The contribution of Josep Ibàñez i Senserrich to the diffusion of Catalan and its defence in the press during the Franco régime: The first years (1966-1967) of the «aclariments lingüístics» section in Tele/Estel

The primary purpose of this article is to study the sixty-two contributions made by Josep Ibàñez i Senserrich to the «Aclariments lingüístics» section of the Catalan weekly Tele/ Estel (1966-1970) in its first years of publication (1966-1967). The aim of this column was to publicize the linguistic norms established by the Institut d'Estudis Catalans and defend the public use of Catalan. Reconstruction of this episode has made it possible to incorporate it into the tradition of the press in Catalonia of disseminating linguistic normativity through its publications. This paper also addresses the biography of Josep Ibàñez (1929-2004), a cultural and linguistic activist who worked during the late Franco era, and points out his special concern with teaching the language. This has enabled us to access unpublished written and illustrated documents from both private and public sources.