20th Century Catalan Literature: Trends, Authors, and Movements
Catalan Literature After the Civil War
Main Literary Trends
Since 1950, the novel and the short story regained the importance they held before the Civil War. The main literary trends are:
- The Psychological Novel: This trend focuses on analyzing the inner world and moral life of a character. Its most prominent representative is Mercè Rodoreda.
- The Realist Novel: This trend denounces the reality of the time. Its main representatives are Manuel de Villalonga and Pedrolo.
Outside of this classification, it’s important to mention Josep Pla and Pere Calders.
Prominent Authors and Poets
Joan Salvat-Papasseit (1894-1924)
A self-taught poet, Salvat-Papasseit is one of the leading representatives of the avant-garde movement in Catalonia. He began writing articles on literature in Spanish Art Nouveau and was interested in socialist, anarchist, and nationalist ideas. His first books, Poems on Hertzian Waves and The Seagulls and the Harbor Irradiator, incorporate elements of Cubism (broken syntax, incorporating visual elements) and Futurism (exaltation of the machine, word freedom, using different fonts). Later, he abandoned avant-garde techniques to create a more personal and intimate style.
Josep Maria de Sagarra
Sagarra achieved success as a poet and playwright before venturing into novel writing, becoming one of the most comprehensive Catalan authors of the 20th century. His extraordinary command of language is reflected in all three genres. Sagarra’s novelistic trajectory began in 1919 with Paulina Buxareu, which aimed to fill the void of works in this genre. Ten years later, he published Garlic and Salt, which explores the problems a young seminarian faces due to his lack of religious vocation when he falls in love with a young woman. In 1932, he published Private Life. His collections of newspaper articles, such as Coffee, Drink, and Cigar (1929), Memoirs (1954), and The Blue Route (1964), are also noteworthy.
Josep Vicenç Foix
Foix contributed decisively to a more diffuse avant-garde art. In addition to promoting the avant-garde, he wrote prose narratives that attempted to reproduce the free flow of dreams. After these books, which reveal the influence of several avant-garde movements, especially Surrealism, Foix evolved toward a position away from the aesthetic orthodoxy of the avant-garde without abandoning its spirit of compromise and quest for modernity.
Tomàs Garcés (1901-1993)
Garcés was a lawyer, poet, translator, and literary critic. From 1919, he worked in numerous newspapers and magazines, and during the dictatorship, he continued to participate in cultural activities. His extensive poetic work is based on Symbolism and pure poetry, but with a more intellectual flow, similar to Riba, while also drawing on popular sources. With great attention to formal aspects and deep lyricism, he explored classical themes: nature, melancholy, longing, and the transience of life. His first collection, which brought him recognition, is Twenty Songs.
Carles Riba (1893-1959)
Riba is a central figure in the intellectual, literary, and political landscape of 20th-century Catalonia. As a professor, poet, translator, critic, and prose writer, he excelled in all fields. Loyal to the Republic, he was forced into exile after the war but returned in 1943. Back in Catalonia, he remained faithful to his national and political principles. Despite adverse conditions, Riba played an essential role in the intellectual and artistic culture of the time and became a master and reference for later generations of writers. As a poet, he followed the post-symbolist current, which evolved into pure poetry. His work demonstrates formal perfection. His most important collections are: First Book of Stays, Second Book of Stays, Elegies of Bierville, and Savage Heart.
Other Notable Authors
Pere Calders
Born in Barcelona, Calders graduated in Fine Arts and quickly gained recognition as a writer. He worked in newspapers and magazines but fled to Mexico, returning after 1960. He is known for his stories and short stories, characterized by diverse themes and simple language.
Mercè Rodoreda
Considered the best storyteller in contemporary Catalan literature, Rodoreda was born in Barcelona, where she lived until 1939, before going into exile in France and Switzerland. Throughout her life, she worked in magazines and newspapers and wrote several novels, the most important being: Broken Mirror, The Time of the Doves, and Aloma. Her works are characterized by an exploration of the inner world of characters and their perspective on the reality that surrounds them. The protagonists of her novels are always women, who reflect on their relationships and the passage of time. Symbolic elements (jewelry, mirrors, pigeons) are also prominent.
Joaquim Amat-Piniella
Born in Manresa, Amat-Piniella worked in the realist novel genre, in addition to short stories and poetry. During the Second Republic, he worked in newspapers and magazines and participated in political activities. During the war, he fought against the fascists and was later exiled to French camps, eventually ending up in Mauthausen, the Nazi extermination camp. The result of this experience is his novel K. L. Reich, which he wrote in 1945 in Andorra. It recounts the experiences of a Catalan and Spanish deportee in this camp and is a poignant testimony to the horrors and the capacity for destruction of human beings, while also highlighting the ability to maintain dignity and hope in the face of defeated fascist barbarism.
The Avant-Garde Movements
The Avant-Garde movements emerged during the First World War, striving to renew art and literature by creating new forms of expression. They manifested in various movements or “isms”:
- Futurism: Celebrates progress and proclaims freedom of words.
- Cubism: Finds its literary manifestation in the calligram.
- Dadaism: Rebelled against the world by denying art and culture.
- Surrealism: Based on psychoanalytic theory to explore new avenues of artistic expression.