Jaume Cabré
Encyclopedia
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, 1947) is a Catalan philologist, novelist and screenwriter.
Graduated in Catalan Philology by the University of Barcelona
University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. It is a member of the Coimbra Group, LERU, European University Association, Mediterranean Universities Union, International Research Universities Network and Vives Network...
, high-school professor in leave of absence and teacher to the University of Lleida
University of Lleida
The University of Lleida is a university based in Lleida , Spain. It was the first university in Catalonia and the whole Crown of Aragon...
, member of the Philological Section of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans
Institut d'Estudis Catalans
The Institut d'Estudis Catalans , also known by the acronym IEC, is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture"....
.
During many years he has combined literary writing with teaching. He has also worked in the television and cinematographic scripting. With Joaquim Maria Puyal
Joaquim Maria Puyal
Joaquim Maria Puyal i Ortiga is a Catalan journalist known for his work in television and radio.-Biography:He was born on March 24, 1949 in the city of Barcelona...
he was the creator and scriptwriter of the first Catalan television series: La Granja
La Granja
La Granja may refer to:*Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso in Spain*La Granja de San Ildefonso, the town connected to it*La Granja, Chile*La Granja , a Chilean reality television show...
(1989–1992), after which followed other titles like Estació d'Enllaç (1994–1998), Crims
Crims
Crims can refer to:* CRIMS , a risk management software and methodology used to accurately capture and quantify cost impact due to technical and schedule risk....
(2000) and the tvmovies La dama blanca (1987), Nines russes (2003) and Sara (2003). He has also written, together with Jaume Fuster, Vicenç Villatoro and Antoni Verdaguer, the script of the Antoni Verdaguer's films La teranyina (1990), based on his novel, and Havanera (1993).
The beginnings
He started with two narrations: Faules de mal desar (1974) and Toquen a morts (1977).His first novel, Galceran l'heroi de la guerra negra (1978) brings up the recurrent subjects of his work: the power and the human condition. The character of the bandit Jaume Galceran, full of contradictions, is drawn like a hero in spite of him during the War of the Matiners (Second Carlist War
Second Carlist War
The Second Carlist War, or the War of the Matiners or Madrugadores , was a short civil war fought primarily in Catalonia by the Carlists under General Ramón Cabrera against the forces of the government of Isabella II...
).
In the second novel, Carn d'olla (1978), a very different character stands out, na Barringa Barranga, an exprostitute who has established a net of relations in the Barcelona neighborhood of Sant Antoni.
In El mirall i l'ombra (1980) appears for the first time the music and, in a certain way, the reflection on the value of the artistic creation, which will be constant subjects of his work.
In 1980 he publishes a work of child literature, the novel La història que en Roc Pons no coneixia and a year later, the short story El blauet.
The consolidation
During 1984 and 1985 appear the three titles that will from Cicle de Feixes in which he had worked for a lot of years. In 1984 appears La teranyina, a story framed in the Tragic WeekTragic Week
Tragic Week is the name used for a series of bloody confrontations between the Spanish army and the working classes of Barcelona and other cities of Catalonia , backed by anarchists, socialists and republicans, during the last week of July 1909.It was caused by the calling-up of...
of Barcelona that narrates the whereabouts of those moments not in Barcelona but in the city of Feixes, a literary correlation of Terrassa
Terrassa
Terrassa is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the comarca of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell, the historic capital....
. The fight for the political, economic and family power, reflects in the movements of the several characters of the Rigau family and of the other characters that live in this novel.
The same 1984 sees the publication of Fra Junoy o l'agonia dels sons a novel of slow gestation, like all the novels published by Cabré from now on, where, besides the underground movements of the ecclesiastical world of Feixes and the monastery of la Ràpita of which the protagonist friar is the confessor, the music has an outstanding protagonism. Some of the characters of La teranyina and the world of Feixes are also present in this novel, which in a certain way is its continuation. It highlights the figure of Fra Junoy, a kind of victim of those who have the power of manipulation.
