘Obreu pas!’ by Alfred Bosch
In his book ‘Obriu pas!’, Alfred Bosch reconstructs the history of Catalans in the modern era. The author warns that he has used creativity in his narration because he considers that the salvation of the Catalan language deserves this freedom. Nevertheless, Bosch omits some characters present at the meeting of the Jocs Florales of 1859. He highlights the position of Milà and Fontanals in favor of participation in Catalan and the presence of poems in Spanish by Balaguer and Cortada. Bofarull cannot accuse Balaguer of ‘bigamy’ since Balaguer had not written in Catalan and Bofarull had written in both languages.
Linguistic disputes
In ‘Obriu pas!’, Bosch narrates the disputes and reasons of Catalan linguists from 1857 to 1936. The confrontation between the supporters of -as and -es in the spelling of plurals is highlighted, known as the war of the ‘asas’ and the ‘enzes’. Disputes between Fabra and other linguists such as Alcover and Matheu are also mentioned. Bosch narrates these stories with agility, clarity and a touch of humor.
The figure of Pompeu Fabra
Bosch highlights the figure of Pompeu Fabra, who with linguistic wisdom and discretion, managed to put aside the most acidic disputes between Catalan linguists. Bosch calls this peace ‘the Pax fabriana’. However, Bosch suggests that there is enough material for a second part of the book, which could include Francesc de Borja Moll’s conference in Barcelona in the 1950s and the dissensions between supporters of ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ Catalan ‘ during the last decades of the 20th century.