Cinema and Postwar Catalan Poetry: A Historical Look
Cinema: Its Birth and Evolution
FILM: Born in 1895. The Lumière brothers presented their seventh Lumière cinema. Their first film had a documentary goal. Later, Georges Méliès began using film to tell fictional stories. In 1927, sound and color were incorporated, and film evolved further. Film combines visual and auditory elements (dialogue, music, and sounds).
- Subjective Camera: Alternates between a general shot and a shot from the character’s point of view.
- Voice-over: A character talks about the projected image without intervening in the action.
- Chronological Alterations:
- Ellipsis: A jump forward in time.
- Flashback: A jump backward in time.
- Genres: Comedy, drama, history, science fiction, etc.
- Homonyms: Words that are spelled and pronounced the same but have different meanings.
- Homophones: Words that coincide in sound.
- Homographs: Words that coincide in spelling.
Postwar Catalan Poetry
After the Second World War, Franco was accepted internationally because he represented opposition to communism, and he banned any manifestation of Catalan culture. Resistance to the dictatorship and the tram strike in 1951 in Barcelona marked the end of the postwar period and the start of the first stage of more open resistance. There was a great flood of immigration from the south of the Peninsula, with people looking for work opportunities. Until Franco’s death in 1975, the dictatorship prevented the economic and political development of the country.
A political, cultural, and trade union resistance movement to Franco’s dictatorship was created. The first series of cultural initiatives was relaunched, such as the publications Poesia, Ariel, Serra d’Or, the innovative publishing house Edicions 62, and literary awards. During Franco’s regime, poetry was the most dynamic, rich, and diverse genre, and it managed to have a stable and secure audience.
The return to Buenos Aires of Carles Riba after his exile in 1943 directed a group of young poets who continued the academic tradition of the 20th century, characterized by intellectual and hermetic poetry, expressed in a cultured, demanding, and rigorous language.
Post-symbolist poets: Joan Vinyoli and Agustí Bartra. Avant-garde expressionism was expressed through magazines such as Poesia (1944), Ariel (1946), and Dau al Set (1948).
Carles Riba (Barcelona 1893-1959)
He dedicated himself to all intellectual tasks: literary criticism, translation, poetry, etc. He was one of the first authors to go into exile. His work evolved from an initial period influenced by the postulates of Noucentisme (Estances, 1919) to symbolism influenced by Mallarmé and Valéry (Estances, Tres suites, 1930, 1937). The war and exile gave voice to his work, influenced by classic humanism and his own experiences (Del joc i del foc, 1946; Elegies de Bierville, 1949; Salvatge Cor, 1952; and Esbós de tres oratoris, 1957). His poetry had a very high level of difficulty in understanding, as the symbols and metaphors do not always refer to realities intelligible to the reader. Carles Riba was a great humanist who devoted part of his life to the translation and dissemination of modern classics and authors. He also wrote stories for children and literary critiques.
Clementina Arderiu (Barcelona 1889-1976)
Wife of Carles Riba. Her first collection of poetry reflects the intimate experience marked by the pain and hardships of the postwar period and exile, written in a straightforward language. In 1916 she published her first book, Cançons i Elegies, followed by other books: L’alta llibertat, 1920, and Cant i Paraules, 1936. During the war, she wrote Sempre i ara, 1946, with poems about exile. Her latest titles are És a dir, 1960, and L’esperança encara, 1969. The dominant themes in Clementina Arderiu’s poetry are love, faith, joy, song, the female condition, pain, anguish, sadness, fear, and death.
Salvador Espriu (Santa Coloma de Farners 1913 – Barcelona 1985)
When he finished his studies, the Civil War broke out. This event, along with the deaths of his father and his best friend (Bartomeu Rosselló-Pòrcel), conditioned his life and literary work. Espriu began publishing in his thirties: El Dr. Rip, 1931; Laia, 1932; Ariadna al laberint grotesc, 1935. He wrote the theatrical work Antígona, about the need to lose on both sides of a conflict. Afterward, he began to write poetry. In his poetry, the dominant theme is death. Some titles: Cementiri de Sinera, 1946; Les cançons d’Ariadna, 1949; Les Hores, 1952; Mrs. Death, 1952; El caminant i el mur, 1954; Final del laberint, 1955.