In 1985 is published the “nouvelle” Luvowski o la desraó which is the last step for the characters and families who have lived in the other two novels. This story was published in a book of narrations: Llibre de preludis, where the music is still more present.
In 1984 he published his second child novel: L'home de Sau.
The maturity
In 1991 appears Senyoria, a novel about the judicial corruption that emanates from the absolute power, located in Barcelona at the end of the 18th century. If with Fra Junoy he painted a victim, now with don Rafel Massó, the civil regent of the Court of Barcelona, he paints the figure of the hangman, with all his fears and his selfishness.L'ombra de l'eunuc (1996) is a novel that reports the last years of Franquism, the Transition and the following years from the author's perspective, personified in Miquel Gensana, the protagonist. At the same time it is a novel of reflection on the artistic creation and, especially, the musical creation. The story structure is based on the structure of Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's Concert for violin and orchestra.
While he begins to work on the following novel, he also makes an incursion into other genders. In 1999 he publishes El sentit de la ficció, an essay about the literary creation, about writing, about the writer's cooking.
In 2000 there is a return to the story book with Viatge d'hivern. Fourteen stories related among them by hidden impulses. The reader keeps on discovering these relations as he advances in the stories; and the tie remains even though each story is placed in very different places and periods. It is a look a 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...
that we have not been able to construct better.
The following year, 2001, he publishes and plays for the first time in the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya
Teatre Nacional de Catalunya
Teatre Nacional de Catalunya is a public theatre in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain created by the Culture Department of the Catalan Government....
, with the play Pluja seca, where he writes about the subject of the forgery of the historical memory and about the fact that history is written by the winners. The drama starts in the castle of Peníscola
Peñíscola
Peníscola or Peñíscola is a municipality in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. The town is located on the Costa del Azahar, north of the Serra d'Irta along the Mediterranean coast...
, which has been converted into a Pope court (true for them, schismatic for Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
) on the day that Benedict XIII
Pope Benedict XIII
-Footnotes:...
dies and the decimated cardenalici school decides to nominate a successor who is viewed in Rome as an antipope
Antipope
An antipope is a person who opposes a legitimately elected or sitting Pope and makes a significantly accepted competing claim to be the Pope, the Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church. At times between the 3rd and mid-15th century, antipopes were typically those supported by a...
.
Les veus del Pamano (2004) is his last novel so far. It starts at the forties, in a little village in Pallars Sobirà
Pallars Sobirà
El Pallars Sobirà is a comarca in the mountainous northwest of Catalonia, Spain. The name means "Upper Pallars", distinguishing it from the more populous Pallars Jussà to its southwest...
and it goes through until our days, with a frieze of characters like the teachers Oriol Fontelles and Tina Bros, or the woman Elisenda Vilabrú. The historical memory, the impossibility of forgiveness and the fear to forget are some of the subjects that turn up in this novel.
In 2005 he publishes his second essay: La matèria de l'esperit about the literary reading.
Books of narrations
- Faules de mal desar (Ed. Selecta. Barcelona, 1974).
- Toquen a morts (Ed. La Magrana. Barcelona, 1977).
- Tarda lliure (1981) (Premi “Recull”, 1980).
- Llibre de preludis (Ed. 62. Barcelona, 1985). Ed. Proa. B, 2002.
- Viatge d’hivern (Ed. Proa. Barcelona, 2000).
Novels
- Galceran, l’heroi de la guerra negra (Ed. Proa, Barcelona).
- Carn d’olla. (Ed. Moll. Majorca, 1978). Ed. Proa, B 1999).
- El mirall i l’ombra (Ed. Laia. Barcelona, 1980).
- La teranyina (Edicions Proa, Barcelona, 1984).
- Fra Junoy o l’agonia dels sons (Ed. 62, B. 1984) Ed. Proa, B. 1998.
