Catalan literature
Encyclopedia
Catalan literature is the name conventionally used to refer to literature
written in the Catalan language
. The Catalan literary tradition is extensive, starting in the Middle Ages
.
A Romantic
revivalist
movement of the 19th century, Renaixença
, classified Catalan literature in periods. The centuries long chapter known as Decadència that followed the golden age of Valencian
literature, was perceived as extremely poor and lacking literary works of quality. Further attempts to explain why this happened (see History of Catalonia
) have motivated new critical studies of the period, and nowadays a revalorisation of this early modern age is taking place. Catalan literature reemerged in the 19th century and early 20th century, to experience troubled times from the start of the Spanish Civil War
on. Many intellectuals were forced into exile and Catalan culture couldn't find its place in Catalonia until the restoration of democracy in Spain
.
in the Middle Ages
, when it became a separate language from Latin. Literary use of the Catalan language is generally said to have started with the religious text known as Homilies d'Organyà, written late in either late 11th or early 12th century, though the earlier Cançó de Santa Fe
, from 1054–76, may be Catalan or Occitan. Another early Catalan poem is the mid-thirteenth century Augats, seyós qui credets Déu lo Payre
, a planctus Mariae (lament
of Mary).
Ramon Llull
(13th century), one of the major medieval writers in the Catalan language is not only saluted for starting a Catalan literary tradition clearly separated from the Occitan-speaking world of the time, but also credited with enriching the language with his coining of a large number of words, and his philosophy
. See Llibre de Meravelles (including the famed Llibre de les bèsties) and Blanquerna
(including Llibre d'Amic e Amat) for more details on his works.
. They're the following:
of the troubadours, who composed in Occitan. Since Occitan and Catalan are often indistinguishable before the fourteenth century, it is not surprising that many Catalans composed in the Occitan poetic koiné. The first Catalan troubadour (trobadors) may be Berenguier de Palazol
, active around 1150, who wrote only cançons
(love songs in the courtly tradition
). Guerau de Cabrera and Guillem de Berguedan, active in the generation after, were noted exponents of the ensenhamen
and sirventes
genres respectively. During this early period Occitan literature was patronised by the rulers of Catalonia—not surprisingly considering their wide involvement in Occitanian politics and as Counts of Provence. Alfonso II
patronised many composers, not just from Catalonia, and even wrote Occitan poetry himself. The tradition of royal troubadours continued with his descendants Peter III
James II of Aragon
, the anonymous known only as "Lo bord del rei d'Arago
", and Frederick II of Sicily
. The most prolific Catalan troubadour during the ascendancy of Occitan as language of literature, was Cerverí de Girona
, who left behind more than one hundred works. He was the most prolific troubadour of any nationality.
In the early thirteenth century Raimon Vidal, from Besalú
, composed his poetic grammar, the Razos de trobar ("Purposes of Composition"). This was the earliest and perhaps most influential Occitan lyric treatise. The troubadour lyric followed the Catalans to Sicily later in the century, where Jaufre de Foixa composed a Regles de trobar ("Rules for Composing") modelled on Vidal's earlier work. A third Catalan treatise on the language of the troubadours and composing lyric poetry, the Mirall de trobar ("Mirror of Composition"), was written by a Majorcan, Berenguer d'Anoia
.
, this epic
romance
was among its time's most influential novels, and possibly the last major book in Catalan literature until the 19th century.
among the nobility, even in lands of the Catalan-Aragonese Empire, which led to a cultural void. The Catalan-language decadence accompanied the Catalan commercial influence in the Spanish Empire
, in which the use of Spanish language was essential, and overall neglect for the Crown of Aragon's
institutions after the dynastic union of Castile
and Aragon
that resulted from the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon
and Isabella I of Castile
, a union finalized in 1474. This is, however, a Romantic view made popular by writers and thinkers of the national awakening
period known as Renaixença
, in the 19th century. This presumed state of decadence is being contested with the appearance of recent cultural and literary studies showing there were indeed works of note in the period.
and the Balearic Islands
chose Spanish
as their language, and wouldn't resort to using the Catalan language
until a national awakening
movement, kickstarted by Romantic nationalism
, appeared. The foundation of the basis of the movement is most often credited to Bonaventura Carles Aribau
with his Oda a la Pàtria. Renaixença or "rebirth". Literary Renaixença shares with Europe
an Romanticism
most of its traits, but created a style of its own through its admiration of the Middle Ages
and its will to embellish the language and the need create a new common standard. Realism
and naturalism
deeply influenced later authors. Its most important adherent was indeed Jacint Verdaguer
, who penned Catalonia
's national epic
.
