The anarchist rally, a form of popular culture (Barcelona, late 19th and early 20th century)

Abstract

The historiography of the Anarchist movement in Catalonia and Spain has devoted considerable attention to the different dimensions of what has been called the «anarchist culture», this being the case of the «ateneos», the rationalist education, the press, the arts or the theatre plays. However, surprisingly little attention has been paid on political rallies, an element of social upheaval which had its own specific ritual and became decisive in raising the awareness of the labour movement. Thus, this article discusses these public events in Catalonia during the turn of the 19th century and thoroughly analyses in depth all the components they had: typology, the monitoring by the authorities, the places where they took place, the staging, the speakers, the slogans and hymns, the languages, their literary and artistic dimensions, etc. Eventually, these rituals would be modified by the influence of political uses and by the expansion of the Anarchist movement itself.