Catalan literature
The literature in Catalan or in Valencian is made up of the set of literary productions written in Catalan / Valencian.
The Organyà Homilies are considered the first long manuscript text in this language and the chivalrous novel Tirante el Blanco, written by Joanot Martorell, his masterpiece. The latter was written during the literary Golden Age of this language: the Golden Age of Valencian letters.
Among its greatest exponents are the authors of the Four Great Chronicles; the Majorcan medieval writer Ramon Llull; the writers of the Valencian Golden Age: Ausiàs March, Jaume Roig, Sister Isabel de Villena or, the already mentioned, Joanot Martorell, among others; the authors of the Renaixença and the Valencian Renaixença; and contemporaries: Mercè Rodoreda, Joan Sales, Vicent Andrés Estellés, Llorenç Villalonga, Josep Pla, Carles Riba, Carmelina Sánchez-Cutillas, Salvador Espriu, Enric Valor and Joan Fuster, among many others.
Currently, with the recognition of the co-official languages of Spain after the end of the Franco dictatorship, literature in Catalan / Valencian has become widespread and new publishing houses, prizes and literary publications have been established, appearing renowned writers such as: Joan Francesc Mira, Jaume Cabré, Baltasar Porcel, Isabel-Clara Simó, Carme Riera and Quim Monzó.
Medieval lyric: the troubadours
Although throughout the XI century, some documents of a feudal nature in which the Romance language is used can be found Catalan, in its entirety or mixed with a deficient Latin, such as the Greuges de Guitard Isarn, senyor de Caboet, the first testimony of literary use of the language is the Homilies of Organyà from the end of the century XI or early XII, consisting of fragments of a sermonary intended for the preaching of the Gospel. Catalan literature saw its first great works in prose rather than in verse. , they preferred to use the literary Provençal instead of the autochthonous variety, as in the case of Alfonso II, called "el Trovador", Cerverí de Girona or Guillem de Berguedan and others of lesser-known work, such as Guillem de Cabestany, Guerau de Cabrera, Thomás Périz de Fozes, Ponç de la Guàrdia, Gilabert de Próixita, Guillem de Masdovelles, Hermenegil de Berga or Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun. All these, and many more, appear carefully compiled, translated, studied and annotated in the three anthological volumes dedicated to them by the great scholar and medievalist Martín de Riquer (Los trovadores, Barcelona: Planeta, 1975; reprinted later several times in Barcelona: Editorial Ariel).
It should be noted, however, that there were few differences between the Catalan language and the various Occitan varieties (Provençal, Lenguadociano, Limousin, Gascon...), much less in the Middle Ages, since during that time and for centuries later were considered the same language. However, in the case of the Catalan poets, the variety of Provençal or Occitan used was a literary koiné, or common language originating from the unification or mixture of various dialectal varieties, of the aulic type, also cultivated in the old courts and fief-states of Occitania and part of northern Italy.
The first manifestations of cultured poetry in Europe in a modern language were written by the troubadours, who followed strict and codified rules to elaborate their poetry, using the codes of troubadour literature such as courtly love. Catalan troubadours and poets participated in this troubadour culture. The great political, linguistic and cultural proximity between the Catalan counties and the old Occitan fiefdoms (Aquitaine, Tolosa, Provence...) made it possible to share a common troubadour literary variety, of a courtly type, which was maintained in the Crown of Aragon until the XV century to write poetry until the appearance of the Valencian Ausiàs March, the first poet to abandon the influence of Occitan literary koine and the main elements of this type of poetry. For this reason, the history of medieval Catalan literature includes the entire list of known troubadours, whether they are properly Catalan or Occitan. Poetry in the strictly territorial Catalan variety was used by minstrels in their shows before popular audiences, without any example surviving to this day. In the XII also appear the first translations of legal texts, such as the Liber iudiciorum (Llibre dels Judicis or Llibre Jutge).
