Che Guavera quote

Question

Hello to anyone willing. Here is a saying from Che Guevara that I can't figure out, or at least it has a phrase that troubles me.

LA BANDERA BAJO **LA QUE SE LUCHA **ES LA CAUSA SAGRADA DE LA REDENCION DE LA HUMANIDAD.

The part in blue is confusing. I understand LA to be an article, but it seems to encapsulate the whole phrase QUE SE LUCHA. Also, coming after the preposition BAJO (I think it is a preposition) it is more problematic. Unless LA is translated "that", in which case the whole phrase could be translated "The flag under that which is wrestled...", but that still leads to a strange reading.
Anyone willing to help me out? Gracias.

Answer 1

Thank you hhmdirocco, this is my first post and your help is very encouraging.

Answer 2

Welcome to the forum, Peter.

I concur with the other two answers. Literally, "the flag under the which one fights ...."

In English we omit the word the. In Spanish the relative pronoun la que is feminine and singular to agree with its antecedent bandera. This gender- and number-specific construction is more precise than our neuter relative pronouns in English (in this sentence, "which"), especially in sentences that have more than one set of pronoun/antecedent.

The passive implies "under which anyone fights," so in English we use the word one. It would be awkward to try to bring the passive over into the English translation.

It appears that this man, whose name is spelled Che Guevara, was a ruthless killer and guerilla fighting for Marxism, socialism, and those that promoted them. I wouldn't recommend following in his footsteps, but nonetheless, there is your translation.

Answer 3

Thanks to all, especially hhmdirocco, I didn't know the relative could have an article.

I apologize, Peter, I should have been more precise in my earlier post, which I have now updated. The relative pronoun here is "la que." As such, it is one unit, and la is not an article here; it is providing gender and number to the relative pronoun so that it agrees with the antecedent in both. That is how Spanish relative pronouns are more specific than their English counterparts.

Also, totally interchangeable here would be, "... bajo la cual se lucha ...", la cual being the relative pronoun.

Some other relative pronouns are as follows:
el que/el cual
los que/los cuales
las que/las cuales
lo que/lo cual
que
quien/quienes
cuyo/cuyos
cuya/cuyas

For more information on how these are used, see this article in this site's Reference section:
http://www.spanishdict.com/reference/grammar/relative-pronouns

Answer 4

Exactly. Being a pronoun, it must agree with its antecedent in gender and number; that's why we have

el que/cual
la que/cual
los que/cuales
las que/cuales

among the other relative pronouns.

Answer 5

hhmdirocco, number 3 on the link you provided is "el que/el cual". Can "la" be used in place of "el" to indicate the feminine'

Answer 6

Thanks to all, especially hhmdirocco, I didn't know the relative could have an article.

Answer 7

I´m agree with Warrior. That guy killed many people everything ¨under the flag of freedom¨.

Answer 8

the flag under which one fights
But Che was not the type of guy you might trust. He murdered, rebelled. Not the type guy to spend much time with.

Answer 9

Hello to anyone willing. Here is a saying from Che Guevara that I can't figure out, or at least it has a phrase that troubles me.

LA BANDERA BAJO **LA QUE SE LUCHA **ES LA CAUSA SAGRADA DE LA REDENCION DE LA HUMANIDAD.

The part in blue is confusing. I understand LA to be an article, but it seems to encapsulate the whole phrase QUE SE LUCHA. Also, coming after the preposition BAJO (I think it is a preposition) it is more problematic. Unless LA is translated "that", in which case the whole phrase could be translated "The flag under that which is wrestled...", but that still leads to a strange reading.

Anyone willing to help me out? Gracias.

BAJO LA QUE SE LUCHA - Under which one fights/struggles