Children’s Literature of the Noucentisme (1917-1930)
The Beginning of Noucentista Children’s Literature (1917-1930)
Main Goal
Modernization of the country and standardization of the Catalan language through education. Key initiatives included establishing schools, libraries, and cultural centers, and distributing books through these institutions.
1. Authors
Josep Maria Folch i Torres
Initially a modernist writer, Folch i Torres achieved success with the children’s magazine “En Patufet” starting in 1905, and later with the publication of “The Extraordinary Adventures of Massagran” in 1910. This marked the introduction of adventure stories in Catalonia, drawing inspiration from authors like Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Daniel Defoe.
Key Features:
- Blend of exotic adventures and Catalan settings.
- Expression of Catholic ideals and sentiments.
Story Outline:
- Hero: Humble and intelligent teenager.
- Assistant: Teenager who admires and depends on the hero.
- Objective: Perform a generous deed.
- Plot: Hero’s journey to achieve their objective.
- Setting: Catalonia or other countries.
- Ending: Resolution of the conflict.
Lived Pages: Short stories reflecting everyday life with a moral lesson, set in contemporary Catalonia, often featuring illustrations by Joan Junceda.
Plays: Works like “The Precious Slippers of Xinel·la” (inspired by Cinderella) adapted lived pages into dialogue form. Folch i Torres also staged fables, often portraying the fantastical as a dream or religious miracle.
Josep Carner
Carner’s contributions to children’s literature are threefold:
- Creator of original stories with religious themes.
- Translator of contemporary works.
- Adapter of fables from around the world.
Carles Riba
Known for “The Adventures of Perot Marrasquí,” a story about a tiny creature adapting to the human world.
Lola Anglada
Renowned cartoonist and editor.
2. “En Patufet” Weekly (1904)
Aimed at encouraging children and young people to read in Catalan. The magazine featured a humorous tone and included fables, stories, jokes, graphics, poems, and games. It played a significant role in promoting Catalan literacy, with a dedicated section called “Virolet” for younger children.
Popular Traditional Narrative
These narratives transmit culture and local traditions. Different forms serve various purposes:
- Lullabies: Soothe infants.
- Moixaines: Familiarize children with their bodies.
- Tongue twisters: Develop language skills.
- Counting-out rhymes: Organize games.
- Riddles: Enhance logical thinking and comparison.
- Sayings and proverbs: Convey popular wisdom.
- Jokes: Teach through laughter.
- Chain tales: Test concentration.
- Legends: Bring landscapes to life.
- Wonder tales: Explore fears, hopes, and illusions.
These materials are engaged with through listening, narration, recitation, reading, experience, and creation.
1. Tongue Twisters
Designed to improve pronunciation and linguistic agility, leading to mental maturation and overcoming phonetic difficulties.
2. Counting-Out Rhymes
Short oral poems used in games, introducing children to poetry and rhythmic movement.
3. Riddles
Compositions that describe a concept or object in an ambiguous way to be guessed, developing logical and imaginative skills. Gianni Rodari’s “process of alienation” involves separating an object from its usual context, while the “association process and comparison” compares it to something else. “Calembus” riddles contain the answer within the question, while misleading riddles are false, requiring reasoning to solve.
4. Myths
Orally transmitted stories with anonymous authors, supernatural characters, unspecified locations, and timeless settings, often holding religious significance.
5. Folktales
Orally transmitted stories with anonymous authors, generic characters, generic settings, timeless nature, and imaginative elements.
Folktales are anonymous and based on *type* (plot). The same motif can appear in different tales (e.g., the wolf’s full belly in “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs”). In 1896, Antoni Maria Alcover compiled 400 folktales, myths, and legends in “Aplec de rondalles mallorquines.”
6. Legends
Orally transmitted stories with anonymous authors, generic characters (heroes, saints), specific locations and times, presented as truthful accounts.
7. Fables
Orally transmitted stories with anonymous authors, animal characters representing human traits, generic settings, and a moral lesson.
Genres
Poetry: Author-created works, riddles, lullabies, counting-out rhymes, and tongue twisters. Children’s poetry emphasizes rhythm, rhyme, exaggeration, and nonsense.
Narrative: Novels and short stories with themes of adventure, travel, daily life, fear, science fiction, and humor. Popular fiction includes folktales, legends, and myths.
Theater: Often features puppets or shadows, with shortened plays, combined genres, and audience participation.
Other: Comics, albums, and illustrated books.
Definition
Graciela Perriconi: An act of communication with aesthetic character between an adult sender and a child receiver, aiming for awareness and using creative and playful language to meet the reader’s needs.
Juan Cervera: All integrated and active manifestations based on words or artistic purposes that are interesting to children.