Seny

(; from Proto-Germanic ) is a form of ancestral Catalan wisdom or sensibleness. It involves well-pondered perception of situations, level-headedness, awareness, integrity, and right action: "a kind of refined good sense and self-realisation."

The opposite of is known as (), "impetuosity or capriciousness".

Cultural significance

The Catalan donkey is one of the animals that appear in the moral stories of Catalan seny.

Many Catalans consider as something unique to their culture, a true Catalan symbol. , as a distinctive feature of Catalan society, is grounded in a set of ancestral local customs that reflect the value system and social norms of traditional rural Catalonia. The values of were transmitted from generation to generation without much change by the exemplary behaviour of the elder members of the family, as well as in the form of aphorisms and moral stories. The latter were largely based on Christian 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, bishop of Vic, at the end of the 19th century. He became interested in how was transmitted from one generation to the next as an oral tradition. He encouraged the writer Josep Abril i Virgili (1869–1918) to gather the moral stories and illustrate them in a book that was published as ("Good sense"). This more-or-less representative compilation of moral lessons regarding was illustrated by artist Joan Junceda (1881–1948). Published in the Catalan language before the Spanish Civil War, became rare under General Francisco Franco, when so much Catalan printed material had been burned and printing in Catalan was severely restricted.

Many of the proverbs that defined traditional Catalan values have lost most of their meaning. The reason is the erosion of Christian values as fundamental in today's post-Christian Catalan society, which now sees itself as based largely on secular principles.

is mentioned in the motto of castells, the Catalan tradition of building human towers, as one of the values of that endeavour: (strength, balance, courage, and ).

Examples

File:Inula viscosa flowers.jpg

False yellowhead (Dittrichia viscosa) flowers.

Many of the aphorisms are short:

The following story, or , illustrates the dangers of greed:

File:Ruskea rotta.png

In or story, the rat illustrates the dangers of greed.

See also

• Josep Torras i Bages
• Reasonable person and moron in a hurry, legal concepts
• Sisu, a Finnish word meaning inner strength

Bibliography

• Ausiàs March, Plena de Seny.
• Cerverí de Girona, Obra moral; Oració de tot dia; Mal dit ben dit; Testament; La faula del rossinyol; sermó; proverbis.
• Jaume Raventós, Proses de bon seny, morals i socials. "Foment de pietat catalana". Barcelona 1923 (4 volumes)
• Josep Maria Folch i Torres, Historietes exemplars, Barcelona 1938 (10 volumes). Reed. Editorial Balmes, 1984.
• Gaziel, Seny, treball i llibertat. 1963

External links

• Carta del Bisbe de Vic a Jaume Raventós en aplegar els volums titulats Proses de bon Seny
• Pàgines viscudes (1915-1938). Josep Maria Folch i Torres