Catalan Literature in the 20th Century: Modernism and Key Works
Catalan Literature in the 20th Century: Modernism (1888-1911)
Catalan Modernism, spanning from 1888 to 1911, was characterized by a desire for musicality, the presence of nature, allusions to the senses, and a pursuit of formal beauty to escape a hostile reality. In Catalonia, Modernism took on a unique dimension, becoming reformist and revolutionary. It aimed to modernize and elevate Catalan society, contrasting it with a more conservative and outdated Europe.
Catalan Society and the Rise of Modernism
The last quarter of the 19th century saw significant changes in Catalan society. Industrialization fostered a strong, economically and ideologically conservative middle class. However, some members of this class, the children of the previous generation of artisans, leaned towards various aesthetic and literary trends.
Two main trends emerged within Modernism:
- Regenerationism: This movement viewed art as a tool to transform reality. Also known as Naturalists, regenerationist artists sought to portray reality as it was to provoke change.
- Aestheticism: This movement focused on the pursuit of beauty and artistic expression for its own sake.
Modernist Poetry, Novels, and Theater
Modernist poetry rejected the traditional *Jocs Florals* and embraced contemporary European poetic currents. Two main trends developed in Catalonia:
- A more formalist approach, represented by figures like Jeroni Zanné and Guillem Tell i Lafont.
- A more spontaneous approach, exemplified by Joan Maragall.
The Modernist novel often took the form of a *costumista* novel, portraying society at the time. Notable examples include Víctor Català’s Solitud and Raimon Casellas’s Els sots feréstecs.
Modernist theater saw two major trends:
- Ideological Theater: Inspired by the Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen, this trend is represented in the works of Joan Puig i Ferreter and Ignasi Iglésias.
- Symbolist Drama: Based on the creations of Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, this trend is evident in the works of Santiago Rusiñol and Adrià Gual.
Mercè Rodoreda’s *Broken Mirror* (1974)
Broken Mirror is a novel that portrays a city, Barcelona, and a specific time, before the Civil War, through a series of characters interconnected by family and personal ties. The narrative reflects the disintegration of the reality of the moment, using fragments of the characters’ lives like pieces of a shattered mirror. This style differs significantly from other works by Rodoreda, such as The Time of the Doves or Aloma, where she employs the first person through a female character, evoking autobiographical elements.
Characters and Setting
Rodoreda drew inspiration from various sources for the novel’s settings. Teresa Goday de Valldaura, the family matriarch, is depicted as a passionate woman who gradually approaches old age. She has strived for a life of material abundance. Sofia Valldaura, her daughter, is portrayed as a cold woman, lacking the sensuality of her mother. Her hardness and dryness become apparent during the novel’s difficult moments. Her relationships with her mother and Maria are intense and complex.
Maria represents the younger generation. She is a poetic character around whom several tensions converge: sexuality, female relationships, family, life, and death. Alongside them are male figures crucial to the plot, such as Salvador Valldaura, Eladi Farriols, and Amadeu Riera.
Symbolism and Structure
The novel is rich in symbolism, contributing to the mythical dimension often attributed to Rodoreda. Key symbols include:
- The Mirror: Represents the passage of time, hidden secrets, and dazzling appearances.
- Water: Symbolizes nature and creative destruction, a place where the unspeakable can be submerged.
- Jewelry: Expresses beauty, wealth, and love.
- The Rat: Represents the decay and destruction of the novel’s world.
Broken Mirror has a closed structure. The beginning witnesses the creation of the fictional universe (the wedding of Teresa and Valldaura and the purchase of the tower in Sant Gervasi) that establishes the family. This family and its universe are ultimately destroyed after a long period of life. The tower is destroyed, and the family is separated.
The Three Parts of the Novel
The novel is divided into three parts:
- Part One: More realistic, it introduces most of the protagonists and depicts the formation of the family’s founders.
- Part Two: Shifts to the inner world of the characters, delving into their feelings, memories, and emotions. The process of idealizing the past begins to become evident in some characters. Personal time dominates.
- Part Three: Dominated by fantasy, the novel concludes with a poetic monologue after death.