Renaixença in the context of Naturalism (arts)

Catalan (català) is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra and the official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community, where it is called Valencian (valencià). It has semi-official status in the Italian municipality of Alghero, and it is spoken in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and in two further areas in eastern Spain: the eastern strip of Aragon and the Carche area in the Region of Murcia. The Catalan-speaking territories are often called the Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries".

The language evolved from Vulgar Latin in the Middle Ages around the eastern Pyrenees. It became the language of the Principality of Catalonia and the kingdoms of Valencia and Mallorca, being present throughout the Mediterranean as the main language of the Crown of Aragon. It was replaced by Spanish as a language of government and literature in the 1700s, but nineteenth century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival, culminating in the early 1900s. With the end of Franco dictatorship (1975) and its repressive measures against the language, Catalan entered a relatively successful process of re-normalization between the 1980s and the 2000s. However, during the 2010s, it experienced signs of decline in social use, diglossia and the re-growth of discrimination cases.

The Rexurdimento (Galician for 'resurgence') was a period in the History of Galicia during the 19th century. Its central feature was the revitalization of the Galician language as a vehicle of social and cultural expression after the so-called séculos escuros ("dark centuries") in which the dominance of Castilian Spanish was nearly complete. The Galician Rexurdimento coincides with the Catalan Renaixença.

Romanticism led to a revival of regionalism in the Iberian Peninsula. Languages besides the official Castilian Spanish were reevaluated. In contrast to the universalizing Age of Enlightenment, a positive value was placed on regional traditions, languages, and dialects. In Galicia, Castilian Spanish had become the language of the cities and of the bourgeoisie, while Galician had become a largely rural language without a live literary tradition. This created some degree of diglossia, with Castilian Spanish dominating literary and business use, and Galician being strictly a language of daily life.

The history of Catalan political nationalism, also referred to as Catalanism (Catalan: catalanisme), traces its origins to the early years of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain following the failure of the federalist system of the short-lived First Spanish Republic. However, its roots extend to the first half of the 19th century, driven by the cultural revival movement known as the Renaixença and opposition to the centralist model of the liberal Spanish state. Historian John H. Elliott notes that the term "Catalanism," previously associated with cultural movements, began to take on significant political meaning during the Revolutionary Sexennium (1868–1874). Specifically, the term "Catalanist" emerged around 1870–1871, used by members of Jove Catalunya [es] and the journal La Renaixensa [es] to signify ambitions beyond mere regionalism. As a political movement, Catalanism solidified in the late 1880s.