Historical Chronicles
The Catalan language was also used in the narration of the deeds and chronicles of the sovereigns, in particular the so-called Four great chronicles: the Llibre dels feits of Jaume I, the Crònica by Bernat Desclot, the Crònica by Ramón Muntaner and the Crònica by Pere el Ceremoniós.
Although the first version of the Gesta comitum barchinonensium was written in Latin at the end of the XII century, the next revised edition of the work, known as the "intermediate version", was written in Catalan around 1268 or 1269 and published in Barcelona.
There is a philological consensus that the first version of James I's Llibre dels feits was written in Catalan and for the most part shortly before the king's death, that is, on a date before 1276. The Llibre del rei en Pere d'Aragó e dels seus antecessors passats, better known as the Crónica de Bernat Desclot, written around 1290, narrates various events notables from the reigns of Jaime I, Pedro the Great, Alfonso el Liberal and Jaime II. The Crónica de Ramon Muntaner was written by this author between 1325 and 1332 and stands out for its vivid description of the expeditions of the Almogavars. Finally, the Chronicle of Peter the Ceremonious was written by order of this king to glorify his actions and those of his father Alfonso the Benign.
Medieval splendor
The Majorcan Ramon Llull (XIII century), a capital figure of Catalan literature, is considered the father of prose In Catalan, he also wrote courtly poetry in Koiné Occitan, although his work was destroyed by the author himself, considering it banal and superficial. His works include his novel Blanquerna, a mystical book: Llibre d'amic e amat, the Book of the Gentile and the Three Wise Men, the Book of the Order of Chivalry, poems such as the Cant de Ramon ("Canto de Raimundo") or Lo deshort ("The Heartbreak") or his autobiography, Vida coetània, Les cents noms de Déu ('The Hundred Names of God', 1289), the Book of a Thousand Proverbs and Felix or Book of Wonders (which includes the Book of Beasts), among many works of a primarily scientific, philosophical or theological nature.
Authors who were already influenced in some way by humanism stand out, such as Pere March, Jaume Gassull, Bernat Fenollar, Bernat Hug de Rocabertí or the misogynist poet Pere Torroella (some of them belonging to the generation of the Golden Age of Valencian literature) among many others. At the same time, religious authors such as Francesc Eiximenis stood out, undoubtedly one of the most widely read authors in Valencian at his time; Saint Vicente Ferrer and the mischievous Franciscan friar converted to Islam Anselm Turmeda, who also wrote in Arabic.
On the same edge between the XIV and XV poets emerged who wrote in Occitan literary koine or in Occitanized Catalan, often following troubadour guidelines, they were Jordi de Sant Jordi and Andreu Febrer, translator the latter from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy in Catalan. The notary and pre-humanist Bernat Metge wrote in 1381 the Llibre de Fortuna e Prudència («Book of Fortune and Prudence»), an allegorical poem in which the question of divine Providence is debated in the purest style of the medieval tradition, basing itself on the inevitable precedent of the De consolatione philosophiae of the Roman Boethius. He also translated the story of Valter and Griselda, the last of the novelle of Boccaccio's Decameron, but he did not do it from the Italian original, but from the Latin translation of Petrarch (the Griseldis). The importance of Metge's translation is due, in addition to his elegant prose, to the introductory letter that accompanies the story, since it represents the first known display of admiration for Petrarch in Spain. His masterpiece was Lo Somni ("The Dream"), written in 1399, where John I appears to him in Purgatory. He wrote it in jail, after falling out of favor and being imprisoned by the new Queen María de Luna along with the rest of the deceased monarch's collaborators. The Valencian Ausiàs March, "man of quite high spirit" according to the Carta e proemio al Constable don Pedro de Portugal del Marqués de Santillana, he is considered the poet of the apogee of Valencian literature of the (2nd century XV); he already abandons the clichés and elements typical of the troubadours and creates his own system of images and love concepts, in an austere and serious style of fierce introspection that owes nothing to Italian flourishes. His main works are divided into three groups, the Songs of love , the Songs of death and the Spiritual song .
