Josep Maria de Sagarra: Life, Theater, and Literary Works
Josep Maria de Sagarra: A Literary Overview
Catalan theater was in crisis in the early decades of the 20th century. Some authors began to write works inspired by the model of French theater, reflecting the hegemony of the bourgeoisie, fleeing the realist tradition and raising their own conflicts and entanglements of family life. These crises led to the inclusion of critical elements.
Josep Maria de Sagarra (1894-1961)
Josep Maria de Sagarra met Charles and Ram Bank and studied Law at UB. In 1914, he published his first book: First Book of Poems. In 1918, the comedy Romae Sparrow, his first play, premiered. In 1932, he published the novel Private Life. At the start of the Spanish Civil War, he was exiled. In 1940, he returned to Barcelona and was forced to restrict his activities and engage in traditions. In 1945, he premiered brand new plays. In 1954, he wrote his memoirs and died in 1961.
Sagarra’s Plays
Sagarra was a popular and important playwright in the first half of the 20th century. His plays fall into two genres:
- Comedy of manners, which connects the tradition with works such as the Rambla vuitcentrista of florists.
- Dramatic poems, which pose dramatic situations led by dominant personalities driven by passion and love, often in conflict. Examples include Maria’s Coffee.
After the war, he wrote works that moved away from the populism that characterized previous creations. However, this theater did not have the same acceptance as the theater before the war. Between 1952 and 1957, he opted for thesis plays presenting religious and moral problems, such as Light Wound.
Narrative Works
Sagarra’s narrative work consists of short stories and novels, including Paulina Buixat (1919), All Brackish (1928), and Private Life (1932). The latter is a chronicle of the decline of the aristocracy of Barcelona in the transition from the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera to the Republic. In 1954, his memoirs were published, summarizing the writer’s experiences until 1918.
Poetic Works
Sagarra wrote poetry that was clear and comprehensive, avoiding abstractions and intellectualisms, and connecting with popular sensibility. The poems contain images and resources of popular lyric. Nature, landscape, and the characters that inhabit them are the principal subjects of his poems. Examples include Evil Hunter and Count Arnau.
Dramatic Poems (Catalan)
Situations dramàtiques protagonitzades per personatges dominants, impulsats per la passió i sovint conflictes amorosos, com a Maria’s Coffee. Després de la guerra, va escriure obres que s’allunyaven del populisme que caracteritzava les creacions anteriors. Però aquest teatre no va tenir la mateixa acceptació i va tornar a escriure com abans de la guerra. Entre 1952 i 1957, va optar per un teatre de tesi que presentava una problemàtica de caire religiós i moral, com Frida la lluminosa.
Narrative Work (Catalan)
Consisteix en contes i novel·les, com Paulina Buxaru (1919), Ay (1928), i Private Life (1932). Aquesta darrera és una crònica de la decadència de l’aristocràcia barcelonina en la transició de la dictadura de Primo de Rivera a la República. El 1954 es publicaren les memòries que recullen les experiències de l’escriptor fins al 1918.
Poetry (Catalan)
Sagarra va escriure una poesia clara i entenedora que defugia les abstraccions i els intel·lectualismes i connectà amb la sensibilitat popular. Incorporava imatges i recursos propis de la lírica popular. La natura, el paisatge i els personatges que els habiten, són les principals raons dels poemes, com El caçador maleït i El comte Arnau.