Catalan Language and Literature: Syntax and 20th Century
Catalan Language: Verbal Syntax
SV (Syntagma Verb): Set of words in contemporary Catalan where the verb is the nucleus. SV = V + CV
Types of Verbs:
- Based on the subject:
- Personal: The subject agrees in gender and number.
- Impersonal: No subject, always in the 3rd person.
- Based on syntactic function:
- Copulative: To be, to become, to seem.
- Predicative:
- Intransitive: To call, to telephone, and meals.
- Transitive: Needs a direct object.
- Prepositional (CRV): Needs a preposition for the verb to be meaningful, always associated with a preposition.
- Pronominal: Combines with a weak pronoun that has a syntactic function.
20th Century Catalan Literature: Modernism
Cause: Catalonia’s need for independence and a cultural revival.
Authors: Poets (Joan Maragall), novelists (Victor Catala, Raimon Casellas, Prudenci Bertrana, Josep Pous i Pages), and playwrights (Santiago Rusinyol, Ignasi Iglesias, Joan Puig i Ferreter).
Modernist Poetry
Function: Symbolizes states of mind, exalts the role of modern life, is concerned about social issues, intends to integrate and standardize man in nature, and aims to regain a taste for form and create a poetic language.
Author: Joan Maragall, the Majorcan School (a group of poets who focused on the vision of the landscape, expression of feelings, and the influence of the classics).
Modernist Narrative
Aspects: Renewal of the novel and the story, creating new types of literary prose. Initial author: Raimon Casellas.
Function: Rebellious characters who dominate their own destiny, the importance of character, space acquires a symbolic value, detailed descriptions, determinism, sensuality, and serves to create a cycle.
Authors: Caterina Albert (Victor Catala): Solitude, Rural Dramas; Prudenci Bertrana: Josafat; Josep Pous i Pages: The Death of George Fragiras.
Modernist Theater
Types: Theater of ideas and symbolist theater.
Authors: Joan Salvat-Papasseit, J.V. Foix.
Catalan Grammar: Complements and Pronouns
Prepositional Complement (C. Prep): Completes the meaning of a verb, requires a preposition, and uses the following prepositions in the noun phrase: a, de, amb, en, per.
Adverbial Complement (CC): Adds additional information, any complement can be an adverbial complement.
Pronominal Substitution: The prepositional complement and the adverbial complement introduced by “de” are replaced by the weak pronoun “en”. All prepositional complements and adverbial complements can be replaced by the weak pronoun “hi”.
Homonymy
Homonymy: Two homonymous words are those that are written and pronounced the same but have different origins and meanings.
- Homophony: Same sound.
- Homography: Same spelling.
20th Century Catalan Literature: Post-War Poetry
Poets:
- Carles Riba: Poet, translator, and literary critic. Difficult to understand poetry. He was in exile.
- Clementina Arderiu: Intimate poetry that speaks of pain, love, fear, grief, and womanhood. She was in exile. The High Freedom and Now and Forever.
- Salvador Espriu: Novelist, poet, and playwright. Themes: Relations between Spain and Catalonia, and defense of the homeland. La pell de brau and Cementiri de Sinera.
Catalan Grammar: Attribute and Predicative Complements
Attribute Complement (C. Attribute): Found in sentences with copulative verbs, agrees in number and gender with the subject. When it is determined, it is replaced by “el, la, els, les”. Otherwise, it is replaced by “ho”.
Predicative Complement (C. Predicative): Found in sentences with predicative verbs, agrees in gender and number with the direct object or subject. It is replaced by “hi”, except with the verbs “to be” and “to say to oneself”, which are replaced by “en”.
Direct Object (CD)
Function: In transitive verbs, the direct object is the object of the verbal action. It does not usually have a preposition, except:
- Before a tonic personal pronoun (you, him).
- Before pronouns: all, someone, nobody (optional).
- In ambiguous sentences.
The direct object can be a noun phrase or a clause.
Pronominalization: “El, la, els, les” replace certain direct objects introduced by an article, an adjective, or a demonstrative. Undetermined direct objects that do not have a determiner or have an indefinite or quantitative determiner are replaced by “en”. “Ho” replaces a demonstrative pronoun (this or that) or an entire sentence.