was the natural follow-up of Renaixença, still showing Romantic
traits and influences while focusing on dark themes, such as violence or the dark side of life and nature. As for poetry, it closely followed the style of Parnassians and Symbolists
. The movement was subdivided into authors in whose work prevailed darker decadentist
themes, classed under the name Bohèmia Negra, and those whose career embraced Aestheticism
, known as participants of Bohèmia Daurada or Bohèmia Rosa. Santiago Rusiñol
, Joan Maragall
and Joan Puig i Ferreter were some of its most influential adherents.
appeared in the early 20th century, a time of great economic growth in Catalonia
, as a mostly conservative reaction against Modernisme
and the Avantgarde, both in art
and thought
. Its Classicism
as a "return to beauty
" and the love of elaborated form, along with its much sought perfection of language, was accused by modernistes of being excessively affected and artificial. Poetry was its preferred genre, as evidenced by Josep Carner
or Carles Riba
's masterpieces.
and Francisco Franco
's regime forced many Catalan intellectuals into exile
, as many of them faced persecution and the use of Catalan in the media became frowned upon.
Publishing in Catalan never ceased completely, but only a few notable authors like Salvador Espriu
did publish in this language in the first years of the Franco dictatorship. The initial restrictions on Catalan publishing of the Francoist period relaxed over time, and during the 1960s and beyond, publishing in Catalan became possible without restrictions other than the political ones which applied to the entire Spain.
Thus, some literary contests in Catalan like the Premi Lletra d'Or were established as early as 1956. During those years, Mercè Rodoreda
published The Time of the Doves
(1962), probably the book which paved the way of modern Catalan literature, since it could enjoy wider recognition due to the new media and the spreading of literacy in this language.
Later on that decade Josep Pla
published what has been considered the masterpiece of the contemporary literature in Catalan, the seminal El Quadern Gris (1966). The Catalan cultural association Òmnium Cultural
, which had been established in 1961, could begin its work in favour of Catalan literature by 1967 onwards. Salvador Espriu, who had published most of his works in Catalan, was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature
in 1971.
After the transition to democracy
(1975–1978) and the restoration of the Catalan regional government Generalitat
(1980), literary life and the editorial market have returned to normality and literary production in Catalan is being bolstered with a number of language policies intended to protect Catalan culture. Besides the aforementioned authors, other relevant 20th century writers of the Francoist and democracy periods include Joan Brossa
, Agustí Bartra
, Manuel de Pedrolo
, Pere Calders
or Quim Monzó
.
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
written in the Catalan language
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
. The Catalan literary tradition is extensive, starting in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
A Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
revivalist
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
movement of the 19th century, Renaixença
Renaixença
The Renaixença was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture, akin to the Galician Rexurdimento or the Occitan Félibrige movements. The first stimuli of the movement date of the 1830s and 1840s, but the Renaixença stretches up into the 1880s, until it...
, classified Catalan literature in periods. The centuries long chapter known as Decadència that followed the golden age of Valencian
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...
literature, was perceived as extremely poor and lacking literary works of quality. Further attempts to explain why this happened (see History of Catalonia
History of Catalonia
The territory that now constitutes the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain, and the adjoining Catalan region of France, was first settled during the Middle Palaeolithic...
) have motivated new critical studies of the period, and nowadays a revalorisation of this early modern age is taking place. Catalan literature reemerged in the 19th century and early 20th century, to experience troubled times from the start of 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...
on. Many intellectuals were forced into exile and Catalan culture couldn't find its place in Catalonia until the restoration of democracy in Spain
Spanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
.
Origins
Catalan, a Romance language, evolved from Vulgar LatinVulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, when it became a separate language from Latin. Literary use of the Catalan language is generally said to have started with the religious text known as Homilies d'Organyà, written late in either late 11th or early 12th century, though the earlier Cançó de Santa Fe
Cançó de Santa Fe
The Cançó de Santa Fe , a hagiographical poem about Saint Faith, is the earliest surviving written work in a Catalan dialect of Old Occitan. It is 593 octosyllabic lines long, divided into between 45 and 55 monorhyming laisses...
, from 1054–76, may be Catalan or Occitan. Another early Catalan poem is the mid-thirteenth century Augats, seyós qui credets Déu lo Payre
Augats, seyós qui credets Déu lo Payre
Augats, seyós qui credets Déu lo Payre is a Catalan poem of lamentation in the planctus Mariae tradition, in which the Virgin Mary laments the death of her son. It was written between 1240 and 1260 and is thus one of the oldest Catalan poems, although it is comes two hundred years after the Cançó...
, a planctus Mariae (lament
Planctus
A planctus is a lament or dirge, a song or poem expressing grief or mourning. It became a popular literary form in the Middle Ages, when they were written in Latin and in the vernacular . The most common planctus is to mourn the death of a famous person, but a number of other varieties have been...
of Mary).