In the 15th century it is also written Curial e Güelfa, a strange and original hybrid of chivalry and a very plausible sentimental novel, probably written between 1435 and 1462 by an anonymous author who knew ancient and modern literature very well. The so-called Valencian Golden Age also dates from this period, with a very outstanding production of writers in poetry and prose that culminates in Tirante el Blanco by Joanot Martorell (published in 1490). L'Espill or Llibre de les dones is a misogynistic novel in verse. It was written by the Valencian Jaume Roig between 1455 and 1462 and is made up of more of sixteen thousand tetrasyllabic verses. The Espill consists of a preface and four books that, in turn, are divided into four parts. In the preface, the narrator makes a statement of principles, ethics, and stylistics. In the first book, & # 34; Of his youth & # 34;, we meet the protagonist, who always speaks in the first person and explains what his childhood was like. Fatherless and thrown out of his home by his mother, he is forced to earn a living in Valencia. Shortly after, he embarks on an adventurous journey, first through Catalonia and then through France. He fights in the Hundred Years War with the French troops and in Paris, when he is already rich thanks to the loot obtained, he intervenes in the chivalric life. The second book, "De cuando estubo casado", narrates the successive marital failures of the protagonist, first with a maiden who in the end turned out not to be, then with a widow, thirdly with a novice and, finally, it explains the frustrated attempt to marry a beguine. In the third book, "Of Solomon's Lesson", the protagonist, desperate for not being able to find a suitable wife, intends to marry a relative of his. Then Solomon, the quintessential biblical sage, appears to her in a dream, who unleashes a long invective against women that corroborates with biblical examples the bad experiences recounted in the two previous books. And the fourth book is titled "De viudar". The Valencian school was closed by Joan Roís de Corella (1433/43-1497), who displayed a scholarly humanism, and Sister Isabel de Villena (1430-1490), a tender and intimate pen, who counteracted the misogyny of L' Espill in his Vita Christi.
Historically, it has been accepted that after a period of splendor that culminated in Tirant lo Blanc, Catalan as a literary language entered a long phase of decline since the XVI to 1833. But currently, recent studies are revaluing the works of Renaissance authors (Cristòfor Despuig, Joan Timoneda, Pere Serafí), Baroque (Francesc Vicenç Garcia, Francesc Fontanella, Josep Romaguera) and neoclassical (Juan Ramis, Francesc Mulet), so that it goes towards a revision of the Decadència concept.
As milestones of this period for the Valencian language, we can count the first printing of a translation of the Bible in a non-Latin language, the Valencian Bible, printed at the request of Bonifacio Ferrer in 1478, or the writing of a Theology in 1440 by the Valencian Francesc Pertusa, which is the only work written on this science in a language other than the Latin of the Middle Ages.
Sepulchre of Ramon Llull in the convent of San Francisco (Palma de Mallorca).
Tomb of Ausiàs March in the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Valencia.
Cover Tirant lo Blanc 1511.
Manuscript of L'EspillJaume Roig.
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Decay
During the XV century, the Caspe Compromise (1412) took place where Fernando de Antequera was elected king (1410-1416), which introduced the Trastámara dynasty to Catalonia. The language of the court became Castilian. The year 1479 saw the dynastic union of Aragon and Castile which, although legally it did not change anything, did have negative consequences for the use of Catalan:
- Loss of strength of the indigenous ruling classes and political submission of the Crown that endangered Catalan as a language of culture.
- In addition, Castile became during the centuries XVI and XVII a world power.
- It was the centuries of gold in the Castilian literature and, therefore, most Catalan writers wrote in Spanish, thus configuring the idea that Catalan was not a suitable language for literature or, in general, for culture, circumstances that caused a serious decay of the Catalan literature.
