Catalan Literature: Realism, Popular Forms, and Chivalry
Catalan Poetry Realism
After the death of Carles Riba in 1960, three works of poetry were published that marked a turn toward realism:
- Paid Holidays by Pere Quart
- La piel de toro by Salvador Espriu
- Da nuces pueris by Gabriel Ferrater
All three indicated a new way to understand poetry: an expression of everyday reality, using narrative techniques and language more accessible to the reader.
Vicent Andrés Estellés
Vicent Andrés Estellés (1924-1993) was revealed by City in Your Ear, with a realistic tone. He continued with The White Wall and The Wonders of Valencia, an ambitious work published posthumously in which he outlines the different geographies and characteristics of the country. Also notable are his works dedicated to love and vitalism: Donzell amarg, The Great Fire of the Garbons, and Horacianes.
Popular Catalan Literature
Popular literature is understood as the set of texts intended for oral communication, composed for a listener. The first examples of popular literature in Catalan date back to the 12th century, although they have not survived to the present day. Those that have been preserved can be grouped by genre:
Plays
Most plays that are preserved have religious subjects and were born following the celebrations of Christmas and Easter. The profane genre is represented by the farce, which initially took the name of comedy sketches. These short plays, written in verse or in prose and verse, were represented as a complement to longer works and described the habits of the humble classes to whom they were intended.
Poetry
Poetry from the 16th century was conveyed through a variety of genres. Except for the joys, published in flyers, it was transmitted orally. The Joys were songs dedicated to saints or venerated marededéus in parishes. The carols can be equally religious, also of medieval provenance. Regarding secular compositions:
- Songs and Tambourine Corrandes: Four heptasyllabic verses, lyrical, and on various topics.
- Romances: In verses composed of seven syllables, it was the most cultivated poetic genre from the 15th century and was transmitted orally until Marià Aguiló and Manuel Milà put it in writing in the second half of the 19th century. Catalan romance has three roots:
- The French or Provençal.
- The Spanish.
- The Catalan (Count Arnau).
Prose
Some prose narratives were also transmitted orally. This is the case of tales and legends, religious, heroic, or fantastical, which were used by educated writers.
The Chivalric Novel
The novel of chivalry is a narrative in prose that describes the adventures of a hero who personifies chivalric ideals (loyalty, contempt of death, etc.). Three novels were written in Catalan:
- Curial e Güelfa
- Tirant lo Blanc
- History of Jacob Xalabín
All three are driven by their realism: they dispense with marvelous elements, and the time when the action is situated is very close to the author or his contemporaries. These works are called chivalric novels and differ from the novels of chivalry common in the Spanish language because they lack unbelievable elements.
Tirant lo Blanc
Tirant lo Blanc, written by Joanot Martorell between 1460 and 1468, was dedicated to Ferdinand of Portugal. The novel was published in Valencia on November 20, 1490. It consists of five parts:
- Chapters 1 to 97: Tirant achieves fame as a knight fighting in court in England.
- 98-114: The hero becomes a skillful admiral in Sicily and Rhodes.
- 115-297: The protagonist becomes a leader against the Turks; his love for Princess Carmesina develops. Set in the Byzantine Empire.
- 298-407: Tirant, after a shipwreck, achieves the conversion of many Saracens.
- 408-487: Return to the Byzantine Empire, which he frees from the Turks; he marries Carmesina and becomes emperor until his death.
Themes that characterize the genre:
- Chivalric: Biography of a knight.
- Historical: Identified with geography.
- Social: Strata of society.
- Erotic: Importance of love and sex.
- Stylistic: Analysis of personality.
Styles in *Tirant lo Blanc*
A cultured and baroque rhetoric is used in parliaments and lamentations. Colloquial speech reflects the living language of Valencia. The treatment of characters does not respond to pre-established archetypes. Tirant is a strong and courageous knight who fights with wit and is wounded several times. In the loving realm, he is shy, and his romance makes him fall into deep melancholy, forgetting his military duties. His deathbed, from illness and after having made a will, ends this demystification. The other characters also have notable psychological complexity.