- Senyoria (1991) (Editorial Proa, Barcelona).
- El llibre de Feixes (La trilogia de Feixes) (Ed. Proa. Barcelona, 1996).
- L’ombra de l’eunuc (Ed. Proa. Barcelona, 1996).
- Les veus del Pamano (Ed. Proa. Barcelona, 2004).
- Jo confesso (Ed. Proa. Barcelona, 2011).
Essay
- El sentit de la ficció (Ed. Proa. Barcelona, 1999).
- La matèria de l’esperit (Ed. Proa. Barcelona 2005).
Novels and child stories
- La història que en Roc Pons no coneixia (Ed. La Galera. B. 1980).
- L’any del blauet (Ed. Barcanova, Barcelona 1981).
- L’home de Sau (Ed. La Galera, Barcelona, 1985).
Scripts
- La dama blanca (TV movie) (1987).
- La teranyina (radio) (1988).
- Fins que la mort ens separi (radio) (1989).
- La granja (TV series) (1989–1992).
- La teranyina (film) (1990).
- Havanera (film) (1993).
- Estació d’enllaç (TV series) (1994–1998).
- Crims (TV series) (2000).
- Nines russes (TV movie) (2003).
- Sara (TV movie) (2003).
Translated works
- Translations of Senyoria
- Spanish. Señoría (trans. Daniel Royo). Ed. Grijalbo-Mondadori. Barcelona, 1993. 2nd edition: Random House- Mondadori. Barcelona, 2005).
- Hungarian. Ömeltósága (trans. Tomcsányi Zsuzsanna.) Ed. Európa. Budapest, 2001.
- Romanian. Excelenta (trans. Jana Balacciu Matei) Ed. Merònia. Bucharest, 2002.
- Galician. Señoría (trans. Dolores Martínez Torres) Ed Galaxia. Vigo, 2002.
- French. Sa Seigneurie (trans. Bernard Lesfargues) (Christian Bourgois Éditeur. Paris, 2004).
- Portuguese. Sua Senhoria (trans. Jorge Fallorca). Tinta da China ediçôes. Lisboa, 2007.
- Albanian. Senjoria (trans. Bashkim Shehu). Institui i Librit & Komunikimit. Tirana, 2008.
- Italian. Signoria (trans. Ursula Bedogni) Ed. la Nuova Frontiera. Roma, 2009
- German. Senyoria (trans. Kirsten Brandt) Suhrkamp Verlag. Frankfurt, 2009.
- Dutch. Edelachtbare (trans. Pieter Lamberts & Joan Garrit). uitgeverij Signatuur. Utrecht, 2010.
- Translations of L'ombra de l'eunuc
- Hungarian. Az eunuch Árnyéka (trans. Tomcsányi Zsuzsanna.) Európa könyvkiadó. Budapest, 2004.
- Romanian. Umbra eunucului (trans. Jana Balacciu Matei). Editorial Meronia Bucarest, 2004.
- French. L'ombre de l'eunuque (trans: Bernard Lesfargues) Christian Bourgois Éditeur, 2006.
- Slovene. Evnuhova senca (trans. Simona Škrabec) Študentska založba - Beletrina. Ljubljana, 2006.
- Italian L'ombra dell'eunuco (trad. Stefania Maria Ciminelli) La Nuova Frontiera, Roma 2010
- Translations of Les veus del Pamano
- Hungarian. To Pamano zúgása (trans. Tomcsányi Zsuzsanna) Európa könyvkiadó. Budapest, 2006.
- Spanish. Las voces del Pamano (trans. Palmira Feixas). Editorial Destino. Barcelona, 2007
- German. De Stimmen des Flusses (trans. Kirsten Brandt). Insel-Suhrkamp Verlag. Frankfurt, 2007.
- Dutch. De stemmen van de Pamano (trans. Pieter Lamberts & Joan Garrit). uitgeverij Signatuur. Utrecht, 2007.
