Catalan Literature: From Avant-Garde to Post-War
Borrowings
Foreign words not accepted in the standard dictionary but introduced into our speech. Ex: affair, of course
Bulgarisms
Words that are part of the lexicon and are popular or have colloquial defects. Ex: Llavonses
The Avant-Garde Poetry
The first third of the 20th century saw a movement towards a reversal of artistic and literary trends. This period was characterized by the desire to break with the established order and experimentation. This was a break with traditional forms of expression: grammatical breaches of rules and scoring, altered habitual meaning of words, incorporation of visual resources into poetic language. Each of these currents was generically named avant-garde. Realism and futurism stand out:
Futurism
Emerged in 1909 with the publication of the Futurist Manifesto by Italian writer Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. This movement advocated the abandonment of sentimentality in art and proposed a direct language, even aggressive, audacity and taste for violence, exaltation of machines, speed, movement and freedom. Calligrams and collages are characteristic forms of this movement. Author: Joan Salvat-Papasseit
Surrealism
Appeared in 1924 with the Surrealist Manifesto by Andre Breton. This movement prefers texts full of original images, irrational but always evocative. Poets often resort to sleep, during which all the hidden desires of the subconscious arise. Automatic writing accurately transcribed thought. Author: Pòrcel Roussillon
The Literature of War
In 1939, when the Civil War ended, many intellectual writers who had been faithful to the Republic were forced into exile in other countries to save their lives. The situation of the Catalan language and culture went through 20 years of an extremely critical period. Franco wanted to eliminate Catalan, Galician, and Basque culture in favor of a single Spanish culture. Catalan was banned even in telephone conversations. Our writers put their work at the service of their language and culture. Works were represented in their homes. The exiles in Europe or America reflected their experiences in several works known as the feeling of defeat.
Surrealism
Appeared in 1924 with the Surrealist Manifesto by Andre Breton. This movement prefers texts full of original images, irrational but always evocative. Poets often resort to sleep, during which all the hidden desires of the subconscious arise. Automatic writing accurately transcribed thought. Author: Pòrcel Roussillon
The Literature of War
In 1939, when the Civil War ended, many intellectual writers who had been faithful to the Republic were forced into exile in other countries to save their lives. The situation of the Catalan language and culture went through 20 years of an extremely critical period. Franco wanted to eliminate Catalan, Galician, and Basque culture in favor of a single Spanish culture. Catalan was banned even in telephone conversations. Our writers put their work at the service of their language and culture. Works were represented in their homes. The exiles in Europe or America reflected their experiences in several works known as the feeling of defeat.
Poetry
Privileged literary text: spread through clandestine shipments and private readings or publications or editions of newspapers tolerated by censorship that considered poetry as a minority genre. Most frequent themes: war conflict, exile, longing for a lost world, and fidelity to language and culture. Poets: Carles Riba (Elegies of Bierville), Clementina Arderiu (Elegies of War), J.V. Foix, Salvador Espriu
Narrative
Despite some setbacks such as censorship or lack of schooling in Catalan, it had a remarkable development. Themes: war, concentration camps, and exile. Authors: Pere Calders, Agustí Bartra (Cry of Arms of 200,000), Vicenç Riera Llorca
Catalan fiction is enriched by the places and countries where the characters live in exile.
Theater
Since 1946, representations of Catalan classics and active authors were authorized, provided they did not question the situation in the country. This allowed companies to resume commercial activities and promoted bourgeois comedy.
Works written before the war: The Glory of the Hostel / C.F.E. Navy. In his postwar theater, he becomes more critical and current, and the characters have greater psychological depth. Ex: The Fortune of Silva.
In the Balearic Islands, theatrical activity in Catalan was not resumed until 1947, and only in representations where Catalan was used for comic and minor activities. Author: Llorenç Villalonga (Faust)