Seny
Encyclopedia
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
sensus) is a form of ancestral Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
wisdom or sensibleness. It involves well-pondered perception of situations, level-headedness, awareness, integrity and right action. The opposite of seny is known as rauxa (ˈrawʃə) "foolish recklessness".
Cultural significance
Many Catalans consider seny something unique to their culture, a true Catalan symbolCatalan symbols
The oldest Catalan symbol is the Coat of arms of Catalonia, one of the oldest coats of arms in Europe.. It dates back to the 9th century, according to a legend that says that the four red bars are the result of Charles the Bald, known also as Charles II, king of West Francia, smearing four...
. Seny as a particular characteristic of Catalan society is based on a set of ancestral local customs stemming from the scale of values
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
and social norms
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
of traditional Catalan rural society. The values of seny were transmitted from generation to generation without much change in the shape of aphorisms and moral stories. These were largely based on Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
values and their examples and illustrations often included animals and plants that were common in rural Catalonia.
This oral lore caught the attention of Josep Torras i Bages
Josep Torras i Bages
Josep Torras i Bages , born at Les Cabanyes, Alt Penedès, on 12 September 1846 - died at Vic, Osona, on 7 February 1916) was a Catalan thinker, writer and bishop...
, bishop of Vic
Vic
Vic is the capital of the comarca of Osona, in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain. Vic's location, only 69 km far from Barcelona and 60 km from Girona, has made it one of the most important towns in central Catalonia.-History:...
at the beginning of the 20th century.
He became very interested in the pattern in which the seny was transmitted from one generation to the other as an oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
. Thus he encouraged Josep Abril i Virgili
Josep Abril i Virgili
Josep Abril i Virgili was a self-taught Catalan poet and playwright. He specialized in the production of works with easily-understood and popular moral lessons, which were publicised through Roman Catholic organizations.-Publications:...
(1869-1918), a writer, to gather the moral stories and illustrate them in a book that was published as Bon seny ("Good sense"). This more or less representative compilation of moral lessons regarding seny was illustrated by artist Joan Junceda (1881-1948). Published in the Catalan language before the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
Bon seny became rare during General Franco's era, when so much Catalan printed material had been burned and printing in Catalan was severely restricted.
Many of the seny proverbs that defined traditional Catalan values have lost most of their sense today. The reason is the erosion of Christian values as fundamental in present-day postchristian
Postchristianity
Postchristianity is the decline of Christianity, particularly in Europe and Australia, in the 20th century, considered in terms of postmodernism...
Catalan society, which sees itself today as a society based largely on secular principles.
Examples
- Many of the seny aphorisms are short:
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- The following story, La rata magra o La rata engarjolada, illustrates the dangers of greed:
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