Acknowledgements
This work was born out of the meeting of two passions: one for Roussillon, a French region whose origins are inveterately linked to Catalan history and culture – which was my initial area of research in my studies on nationalism. The other, my keen interest in investigating the historical and cultural origins of nationalisms, which brought my attention to the nineteenth century, a period in which the most of the cultural and theoretical bases of nations and nation-states were laid down.
I am highly indebted to Stuart Woolf who first encouraged me to undertake research on national issues and deal with Catalan question in Roussillon.
My sincerest thanks go to Joep Leerssen, Enrique Ucelay-Da Cal and Xosé Manoel Núñez Seixas, for their invaluable insights and suggestions, as well as their ongoing encouragement and support.
I would also like to express my personal gratitude to Marie Grau, Jordi Roca Vernet and Olivier Poisson, who have followed and supported all the way through to the completion of this work and for having facilitated my comprehension of the many issues of the period I have dealt with. Many thanks to Simon Towle, who proofread my draft and patiently revised my English. I would also like to thank Marie-Andrée Calafat, deputy director at the Médiathèque de Perpignan, for facilitating the reproduction of the images included in this book, and Jean-Pierre Gensane for drawing the map of the Occitan and Catalan countries. I express my gratitude to my friends, for their unwavering support and words of encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my family for always being there to lend a helping hand when it was most needed.