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull was a Majorcan writer and philosopher, logician and tertiary Franciscan. He wrote the first major work of Catalan literature. Recently-surfaced manuscripts show him to have anticipated by several centuries prominent work on elections theory...
(13th century), one of the major medieval writers in the Catalan language is not only saluted for starting a Catalan literary tradition clearly separated from the Occitan-speaking world of the time, but also credited with enriching the language with his coining of a large number of words, and his philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. See Llibre de Meravelles (including the famed Llibre de les bèsties) and Blanquerna
Blanquerna
Blanquerna is a novel written around 1283 by Raymond Lull. It chronicles the life of its eponymous hero. It is the first major work of literature written in Catalan, and perhaps the first European novel.-Structure:The novel is divided into five parts...
(including Llibre d'Amic e Amat) for more details on his works.
Les quatre grans cròniques
These four major literary works are chronicles written between the 13th and 14th centuries narrating the deeds of the monarchs and leading figures of the Crown of AragonCrown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
. They're the following:
- Crònica de Jaume I, also known as "The book of deeds" (see External links)
- Crònica de Bernat Desclot, also known as "Book of the king, Peter of Aragon".
- Crònica de Ramon Muntaner
- Crònica de Pere el Cerimoniós
Lyric poetry
The first widespread vernacular writing in any Romance language was the lyric poetryLyric poetry
Lyric poetry is a genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat...
of the troubadours, who composed in Occitan. Since Occitan and Catalan are often indistinguishable before the fourteenth century, it is not surprising that many Catalans composed in the Occitan poetic koiné. The first Catalan troubadour (trobadors) may be Berenguier de Palazol
Berenguier de Palazol
Berenguier de Palazol, Palol, or Palou was a Catalan troubadour from Paillol in the County of Roussillon. Of his total output twelve cansos survive, and a relatively high proportion—eight—with melodies....
, active around 1150, who wrote only cançons
Canso (song)
The canso is a song style used by the troubadours. It consists of three parts. The first stanza is the exordium, where the composer explains his purpose. The main body of the song occurs in the following stanzas, and usually draw out a variety of relationships with the exordium. The canso can end...
(love songs in the courtly tradition
Courtly love
Courtly love was a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the nobility. It was also generally not practiced between husband and wife....
). Guerau de Cabrera and Guillem de Berguedan, active in the generation after, were noted exponents of the ensenhamen
Ensenhamen
An ensenhamen was an Occitan didactic poem associated with the troubadours. As a genre of Occitan literature, its limits have been open to debate since it was first defined in the 19th century...
and sirventes
Sirventes
The sirventes or serventes is a genre of Occitan lyric poetry used by the troubadours. In early Catalan it became a sirventesch and was imported into that language in the fourteenth century, where it developed into a unique didactic/moralistic type...
genres respectively. During this early period Occitan literature was patronised by the rulers of Catalonia—not surprisingly considering their wide involvement in Occitanian politics and as Counts of Provence. Alfonso II
Alfonso II of Aragon
Alfonso II or Alfons I ; Huesca, 1-25 March 1157 – 25 April 1196), called the Chaste or the Troubadour, was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1164 until his death. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragon and the first King of Aragon who was...
patronised many composers, not just from Catalonia, and even wrote Occitan poetry himself. The tradition of royal troubadours continued with his descendants Peter III
Peter III of Aragon
Peter the Great was the King of Aragon of Valencia , and Count of Barcelona from 1276 to his death. He conquered Sicily and became its king in 1282. He was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs.-Youth and succession:Peter was the eldest son of James I of Aragon and his second wife...
James II of Aragon
James II of Aragon
James II , called the Just was the King of Sicily from 1285 to 1296 and King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. In 1297 he was granted the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica...
, the anonymous known only as "Lo bord del rei d'Arago
Lo Bord del rei d'Arago
Lo Bord del rei d'Arago |Bastard]] of the King of Aragon") is the name assigned to the composer of three coblas in an Occitan chansonnier. Lo Bord wrote two peticions and one remissio to Rostanh Berenguier de Marselha, who also wrote a fourth peticion of his own to Lo bord, but without a surviving...
", and Frederick II of Sicily
Frederick III of Sicily
Frederick II was the regent and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of Peter III of Aragon and served in the War of the Sicilian Vespers on behalf of his father and brothers, Alfonso and James...
. The most prolific Catalan troubadour during the ascendancy of Occitan as language of literature, was Cerverí de Girona
Cerverí de Girona
Cerverí de Girona was a Catalan troubadour born Guillem de Cervera in Girona. He was the most prolific troubadour, leaving behind some 114 lyric poems among other works, including an ensenhamen of proverbs for his son, totaling about 130. He was a court poet to James the Conqueror and Peter the...
, who left behind more than one hundred works. He was the most prolific troubadour of any nationality.