- Italian. Le voci del fiume (trans. Stefania Maria Ciminelli). La Nuova Frontiera. Roma, 2007.
- Portuguese. As vozes do rio Pamano (trans. Jorge Fallorca). Tinta da China ediçôes. Lisboa, 2008.
- Romanian. Vocile lui Pamano (trans. Jana Balacciu Matei). Editura Meronia Bucarest 2008.
- French. Les voix du Pamano (trans. Bernard Lesfargues). Christian Bourgois éditeur. París 2009.
- Norwegian. Stemmene fra Pamano (trans. Kjell Risvik). Cappelen Damm Oslo, 2009.
- Greek. Οι φωνεσ του ποταμου Παμανο (trans. Evriviadis Sofos). Papyros Public Group. Athens, 2008.
- Slovene. Šumenje Pamana (trans. Veronika Rot). Učila International, 2010.
- It is in process of translation into Croatian.
- Translations of Fra Junoy o l'agonia dels sons
- Spanish. Fray Junoy o la agonía de los sonidos. (trans. Enrique Sordo). Espasa-Calpe. Madrid, 1988.
- Hungarian Junoy barát, avagy a hangok halála (trans. Tomcsányi Zsuzsanna) Európa könyvkiadó. Budapest, 2009.
- Translation of Viatge d'hivern
- English. Winter journey (trans. Pat Lunn) Swan Isle Press. Chicago, 2009.
- Translations of La teranyina
- Spanish. La telaraña. (trans. Enrique Sordo). Argos-Vergara, Barcelona, 1984.
- French. La toile d'araignée (trans. Patrick Gifreu.) Editions Du Chiendent 1985.
- Translations of Llibre de preludis
- Spanish. Libro de preludios. (trans. Enrique Sordo). Espasa-Calpe. Madrid, 1989.
- Translations of L'home de Sau (child novel)
- Spanish. El hombre de Sau (trans. Mercedes Caballud). La Galera, Barcelona, 1986.
- Translations of La història que en Roc Pons no coneixia (child novel)
- Spanish. El extraño viaje que nadie se creyó. (trans. Mercedes Caballud). La Galera. Barcelona 1981.
Literary prizes
- Fastenrath, 1980. Carn d'olla
- Recull, 1980. Tarda lliure
- Serra d'Or Critics, 1981. La història que en Roc Pons no coneixia
- Sant Jordi, 1983. La teranyina
- Prudenci BertranaPrudenci Bertrana PrizeThe Prudenci Bertrana prize is a literary award for novels written in Catalan. It has been awarded annually since 1968 in honour of the Catalan author Prudenci Bertrana...
, 1983. Fra Junoy o l'agonia dels sons - Serra d'Or Critics, 1985. Fra Junoy o l'agonia dels sons
- Spanish Critics, 1985. Fra Junoy o l'agonia dels sons
- Crexells, 1991.
- Readers of “El Temps”. Senyoria
- Prudenci Bertrana, 1992. Senyoria
- Serra d'Or Critics, 1992. Senyoria
- Spanish Critics, 1992. Senyoria
- Prix MéditerranéePrix MéditerranéeThe Prix Méditerranée is a French literary award. It was created in 1984 in Perpignan by the Mediterranean Centre of Literature in order to promote cultural interaction among the numerous countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea...
2004 to the best foreign novel. Sa Seigneurie - National Prize of Literature, 1992. La granja
- City of Barcelona, 1997. L'ombra de l'eunuc
- Serra d'Or Critics, 1997 .L'ombra de l'eunuc
- Lletra d'Or, 1997. L'ombra de l'eunuc
- Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1999 Viatge d’hivern
- Crítica Serra d’Or, 2001 Viatge d’hivern
- Catalan writers prize to the literary trajectory, 2003
- Catalan Critics, 2005. Les veus del Pamano
- Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes, 2010