Catalan Literature: Resilience and Renaissance (Franco Era)

Franco Era: Stage 1

Repression was fierce; literature suffered intense censorship and a language barrier. Only minor works on poetic and religious themes appeared. These were years of great isolation, with many imprisoned or exiled.

Franco Era: Stage 2

With the defeat of allied regimes, Franco liberalized the regime for international tolerance. Public expression in Catalan was authorized, new publishers and literary prizes emerged. Catalan literature resurfaced, broadening its horizons.

Franco Era: Stage 3

Catalan culture became popularized, linking to the 70s political transition towards democracy.

Exile

The Post-War Years

Marked by fear, repression, and secrecy. Intellectuals and writers fled the country as totalitarian laws were enforced.

Those Who Left

Writers went to France (later facing Nazi occupation) or Latin America. They maintained cultural dignity through their work, despite precarious distribution.

Pere Quart

Exiled in France and Spain, his poetry explores the human condition with realism and satire. Notable works include Circumstances, Dance Clothes…

Pere Calders

Recreated reality through imagination and fantasy, using irony and a subjective narrative. Chronicles of Truth is his most renowned work.

Internal Exile

Writers who remained in the country abandoned public life but organized clandestine meetings, poetry readings, and plays.

JV Foix

Synthesized Noucentist and avant-garde elements. His work explores the dialectic between rationality and irrationality, modernity and classicism.

Casp Xavier

Played a key role in founding Editorial Torre and defending unrealistic language. His work is characterized by conceptual games and metaphor.

Llorenç Villalonga

A leading exponent of the psychological novel.

Enric Valor

Known as a grammarian and compiler of tales. Lambició d’Aleix and the Cassano cycle reflect contemporary events.

Josep Pla

One of the most significant Catalan writers of the 20th century. His 45 volumes focus on memoirs and diaries, using rich, precise language and humor.

Changing Times

Franco’s last years saw economic prosperity and new cultural influences. Authors who hadn’t experienced the war emerged, along with new journals and literary prizes.

Montserrat Roig

Produced intense works in journalism, novels, short fiction, and essays.

Theater

The 60s and 70s

A new generation of playwrights embraced European innovations and social/political criticism. Independent theater attracted audiences seeking challenging works, often inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s epic theater.