Catalan Literature Evolution: 1906-1939
Catalan Literature Between 1906 and 1939
Since the beginning of the 20th century, Catalan literature enjoyed a period of renewal. Noucentisme and Avant-garde movements, two opposites, gave impetus to literature, especially poetry.
Noucentisme (1906-1923)
- Dominant cultural movement between 1906 and 1923, which intended to provide Catalan society with institutions of all kinds (political, social, cultural, etc.).
- During the 20th century, there was collaboration between artists, intellectuals, and politicians to transform society.
- The most relevant authors: Eugenio d’Ors (essayist and disseminator of the movement), the poets of the Mallorcan School (Miquel Costa, Joan Alcover, and Gabriel Alomar), Guerau de Liost (Jaume Bofill), and Josep Carner.
Josep Carner
He uses elegant language, with rich vocabulary, etc. Thematic landscapes of Catalonia, feminine beauty, the passage of time, and his own previous life. He portrays these issues with irony and tenderness.
Avant-garde
- Movement that emerged in 1916 that aimed to reverse the artistic and literary norms. They wanted to break the established order of the 20th century.
- Features: breakdown of traditional forms of expression, violating the rules of grammar and punctuation, altering the usual meaning of words, joining the poetic language with visual resources, etc.
- There were two stages:
- Futurism, which advocated the abandonment of the current sentimentality in art and proposed direct, even aggressive language. The poet Joan Salvat-Papasseit (1894-1924) was also recognized.
- Surrealism was a movement that favored texts full of original, irrational, but always evocative images. The most prominent poets were Salvador Dalí (painter and poet), and J.V. Foix (1893-1987), who made a very personal reading of the avant-garde.
Cable Renewal (1920s-1930s)
When the 20th century and the development of the avant-garde were completed during the 1920s and 1930s, a process of renewal in literary genres took place. It also gave rise to the appearance of some of our contemporary classics.
The Renewal and Diversification of the Novel
From 1925, the Catalan novel began to grow (after the crisis of the genre in Europe). The theme was mainly related to the psychological novel (predominantly inner characters). Important authors: Llor Miquel, Sebastià Juan Arbó, and Carles Soldevila. Other authors after the Civil War: Salvador Espriu, Llorenç Villalonga, Pere Calders, and Mercè Rodoreda.
The Theater Scene
Theater (also in crisis during the 20th century) gave different types of work:
- Bourgeois Comedy: Intended to refine the habits of this social class, respecting Noucentiste ideas and aesthetics. Authors: Josep Pous i Pagès, Carles Soldevila.
- Works of Ideological Critique: Authors: Josep-Maria Millàs-Raurell and Joan Oliver.
- The Dramatic Poem: It was very successful, which is a subject of popular poetry, language, and thematic richness of love and morality. The creator was Josep Maria de Sagarra (Café de la Marina), who triumphed in Catalonia. He also wrote poetry, fiction, and translations.
Post-Symbolist Poetry
While avant-garde poetry grew, post-symbolist poetry also developed (part of the symbolism from France in the late 19th century and reached Catalonia through modernism. It expresses abstract ideas and images through a very elaborate poetic language). Authors: Josep Sebastià Pons, Clementina Arderiu, Marià Manent, Tomàs Garcés, Agustí Bartra, Màrius Torres, Bartomeu Rosselló-Pòrcel, Joan Vinyoli, and Carles Riba (made up of teachers from many poets who died in 1959).
Non-Fiction Prose
Essay and journalism in Catalan were consolidated during the 1920s and 1930s. These genres, which had grown with modernist and Noucentist authors, experienced a moment of thematic development and diversification, with authors such as Carles Soldevila, Lluís Nicolau d’Olwer, Joan Crexells, Josep Carner, J.V. Foix, Tomàs Garcés, August Pi i Sunyer, and Josep Pla.