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Catalonia's own language is Catalan, a Romance language which has co-official status alongside Castilian (Spanish). Catalan literature, though affected by the political and cultural vicissitudes of the country's history, boasts outstanding prose writers and chroniclers-Ramon Llull, Ramon Muntaner, Josep Pla-, magnificent poets -Ausiàs Marc, Jacint Verdaguer, Joan Maragall, Josep Carner, J.V. Foix- and gifted novellists -Joanot Martorell, Narcís Oller, Mercè Rodoreda.
Catalan music and drama have produced some remarkable works, personalities and groups. Examples in the field of music are the Llibre vermell de Montserrat, Antoni Soler, Enric Granados, Frederic Mompou, Pau Casals, Alícia de Larrocha, Montserrat Caballé, Josep Carreras, Tete Montoliu and the Nova Cançó movement, while the Teatre Lliure, Els Comediants, Els Joglars and La Fura dels Baus, are among the leading names of the major theatrical revival of recent years.
Catalonia's artistic heritage is a permanent reminder of the creativity of the people. Examples are Empúries, the Roman monuments in Tarragona, the vast Romanesque heritage, both rural and urban, the civil and religious works of Gothic art, the great painters of the 19th century, such as Marià Fortuny, the flowering of Modernist art (Art Nouveau) with Gaudí, Domènech i Montaner and Puig i Cadafalch, and the world-famous Catalan artists of the twentieth century -Nonell, Mir, Gargallo, Miró, Dalí and Tàpies. Catalonia possesses a large number of museums, ranging from the famous Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, with its extraordinary collection of Romanesque art, to the small ethnographic museums of country towns.
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