In the early thirteenth century Raimon Vidal, from Besalú
Besalú
Besalú is a town in the comarca of Garrotxa, in Catalonia, Spain.The town's importance was greater in the early Middle Ages, as capital of the county of Besalú, whose territory was roughly the same size as the current comarca of Garrotxa but sometime extended as far as Corbières, Aude, in France....
, composed his poetic grammar, the Razos de trobar ("Purposes of Composition"). This was the earliest and perhaps most influential Occitan lyric treatise. The troubadour lyric followed the Catalans to Sicily later in the century, where Jaufre de Foixa composed a Regles de trobar ("Rules for Composing") modelled on Vidal's earlier work. A third Catalan treatise on the language of the troubadours and composing lyric poetry, the Mirall de trobar ("Mirror of Composition"), was written by a Majorcan, Berenguer d'Anoia
Berenguer d'Anoia
Berenguer d'Anoia or de Noya was a Catalan troubadour from Majorca. He wrote the Mirall de trobar, an Occitan poetic, grammatical, and rhetorical treatise in the tradition of the Razos de trobar of Raimon Vidal and the Regles de trobar of Jofre de Foixà, a genre always popular in Catalan...
.
Tirant lo Blanc
Written by Joanot MartorellJoanot Martorell
Joanot Martorell was a Valencian knight and the author of the novel Tirant lo Blanch, which is written in Valencian...
, this epic
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
romance
Romance (genre)
As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
was among its time's most influential novels, and possibly the last major book in Catalan literature until the 19th century.
La Decadència
The early modern period (late 15th-18th centuries), while extremely productive for Castilian writers of the Siglo de Oro, has been termed La Decadència, the "decadent" period in Catalan literature because of a general falling into disuse of the vernacular language in cultural contexts and lack of patronagePatronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
among the nobility, even in lands of the Catalan-Aragonese Empire, which led to a cultural void. The Catalan-language decadence accompanied the Catalan commercial influence in the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, in which the use of Spanish language was essential, and overall neglect for the Crown of Aragon's
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
institutions after the dynastic union of Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
and Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
that resulted from the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
and Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
, a union finalized in 1474. This is, however, a Romantic view made popular by writers and thinkers of the national awakening
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
period known as Renaixença
Renaixença
The Renaixença was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture, akin to the Galician Rexurdimento or the Occitan Félibrige movements. The first stimuli of the movement date of the 1830s and 1840s, but the Renaixença stretches up into the 1880s, until it...
, in the 19th century. This presumed state of decadence is being contested with the appearance of recent cultural and literary studies showing there were indeed works of note in the period.
Renaixença
The first Romantics in CataloniaCatalonia
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...
and the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
chose Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as their language, and wouldn't resort to using the Catalan language
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
until a national awakening
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
movement, kickstarted by Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
, appeared. The foundation of the basis of the movement is most often credited to Bonaventura Carles Aribau
Bonaventura Carles Aribau
Bonaventura Carles Aribau was a Spanish writer, politician and economist....
with his Oda a la Pàtria. Renaixença or "rebirth". Literary Renaixença shares with Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
most of its traits, but created a style of its own through its admiration of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and its will to embellish the language and the need create a new common standard. Realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
and naturalism
Naturalism (literature)
Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character...
deeply influenced later authors. Its most important adherent was indeed Jacint Verdaguer
Jacint Verdaguer
Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló is regarded as one of the greatest poets of Catalan literature and a prominent literary figure of the Renaixença, a national revival movement of the late Romantic era. The bishop Josep Torras i Bages, one of the main figures of Catalan nationalism, called him the...
, who penned Catalonia
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...
's national epic
National epic
A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation; not necessarily a nation-state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with aspirations to independence or autonomy...
.
Modernisme
Literary Catalan modernismeModernisme
Modernisme was a cultural movement associated with the search for Catalan national identity. It is often understood as an equivalent to a number of fin-de-siècle art movements, such as Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Secessionism, and Liberty style, and was active from roughly 1888 to 1911 Modernisme ...
was the natural follow-up of Renaixença, still showing Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
traits and influences while focusing on dark themes, such as violence or the dark side of life and nature. As for poetry, it closely followed the style of Parnassians and Symbolists
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
. The movement was subdivided into authors in whose work prevailed darker decadentist
Decadentism
Decadentism was an Italian artistic style based mainly on the Decadent movement in the arts in France and England around the end of the 19th century. The main authors associated with decadentism were Antonio Fogazzaro, Italo Svevo, Giovanni Pascoli and Gabriele D'Annunzio...
themes, classed under the name Bohèmia Negra, and those whose career embraced Aestheticism
Aestheticism
Aestheticism was a 19th century European art movement that emphasized aesthetic values more than socio-political themes for literature, fine art, the decorative arts, and interior design...
