By Joan Esculies
Published in Cultural and Social History, January 2026.
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Abstract

The article explains how Catalan nationalism and, specifically, separatism, used a patriotic play, Jordi Erín, set in Ireland and focused on Daniel O’Connell, to establish a parallel between the two nationalist movements and promote the demand for autonomy in Catalonia in the first quarter of the twentieth century. The research is a case study of political and cultural transfers between nationalisms. At the same time, it explains how the parallel established with another national movement can be adapted to political convenience. In this sense, Catalan nationalism used Josep Burgas’ play at two different times, before and after the First World War. On the first occasion, nationalists used it to ask for unity within the Catalanist movement and, on the second, to oppose the civil government of Barcelona.