This book deals with the culture of Catalan resistance to assimilation. It shows how the major feature of this resistance is based on the maintenance of the Catalan language which has always been the Catalan's expression of identity rather than distinctions between 'pure' Catalans and immigrants. This book argues how the Catalans also developed a series of cultural mechanisms to foster identity through intellectual and recreational pursuits, as well as through an emphasis on language.

ALEXANDER ALLAND, Jr., is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Columbia University, US.