, known as participants of Bohèmia Daurada or Bohèmia Rosa. Santiago Rusiñol
Santiago Rusiñol
Santiago Rusiñol i Prats was a Catalan post-impressionist/Symbolist painter, poet, and playwright.He was born in Barcelona in 1861, and died in Aranjuez in 1931 while painting its famous gardens....
, Joan Maragall
Joan Maragall
Joan Maragall i Gorina was a Catalan poet, journalist and translator, the foremost member of the modernisme movement in literature.-Life:...
and Joan Puig i Ferreter were some of its most influential adherents.
Noucentisme
The cultural and political movement known as NoucentismeNoucentisme
Noucentisme was a Catalan cultural movement of the early 20th century that originated largely as a reaction against Modernisme, both in art and ideology, and was, simultaneously, a perception of art almost opposite to that of avantgardists...
appeared in the early 20th century, a time of great economic growth in Catalonia
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...
, as a mostly conservative reaction against Modernisme
Modernisme
Modernisme was a cultural movement associated with the search for Catalan national identity. It is often understood as an equivalent to a number of fin-de-siècle art movements, such as Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Secessionism, and Liberty style, and was active from roughly 1888 to 1911 Modernisme ...
and the Avantgarde, both in art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and thought
Thought
"Thought" generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Similar concepts include cognition, sentience, consciousness, and imagination...
. Its Classicism
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
as a "return to beauty
Beauty
Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture...
" and the love of elaborated form, along with its much sought perfection of language, was accused by modernistes of being excessively affected and artificial. Poetry was its preferred genre, as evidenced by Josep Carner
Josep Carner
Josep Carner i Puig-Oriol , was a Catalan poet, journalist, playwright and translator. He was also known as the Prince of Catalan Poets.-Biography:...
or Carles Riba
Carles Riba
Carles Riba i Bracons was a Catalan poet, writer and translator.He was born in Barcelona and studied Law and Philosophy at the University of Barcelona. In 1916 he married the poet Clementina Arderiu. He worked for a time in the School of Librarianship.In 1922 he travelled to Munich to study under...
's masterpieces.
Dictatorship, exile and political transition
After what seemed to be a period of hope and rapid growth, the Spanish Civil WarSpanish 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...
and Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's regime forced many Catalan intellectuals into exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
, as many of them faced persecution and the use of Catalan in the media became frowned upon.
Publishing in Catalan never ceased completely, but only a few notable authors like Salvador Espriu
Salvador Espriu
Salvador Espriu i Castelló was a Catalan poet writing in the Catalan language.-Biography:Espriu was born in Santa Coloma de Farners, Catalonia. He was the son of an attorney. His childhood was divided between his home town, Barcelona, and Arenys de Mar, a village on the Maresme coast...
did publish in this language in the first years of the Franco dictatorship. The initial restrictions on Catalan publishing of the Francoist period relaxed over time, and during the 1960s and beyond, publishing in Catalan became possible without restrictions other than the political ones which applied to the entire Spain.
Thus, some literary contests in Catalan like the Premi Lletra d'Or were established as early as 1956. During those years, Mercè Rodoreda
Mercè Rodoreda
Mercè Rodoreda i Gurguí was a Spanish Catalan novelist in the Catalan language.She is considered by many to be the most important Catalan novelist of the postwar period...
published The Time of the Doves
The Time of the Doves
The Time Of The Doves is a 1962 novel written by exiled Catalan writer Mercè Rodoreda. It is noted by its use of stream of consciousness. The book is named after a square in Barcelona's district of Gràcia...
(1962), probably the book which paved the way of modern Catalan literature, since it could enjoy wider recognition due to the new media and the spreading of literacy in this language.
Later on that decade Josep Pla
Josep Pla
Josep Pla i Casadevall was a Catalan Spanish journalist and a popular author. As a journalist he worked in France, Italy, England, Germany and Russia, from where he wrote political and cultural chronicles in Catalan.His figure is somewhat controversial for present day Catalans...
published what has been considered the masterpiece of the contemporary literature in Catalan, the seminal El Quadern Gris (1966). The Catalan cultural association Òmnium Cultural
Òmnium Cultural
Òmnium Cultural is a cultural association based in Barcelona . It was originally created to promote the Catalan language and spread Catalan culture....
, which had been established in 1961, could begin its work in favour of Catalan literature by 1967 onwards. Salvador Espriu, who had published most of his works in Catalan, was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
in 1971.
After the transition to democracy
Spanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
(1975–1978) and the restoration of the Catalan regional government Generalitat
Generalitat
Generalitat is the name of the autonomous systems of government of two of the present Spanish autonomous communities: Catalonia and the Valencian Community. The term is also used for the government of the semi-autonomous comarca of Val d'Aran, the Generalitat a l'Aran.Generalitat refers to all...
