Tension in translation: Spain’s and Catalonia’s discourse on independence

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the aftermath of the 2010 legal and political crisis surrounding the status of Catalonia within Spain, the Catalan pro-independence civil society undertook an extensive campaign during which they produced, translated and distributed many documents in favor of independence. The aim of this campaign was to make the international community, especially the European Union, aware of the Catalan independence cause and ultimately to garner support from outside Catalonia and Spain. Our study aims to understand the way pro-independence discourse in translation depicts the crisis at large, and more specifically the relationship between Catalonia and Spain in the early stages of the crisis. To this end, we conducted a critical discourse analysis using Chilton and Schäffner’s strategic functions, drawing on three books produced, translated and distributed between 2010 and 2014 and that deal primarily with the independence of this autonomous community of Spain.