Renaissance
Literature in Catalan, without breaking with medieval tradition, recovered some of the aesthetic canons and formal models of classicism. But the tradition for the study of classical languages, characteristic of humanism, did not prevent the development of literature in vernacular languages. While the aristocratic minority vacillated between the use of Spanish and Catalan, the popular majority continued to redo and expand in their own language the tradition that had been developed over the centuries.
Prose
The most valuable prose of the period is Los col loquis de la insigne ciutat de Tortosa (1557) by Cristòfor Despuig, both for the use of dialogue, a classical literary form, and for the critical spirit of its author, in a noble prose with some erasmian echoes. Also within the historical narrative, we must point out the chronicles of Pere Miquel Carbonell, Pere Antoni Beuter and the allegorical novel represented by L'espill de la vida religiosa, an anonymous work published in 1515, attributed by some to Miquel Comalada, with Lullian and reformist influences that were reaching a true European projection.
In the field of entertainment literature, novelle and facecias such as those of Jordi Centelles and Joan Timoneda appear. During this time, a theater with a realistic and satirical intention was operating in Valencia, which gives such splendid examples as La vesita by Joan Ferrandis d'Herèdia.
Poetry
The best poet in Catalan of the moment was Pere Serafí, who alternated the romantic idealism of Petrarchan or Ausiasmarquista inspiration with the gloss of proverbs and popular songs. Other poets, such as Andreu Martí Pineda and Valeri Fuster, insisted with a certain originality on the Valencian costumbrista models of the late XV century.. The poems of Joan Pujol, already in the second half of the XVI century, and the sacramental acts of Joan Timoneda reflect the change in the counter-reformation that had to culminate in the baroque. With the counter-reformation, the spirit of criticism and search disappeared to advocate a more rigid and ascetic vision of life.
Baroque
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The first truly baroque manifestations (previous authors such as Joan Timoneda or Joan Pujol can be considered initial literary symptoms of the Counter-Reformation) did not take place until the beginning of the century XVII and lasted throughout the XVIII century, already with elements of rococo aesthetics.
In this period, clear influences from the great Castilian Baroque were received, with authors such as Garcilaso de la Vega, Góngora, Quevedo, Calderón de la Barca, Baltasar Gracián, etc., who acted without much relation to one another.
A crucial figure of the Baroque in Catalan was the poet and playwright Francesc Vicent Garcia i Torres, who was the only one who managed to form a school that imitated him in those more secondary aspects and that lasted well into the century XIX. Francesc Fontanella and Josep Romaguera would also make outstanding contributions during the Baroque.
The culminating moment of this trend can be found during the War of the Reapers, when already conscious attempts to renew and revitalize culture in Catalan appeared and failed with the defeat of the Catalan troops. We must highlight the poetic and dramatic work of Francesc Fontanella. Other figures of the Baroque in Catalan were Pere Jacint Morlà and Josep Blanch, also from the mid-XVIIth century century. Josep Romaguera, between the 17th and XVIII, maintained these purposes with relative efficiency. Agustí Eura Joan de Boixadors, Guillem Roca i Segui and Francesc Tagell, from the first half of the XVIII century, insisted with unequal success.
Illustration
Since the late 18th century 18th, Enlightenment critical philosophy and linguistic and historical scholarship had revamped the whole concept of culture. A new mentality was born that considered that the work had to be useful or not to be. It is a time of beginnings of scientific activities and a reasoned contempt for free poetry. The highest consideration was obtained by morality or pedagogy texts.
In Catalonia it was represented by a brilliant group, following the methodological initiation of the Valencian Jacint Segura taken up again by the impulse of Bishop Ascensi Sales. We must also highlight the novel Eusebio by Pedro Montengón from Alicante, written in Spanish. We must also highlight a group made up of various translators and writers such as Francesc Mulet, Antoni Febrer as well as Juan Ramis and his neoclassical theater pieces, among which Lucrècia stands out.