(1980), literary life and the editorial market have returned to normality and literary production in Catalan is being bolstered with a number of language policies intended to protect Catalan culture. Besides the aforementioned authors, other relevant 20th century writers of the Francoist and democracy periods include Joan Brossa
Joan Brossa
Joan Brossa i Cuervo Joan Brossa i Cuervo Joan Brossa i Cuervo (Barcelona, Catalonia,(1919–1998) was a Catalan poet in the Catalan language, playwright, graphic designer and plastic artist. He was one of the founders of both the group and the publication known as Dau-al-Set (1948) and one of the...
, Agustí Bartra
Agustí Bartra
Agustí Bartra i Lleonart was a Catalan poet, writer, translator and University Professor in Catalan language.- Biography :...
, Manuel de Pedrolo
Manuel de Pedrolo
Manuel de Pedrolo i Molina was a Catalan author of novels, short stories, poetry and plays. He's mostly known for his sci-fi novel Second origin typescript.-Mini-biography:...
, Pere Calders
Pere Calders
Pere Calders i Rossinyol was a Catalan writer and cartoonist.- Biography :He became known at the beginning of the 1930's for his drawings, articles and stories which were published in newspapers and magazines...
or Quim Monzó
Quim Monzó
thumb|Quim MonzóQuim Monzó , is a contemporary Catalan writer of novels, short stories and discursive prose, mostly in Catalan. In the early 1970s, Monzó reported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Northern Ireland and East Africa for the Barcelona newspaper Tele/eXprés...
.
List of some Catalan-language writers
- Joan AlcoverJoan AlcoverJoan Alcover i Maspons was a Spanish Balearic writer, poet, essayist and politician....
- Gabriel AlomarGabriel AlomarGabriel Alomar was a poet, essayist, and educator of the early twentieth century in Spain, closely related to the Catalan art movement Modernisme...
- Núria AñóNúria AñóNúria Añó is a Catalan writer and novelist. She lived in Mollerussa until she was nineteen. She studied Catalan Philology and German Language and today resides in Lleida where she works as both a writer and a translator....
- Sebastià Juan ArbóSebastià Juan ArbóSebastià Juan Arbó was a Catalan novelist and playwright. He wrote in Catalan and Spanish. In 1948 he won the Premio Nadal....
- Xavier Benguerel
- Prudenci BertranaPrudenci BertranaPrudenci Bertrana i Comte was an important modernist writer in Catalan. During his youth, he studied at Girona; some years after he went to Barcelona to study an industrial engineering course, city in which he definitely instatled on 1911, where he managed known magazines as L'Esquella de la...
- Blai Bonet
- Carles Bosch de la Trinxeria
- Joan BrossaJoan BrossaJoan Brossa i Cuervo Joan Brossa i Cuervo Joan Brossa i Cuervo (Barcelona, Catalonia,(1919–1998) was a Catalan poet in the Catalan language, playwright, graphic designer and plastic artist. He was one of the founders of both the group and the publication known as Dau-al-Set (1948) and one of the...
- Pere CaldersPere CaldersPere Calders i Rossinyol was a Catalan writer and cartoonist.- Biography :He became known at the beginning of the 1930's for his drawings, articles and stories which were published in newspapers and magazines...
- Josep CarnerJosep CarnerJosep Carner i Puig-Oriol , was a Catalan poet, journalist, playwright and translator. He was also known as the Prince of Catalan Poets.-Biography:...
- Víctor Català
- Jordi CasanovasJordi CasanovasJordi Casanovas Güell is a Catalan playwright.-Produced Plays:*Gebre. Vilafranca del Penedès: SalaTrinitaris, 2003 Also performed in *"Mostra de Teatre de Barcelona" 2004...
- Miquel Costa i Llobera
- Francesc EiximenisFrancesc EiximenisFrancesc Eiximenis was a Franciscan Catalan writer that lived in the XIVth century Crown of Aragon. He was possibly one of the medieval Catalan writers that had more success, since his works were widely read, copied, published and translated. Therefore, it can be said tat both in the literary and...
- Salvador EspriuSalvador EspriuSalvador Espriu i Castelló was a Catalan poet writing in the Catalan language.-Biography:Espriu was born in Santa Coloma de Farners, Catalonia. He was the son of an attorney. His childhood was divided between his home town, Barcelona, and Arenys de Mar, a village on the Maresme coast...
- Vicent Andrés Estellés
- Gabriel FerraterGabriel FerraterGabriel Ferrater i Soler was an author, translator and scholar of linguistics who wrote in the Catalan language. His poetical work is one of the most important among the authors of post-war Catalonia and he continues to exert a great deal of influence over authors nowadays...
