Teresa-M. Sala: “Víctor Balaguer is a seductive romantic who dominates the Barcelona scene and creates a collective imagination”

In this interview, Professor Sala reviews the highlights of the Balaguer Year, reflecting on how Balaguer’s literary, historical and political vision — from the creation of the Vilanova i la Geltrú Library Museum to her commitment to the Catalan language — continues to inspire us. Her words invite us to appreciate the legacy of a man who knew how to build bridges between 19^th century Catalonia and the world.

1.    Víctor Balaguer was a key figure of the Renaixença, with a prominent role as a poet, historian and politician. How would you define his legacy in the context of the bicentenary of his birth, and what aspects of his work do you think resonate most in Catalonia today?

The validity of the invaluable legacy that Víctor Balaguer left us is an inexhaustible source and implies continuing to study the vestiges preserved, always in dialogue with the challenges, the debates and the diversity of sensibilities of the present world. From the cultural heritage he inherited, questions related to the Catalan language, which was recovered during the Renaixença as a factor of identity and identification, still resonate today. His work allows us to make multiple interpretations, from different disciplines: literature, history, politics, sociology, anthropology, artistic manifestations and thought, in short, broadly about culture. In fact, critical knowledge of heritage can enable us to better understand the present. Because the 19th century was the great era of thinking about national identity.

2. Balaguer combined romanticism with a political and cultural commitment, as can be seen in works such as Historia de Cataluña y Corona de Aragón and his involvement in the Jocs Florals. How do you assess his role in the construction of a Catalan national narrative, and to what extent is this narrative still relevant today?

Balaguerian romanticism becomes a political tool. Balaguer’s role in the construction of a Catalan national narrative is related to the spirit of the Renaixença, in such a way that he recovers stories and legends, the memory of “past glories”. When he wrote the Historia de Cataluña y la Corona de Aragón, he was a liberal who, with a historical conscience and a patriotic feeling, wanted to have arguments for the progressive reform of Spain (which in no way identified solely and exclusively with Castile). Balaguer did not want to break with Spain, he called for a decentralizing political model and opted for a recognition of uniqueness with the demand for a plurinational state.

3. The Victor Balaguer Library Museum, founded by him in Vilanova i la Geltrú, is an example of his commitment to the democratization of culture. How can this institution inspire universities and cultural centres today in their mission to make knowledge accessible?

The creation of an institution such as the Victor Balaguer Library Museum represents the culmination of a project with a universalist vocation, which, as a temple of knowledge and learning, which he called an “institute”, becomes an inspirational and formative centre for future generations. The mission of the Library Museum coincides with that of universities and cultural centres that generate knowledge and make it accessible to society. So, study, research and the dissemination of knowledge are in the DNA of this university-library-museum marriage. In short, the Balaguer heritage encourages us, like the motto Surge et ambula at the entrance of the BMVB, to stand up, act and progress. Because, without a doubt, the Library Museum is a monument and an essentially philanthropic, philosophical and progressive institution, like Freemasonry.
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​​​​​​​4. As a liberal politician and a Freemason, Balaguer had a complex career, with links to the Spanish government and at the same time a fervent defence of Catalan identity. How do you interpret these apparent contradictions, and what do they teach us?

I will try to answer your question briefly. The complexity of the 19^th century, with its lights and shadows, becomes the framework in which Balaguer moved, and indeed he had a prolific career, with certain moments of crisis and change.

To begin with, we could say that for Balaguer everything is politics, everything is poetry, he defines himself as a poet-politician. He is a seductive romantic who dominates the Barcelona scene and creates a collective imaginary. The poet-troubadour of Montserrat became one of the driving forces behind the Jocs Florals, was appointed the first chronicler of the city of Barcelona, and was commissioned by the City Council to name the streets of the Eixample.

At the formation of the Liberal State, Balaguer entered politics as a provincial deputy. His political affiliations are to be found in liberal circles, defending the general interests of the Catalans and protectionism. It was during the Sexeni that he became linked to Freemasonry. The republican and Catalanist sector of Catalan society confronted liberals such as Balaguer, who had made the leap to high politics (1871-73) and was appointed Minister of the Overseas and Development. After his exile in France, with the failure of the constitutional monarchy of Amadeo I and the assassination of General Prim, a period of conservative reaction began that would leave a mark on Balaguer’s thinking. It was during the period of the Restoration that he would reach the culmination of his political career in Madrid, with close ties to personalities from Vilanova that allowed him to develop his Library Museum project when in Catalonia there was only the Martorell Museum.