It can be affirmed that literature in Catalan in this period was practically non-existent as far as cult literature is concerned, since most of the enlightened preferred in their expression more international languages, such as the own great scholar Gregorio Mayáns y Siscar. Only the set of popular genres have endured as the most qualified spokespersons of the time. The terrain was humorous and satirical theater (hors d'oeuvres) with texts, most of them unpublished, written by non-professionals; and also epistolaries, private narratives and diaries that reflect the mentality of the time, of which the fifty-two volumes of the Baron de Maldà's Calaix de sastre, located on the opposite side of the illustration to the prelude the costumbrista literature that would achieve so much success in romanticism.
Popular poetry, spontaneous and multiform, gave eighteenth-century literature titles with a higher category than those achieved by cultured attempts. This popular literature only shared the era with the Enlightenment and the fact that it developed under the signs of "nature" and "freedom". But above all it was associated with the language of the people.
At the beginning of the 19th century, and thanks to the Count d'Aiamans and the anonymous author of Lo Temple de la Glòria, already incorporates some romantic elements.
Romanticism
The first romanticism, raised on unequivocally Catalan themes, was basically written in Spanish. Towards the end of this period, however, they began to become aware of the contradiction that existed between the content and the public to which it was directed and the language in which it was carried out. Thus, for example, Pere Mata wrote a long poem in Catalan El Vapor (1836) and Joaquim Rubió i Ors began to publish his poems in the Diario de Barcelona (1839).
At this time a bourgeois intelligentsia of liberal inspiration, young and combative and, in many cases, revolutionary, was formed. The evolution of events, with writers in exile or in hiding, did not allow its emergence. Some, like Manuel Milá y Fontanals and his group, reneged on liberal beginnings. Others, like Antoni Ribot i Fontserè or Pere Mata, emigrated to Madrid.
Between 1844 and 1870, conservative romanticism, more or less tinged with popular or classical elements, monopolized letters in Catalan. Some, like Víctor Balaguer, insisted on a literature that was also an instrument of progress.
Contemporary Literature
Renaissance
The Renaixença is the name given to the great movement to restore the Catalan language, literature and culture that began in the Principality in the first half of the century XIX. It coincided more or less with the second part of the outbreak of Romanticism in Europe. Although each tendency followed its own path, there was an integration in terms of language use and political ideals.
It is usually situated in the period between the appearance in 1833, in the newspaper El Vapor, of La Pàtria by Bonaventura Carles Aribau and the presentation in the floral games from 1877 of L'Atlantida by Jacinto Verdaguer.
In 1835 the University of Barcelona was restored and in 1839 the first book of poetry in Catalan was published, Llàgrimes de viudesa, by Miquel Anton Martí. Catalan compositions were appearing in magazines and newspapers in Barcelona, although the first magazine written entirely in Catalan, Lo verdader catalá, did not appear until 1843.
In its beginnings, the consciousness of the Renaixença was strengthened by the recovery of its own history, by the growing power of the liberal bourgeoisie (especially that of Barcelona), for being decidedly liberal and romantic, for using their own language with relative normality and, furthermore, with a serious and persevering literary production..
In the second half of the XIX century, the straightening is increasingly clear, aided by some institutions such as the Royal Academy of Good Letters of Barcelona, the University of Barcelona or some sectors of the church (represented by Jaume Collell i Bancells and Josep Torras i Bages).
As regards language, the most urgent and basic cultural instruments such as grammars and dictionaries were promoted. Their own political myths (Jaime I and Felipe V) and literary myths (the troubadours) were created and their projection extended beyond scholarship and poetry in an attempt to catalanize other fields such as philosophy, science, art or the right.
In 1859 the Floral Games were founded, which meant a great popular projection. This foundation was aesthetically and ideologically conservative, but socially and idiomatically it helped to spread culture within the popular and, especially, rural areas. They had the prestige of notable public recognition and, although they began in Barcelona, they were reproduced in many other places and took on the character of the supreme organ of the Renaixença. He helped to give rise to a considerable number of authors, often coming from the urban petty bourgeoisie and dedicated almost exclusively to poetry, among which Antoni de Bofarull and Víctor Balaguer stand out.