- Josep Vicenç FoixJosep Vicenç FoixJosep Vicenç Foix i Mas was a Catalan poet, writer, and essayist. He usually signed his work by using the abbreviation J.V. Foix.- Biography :...
- Josep Maria Folch i Torres
- Francesc FontanellaFrancesc FontanellaFrancesc Fontanella was a Catalan poet, dramatist, and priest.He studied law and was granted a degree in Civil and Canon law in 1641. Until 1652 he lived a courtesan life in Barcelona and began writing love poetry and wrote his two dramatic works: Tragicomèdia d'Amor, Firmesa i Porfia and Lo...
- Jaume Fuster
- Joan FusterJoan FusterJoan Fuster i Ortells was a Valencian writer, who published mostly in Catalan.- Life and works :He was born in the village of Sueca near Valencia, Spain, in a relatively prosperous middle class family. Both his parents were pious Roman Catholics and Carlists. His father was a renowned local...
- Martí Joan de GalbaMartí Joan de GalbaMartí Joan de Galba was co-author of the famous Valencian epic Tirant lo Blanc, which he helped finish during and after the death of his friend, the main author of the work, Joanot Martorell. David H...
- Jordi GalceranJordi GalceranJordi Galceran Ferrer is a Catalan playwright, screenwriter and translator, known internationally for his play El mètode Grönholm...
- Tomàs GarcésTomàs GarcésTomàs Garcés i Miravet was a Catalan poet and lawyer.Garcés was born in Barcelona. He studied law, philosophy and literature in the University of Barcelona....
- Martí Genís i Aguilar
- Adrià GualAdriá GualAdrià Gual i Queralt was a Catalan playwright and theatre businessman, founder of the Escola Catalana d'Art Dramàtic and a pioneer of cinema in Barcelona.-Theater:*Misteri de dolor*Donzell qui cerca muller*L'emigrant...
- Àngel GuimeràÀngel GuimeràÀngel Guimerà i Jorge was a Spanish Canarian writer, born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, to a Catalan father and a Canary islander mother...
- Francesc Vicent GarciaFrancesc Vicent GarciaFrancesc Vicent Garcia i Torres was an early modern Catalan poet known by the pseudonym of the Vallfogona Rector. He was born in Tortosa in the Baix Ebre comarca around 1582 and died in Vallfogona de Riucorb in 1623...
- Ignasi Iglésias
- Maria de la Pau JanerMaria de la Pau JanerMaria de la Pau Janer is a writer from Spain who works in Spanish and Catalan. Her father, Gabriel Janer Manila, is also a well-known writer.She got her PhD degree at the University of the Balearic Islands...
- Manuel de PedroloManuel de PedroloManuel de Pedrolo i Molina was a Catalan author of novels, short stories, poetry and plays. He's mostly known for his sci-fi novel Second origin typescript.-Mini-biography:...
- Josep PlaJosep PlaJosep Pla i Casadevall was a Catalan Spanish journalist and a popular author. As a journalist he worked in France, Italy, England, Germany and Russia, from where he wrote political and cultural chronicles in Catalan.His figure is somewhat controversial for present day Catalans...
- GazielGazielAgustí Calvet Pascual , known as Gaziel , was a Catalan Spanish journalist, writer and publisher.-Before the Spanish Civil War:...
- Guerau de Liost
- Miquel Llor
- Ramon LlullRamon LlullRamon Llull was a Majorcan writer and philosopher, logician and tertiary Franciscan. He wrote the first major work of Catalan literature. Recently-surfaced manuscripts show him to have anticipated by several centuries prominent work on elections theory...
- Joan MaragallJoan MaragallJoan Maragall i Gorina was a Catalan poet, journalist and translator, the foremost member of the modernisme movement in literature.-Life:...
- Ausiàs MarchAusiàs MarchAusiàs March was a Valencian poet who was born in Gandia towards the end of the 14th century. He was the son of Pere March, nephew of Jaume March II, and cousin of Arnau March....
- Joan Margarit
- Miquel Martí i PolMiquel Martí i PolMiquel Martí i Pol was one of the most popular poets in Catalan in the 20th century.Martí i Pol was of humble origin and had to quit studying at 14 years, to start working at a factory. Nevertheless, he started publishing poetry in 1954. In 1970 he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis...
- Joanot MartorellJoanot MartorellJoanot Martorell was a Valencian knight and the author of the novel Tirant lo Blanch, which is written in Valencian...
- Bernat MetgeBernat MetgeBernat Metge was a Catalan humanist, best known as the author of Lo Somni .He held a position at the court of Joan I of Aragon, and, following some troubles, once more served Martí of Aragon....
- Terenci MoixTerenci MoixTerenci Moix was a Spanish Catalan writer who wrote in Spanish and in Catalan. He is also the brother of poet/novelist Anna Maria Moix....
