Enric Valor: Post-War Catalan Literature and Linguistics

Posted on Mar 18, 2025 in English Studies

Socio-Political Context and Narrative Production in Post-War Catalonia

The socio-political conditions of the Franco period significantly impacted the production of narrative. Politically, the Franco period can be divided into four stages:

  • The 1940s: Characterized by the aftermath of the war and harsh repression.
  • The 1950s: The arrival of international support.
  • The 1960s: A period of economic recovery.
  • The 1970s: The decline of the regime.

Novelists who had published before 1939 faced censorship but continued to write, hoping for eventual tolerance. In the 1960s, psychological novels by authors like Mercè Rodoreda and Llorenç Villalonga emerged, influenced by European literary trends. These works replaced 19th-century naturalism with modernist styles reminiscent of “In Search of Lost Time,” “Ulysses,” and the works of Kafka, representing the foundations of psychological novel creation.

The Eisner Awards in 1946-47 signaled a small recovery of Catalan fiction, and newly created publishing houses faced restrictions on publishing in Catalan. These restrictions eased in 1962 with the publication of “Nosaltres, els valencians” (We, the Valencians) by Joan Fuster.

Main Currents of the Post-War Novel:

  • Psychological Novels: These novels aimed to present a nuanced view of life in Catalonia. Mercè Rodoreda, for example, developed a poetic and symbolic style.
  • Objectivist Realism: This genre reflected the experiences of childhood during the war.
  • Existentialist Novels: Influenced by French existentialist literature, exemplified by the work of Manuel de Pedrolo.

Enric Valor’s “Cassana Cycle”

Enric Valor’s “Cassana Cycle” represents an effort to rebuild a world lost to oblivion and disappearing from collective memory. His short narrative work includes “Rondalles,” such as “Contarelles del Vinalopó.”

Grammatical Works

Valor’s work emphasizes grammar. Notable among his works are “Millorem el llenguatge” (“Improve the Language”) and “Curs mitjà de gramàtica catalana” (“Intermediate Course of Catalan Grammar”), which are considered excellent educational resources and have been expanded in later editions. He also wrote “La flexió verbal” (“The Verbal Inflection”), a crucial reference book for students.

Characteristics and Value of Enric Valor’s Work

Enric Valor is a key figure in contemporary Catalan literature. His work encompasses three aspects: rondallista (folk tale writer), novelist, and grammarian.

The Valencian Tales

Valor compiled and adapted 36 folk tales, demonstrating great narrative skill. These tales can be categorized into three types:

  • Wonderful Tales: Featuring human beings with supernatural powers and objects with magical virtues.
  • Tales of Manners: Reflecting the lifestyle of agrarian society, where people resolve conflicts without supernatural aid.
  • Animal Tales: Featuring humanized animals, similar to fables.

The rondalla is a narrative of oral transmission and anonymous authorship, concerning events presented as imaginary. It is characterized by the use of fixed formulas that begin and end the story.

Structure of the Tales

The tales typically follow a five-sequence structure:

  1. Initial Situation: Introduces the characters and setting.
  2. Inciting Action: Presents the conflict that needs resolution.
  3. Central Action: The conflict develops and is resolved.
  4. Resolution: The initial circumstances of the characters change.

Characteristics of Enric Valor’s Tales:

  • Specific Valencian settings.
  • An act of creative writing.
  • Linguistic concern, using popular language with a rich and correct vocabulary.
  • Some tales have been modified or remain unpublished due to their scatological or overly coarse nature.

Novels

Valor’s novels follow the current of European realism and show great concern for narrative techniques. His novelistic career began with “L’ambició d’Aleix” (“Aleix’s Ambition”), published ten years after its writing due to censorship. It symbolizes the people and nature as a refuge against destruction. In the 1980s, his fictional work began to see the light, including “Sense la terra promesa” (“Without the Promised Land”) and the trilogy.