Fruit of a rather conservative character, the movement, on the other hand, hardly affected the popular literature that had been generated in Catalan almost without interruption throughout the period of decadence. Rather, it was viewed with suspicion by its authors (Abdó Terrades, Anselmo Clavé or Frederic Soler).
In 1862 the first prize dedicated to narrative within the Floral Games was established, winning the novel L'orfeneta de Menargues by Antoni de Bofarull. The theater was not part of the Games until 1865 with the premiere of the first drama in Catalan of the century Tal faràs, tal trobaràs by Vidal i Valenciano. Educated poetry, on the other hand, was published in Catalan from 1839, but its process was crowned with the epic poem L'Atlàntida by Jacinto Verdaguer, published in 1878. Notable authors of this century were: the poet and playwright Àngel Guimerà, the poets Teodor Llorente or Manuel Pons i Gallarza or the novelist Narcís Oller.
Bonaventura Carles Aribau (1844), oil of Joaquín Espalter and Rull (1809-1880), at the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of San Jorge in Barcelona.
Joan Maragall.
Prosist Narcís Oller's search by Eusebio Arnau.
Jacinto Verdaguer in 1865.
Angel Guimerà.
Early 20th century
At the end of the XIX century, modernism stands out, with authors such as Joan Maragall, Joaquim Ruyra or Víctor Català. He later highlighted the so-called Noucentisme or Catalan Noucentisme, and in particular the so-called Mallorquin School. Miquel Costa i Llobera and Joan Alcover, who also drank from Noucentista poetry, would be its most prominent authors. The novel, which still had the deficits of a lack of tradition, received a boost from authors such as Raimon Casellas, Prudenci Bertrana, Joaquim Ruyra and Caterina Albert, better known by her pseudonym Víctor Català. She built a narrative that fused symbolism and costumbrismo, with protagonists who struggled to transform an adverse reality. One of his most important works was Solitude ["Soledad"], one of the most representative novels of Modernism and one of the most important narratives of the century XX Spanish. Santiago Rusiñol, an impressionist painter, also had a great role as a writer introducing modernist ideas in all spheres, especially in the theater (L'auca del senyor Esteve, "Las aleluyas del señor Esteve&# 3. 4;). His novels were also highly celebrated for their healthy humor, not exempt from social criticism.
Josep Pla at age 20.
Mercè Rodoreda
Catalan literature during the Franco regime
During the XX century, Catalan was consolidated as a literary language, despite the adverse conditions during the Primo dictatorships of Rivera and Franco.
The abolition of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia in 1938 meant the beginning of a long process of Spanishization that tried to put an end to all explicit manifestations of Catalan culture. In this way, faced with the impossibility of expressing themselves in their own language, Catalan intellectuals chose to give up ideologically and linguistically, they continued clandestinely or ended up going into exile. The intellectuals who decided to give up ideologically and linguistically had to opt for a literature of Spanish expression, with manifestations derived from the dominant ideology, or trying to adapt ideas typical of Catalan culture before the war (this is the case of Juan Ramón Masoliver, avant-garde during the 20s, who created the collection "Poetry in the Hand ").