- Jesús MoncadaJesús MoncadaJesús Moncada i Estruga , 1941 - Barcelona , June 13, 2005) was an Aragonese writer in Catalan....
- Quim MonzóQuim Monzóthumb|Quim MonzóQuim Monzó , is a contemporary Catalan writer of novels, short stories and discursive prose, mostly in Catalan. In the early 1970s, Monzó reported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Northern Ireland and East Africa for the Barcelona newspaper Tele/eXprés...
- Ramon MuntanerRamon MuntanerRamon Muntaner was a Catalan soldier and writer who wrote the Crònica, a chronicle of his life, including his adventures as a commander in the Catalan Company...
- Joan Oliver
- Maria-Antònia Oliver
- Narcís OllerNarcís OllerNarcís Oller i Moragas was a Catalan author, most noted for the novels La papallona which appeared with a foreword by Émile Zola in the French translation; his most well-known work L'Escanyapobres ; and La febre d'or which is set in Barcelona during the period of promoterism.He...
- Eugeni d'OrsEugeni d'OrsEugeni d’Ors i Rovira was a Catalan Spanish writer, essayist, journalist, philosopher and art critic...
- Miquel de Palol
- Teresa Pàmies
- Sergi PàmiesSergi PàmiesSergi Pàmies is a Spanish Catalan writer, translator, journalist and television and radio presenter. He is the son of the writer Teresa Pàmies and the former general secretary of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia, Gregorio López Raimundo. In his works he employs humor and parody mixing...
- Joan Perucho
- Josep Pin i Soler
- Baltasar Porcel i Pujol
- Josep Pous i Pagès
- Joan Puig i Ferreter
- Frederic Pujulà i VallésFrederic Pujulà i VallésFrederic Pujulà i Vallès was a Catalan journalist, dramatist, and a passionate Esperantist and contributor to the field of Esperanto literature. Born in Palamós, Catalonia, he travelled through Europe and stayed for a long time in Paris. He was involved in Joventut , the best "modernisme" review...
- Pere Quart
- Joan Ramis i Ramis
- Carles RibaCarles RibaCarles Riba i Bracons was a Catalan poet, writer and translator.He was born in Barcelona and studied Law and Philosophy at the University of Barcelona. In 1916 he married the poet Clementina Arderiu. He worked for a time in the School of Librarianship.In 1922 he travelled to Munich to study under...
- Mercè RodoredaMercè RodoredaMercè Rodoreda i Gurguí was a Spanish Catalan novelist in the Catalan language.She is considered by many to be the most important Catalan novelist of the postwar period...
- Jaume Roig
- Montserrat RoigMontserrat RoigMontserrat Roig i Fransitorra was a Catalan writer of novels, short stories and articles.- Biography :...
- Josep RomagueraJosep RomagueraJosep Romaguera is the author of the only emblem book ever published in the Catalan language, the Atheneo de Grandesa. His work consists of prose, poetry and sermons...
- Bartomeu Rosselló-PòrcelBartomeu Rosselló-PòrcelBartomeu Rosselló-Pòrcel was a Spanish Balearic poet.He completed his bachelor degree in Arts and Philosophy in Barcelona and his PhD degree in Madrid...
- Santiago RusiñolSantiago RusiñolSantiago Rusiñol i Prats was a Catalan post-impressionist/Symbolist painter, poet, and playwright.He was born in Barcelona in 1861, and died in Aranjuez in 1931 while painting its famous gardens....
- Joaquim Ruyra
- Josep Maria de Sagarra
- Joan Salvat-PapasseitJoan Salvat-PapasseitJoan Salvat-Papasseit was a Catalan poet, though he also wrote articles, manifestos and other prose of a political and social nature. He wrote primarily in Catalan, although he had an early period of essay-writing in Spanish.His work is notable for its nonconformity, idealism and foreboding of...
- Joan Sales
- Jaume SubiranaJaume SubiranaJaume Subirana is a Catalan writer, poet, and blogger. He studied at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and has taught at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona....
- Màrius TorresMàrius TorresMàrius Torres was a [-Catalan poet, first published by fellow writer Joan Sales in Mexico. He's among the most influential poets in the first 30 years of post-Civil War Catalonia....
- Jacint VerdaguerJacint VerdaguerJacint Verdaguer i Santaló is regarded as one of the greatest poets of Catalan literature and a prominent literary figure of the Renaixença, a national revival movement of the late Romantic era. The bishop Josep Torras i Bages, one of the main figures of Catalan nationalism, called him the...
General
- Catalan Poetry Selection (800 poems, 176 poets, 42 bios, 37 English versions)
- LletrA, Catalan Literature Online (Open University of Catalonia)
- Catalan literature at the British Library website
- Relazioni fra la cultura catalana e quella italiana