However, other intellectuals remained in Catalonia who refused to make a definitive break with the native language and culture. It was the case of those who opted for internal exile, that is, to act clandestinely. Literary gatherings, cultural meetings, poetry readings, Catalan culture courses, etc., were organized with the aim of reaching out to the youth and thus training new writers capable of avoiding a break with the Catalan culture and language. All these acts were celebrated, however, in private circles and before a reduced and select public. A series of vitally important magazines also began to be published, some of which were "Poesía" (1944-1945) Ariel (magazine) (1946-1951) and "Dau al Set" (1948-1955). The first, created by Palau i Fabre, was avant-garde in nature, because in addition to a commitment to the language, it also had a clear poetic commitment. The second, " Ariel ", was devised by Palau i Fabre, José Romeu y Parras, Miquel Tarradell, Joan Triadú and Frederic-Pau Verrié. Its clearest antecedent was "Poetry", and although it did not have a totally unified ideological program, it survived thanks to the common desire to recover certain values from the past. They refused to grieve for the cultural genocide and from there arose the desire not to dwell on the resentment and to translate it into action. They wanted to demonstrate that there had been no break with the past, and they did so by recovering pedagogical strategies from the noucentista tradition facing the future. It is in this magazine where we can clearly glimpse the two trends of the moment: on the one hand, the trend that defended classicism as the basis of our culture and as a model to follow; on the other, the most avant-garde trend defended by modern art (Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, etc.). However, both " Poetry" as " Ariel " They knew how to innovate without ever leaving the previous tradition aside. However, both " Poetry" as " Ariel " They knew how to innovate without ever leaving the previous tradition aside. Finally, the magazine "Dau al Set" It had the collaboration of artists such as Modest Cuixart, Joan Ponç, Antoni Tàpies, Joan-Josep Tharrats, Arnau Puig and Joan Brossa, whose common objective was to connect with the avant-garde tradition prior to 1936, especially with surrealism.
Most of the Catalan intellectuals who went into exile settled in France, except for those who were able to avoid the German invasion by marching in America, Mexico and Venezuela. Although having to give up their own language, these Catalans were able to insert themselves into a cultural infrastructure that allowed them to work as professionals in different fields (journalism, publishing, graphic arts). And if these exiles had something in common with the intellectuals who had remained in Catalonia working in hiding, it was the desire to continue the Catalan language and literary tradition. In this way, and despite the hardships that those who went into exile had to suffer, initiatives immediately arose to carry out this continuity. In 1939 books and magazines began to be published in Catalan, such as the magazine "Catalonia", published with the aim of continuing the work of Catalan writers. "Resurgence" and " Brotherhood " are some of the other magazines that Catalan intellectuals also published in exile. With the same desire for linguistic and cultural continuity, we must also highlight the maintenance of the Floral Games of the Catalan Language between 1941 and 1945.
In conclusion we can say that, from the year 1939, the Catalan intellectuals who were reluctant to the new political order launched, either from exile or from hiding, different initiatives with a single common will: continuity culture and linguistics.
Authors such as Josep Carner, the great poet Joan Salvat-Papasseit, Carles Riba, Josep Vicenç Foix, Salvador Espriu (whose collection of poems La pell de brau, "The bull's skin", claims the union of Hispanic peoples in mutual respect for their cultures and traditions), Pere Quart, Josep Maria de Sagarra, the great prose writers Josep Pla (whose complete works exceed forty volumes), Llorenç Villalonga (author of the famous novel Bearn or The Room of the Dolls) and Mercè Rodoreda, famous for her novel La plaza del diamante, about the youth and civil war of a young Barcelonan girl in the pre-war period, war and post-civil war, Maria Barbal, Pere Calders, Gabriel Ferrater, Manuel de Pedrolo, Vicent Andrés Estellés, the audacious experimental poet Joan Brossa, Jesús Moncada, Quim Monzó, Miquel Martí i Pol and Miquel de Palol have been recognized throughout the world., with editions and translations in various languages. At the beginning of the XXI century, the production of books in Catalan was important, both in quality and quantity, with authors such as Julià from Jòdar, Jaume Cabré or Feliu Formosa among others.
Literary Awards
There are several prizes in renowned Catalan literature, including:
- Award of Honor of Catalan Letters
- Sant Jordi Prize of novel
- Josep Pla Award
- Ramon Llull Prize for novel
- Sant Joan Award of Narrative
- Néstor Luján Prize for historical novel
- Andromeda Award of Narrative
- Novela City of Alcira Award
- Literary Awards City of Palma
- Prudenci Bertrana novel award
- Joan Crexells Award
- Carles Riba Prize for Poetry
- Ausiàs March Poetry Award
- National Prize for Literature of Catalonia
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