Mercè Rodoreda and Post-War Catalan Literature
Mercè Rodoreda and the Psychological Novel
Yes, I agree, Mercè Rodoreda’s work is very representative of the psychological novel type. This tendency was the dominant narrative in the forties and fifties. It is based on the description of the intimacy of one or more characters and their reactions. The narrator tends not to speak and is supplanted by the reactions and attitudes of the characters.
The first-person narrative culminates with the technique of interior monologue, characteristic of much of Mercè Rodoreda’s work, using language that reproduces the thoughts and ideas of the characters.
Rodoreda’s Career Stages
Mercè Rodoreda’s work is divided into three stages, where these features are observed:
Youth Stage
This stage leads up to the Civil War. Highlights Aloma, where women are victims of complex relationships and loneliness, often exhibiting attitudes shaped by male dominance.
Maturity Stage
Highlights The Time of the Doves (La Plaça del Diamant). This novel, written in the first person, tells the story of Natàlia – ‘Colometa’ – through three historical periods: the pre-war, the war, and the post-war civil period.
Later Stage
During this period, subjects such as death, life, and loneliness become mythical and poetic, with much symbolism. Highlights Broken Mirror (Mirall Trencat), written using varied narrative techniques: omniscient narrator, interior monologue, free indirect style… all characteristic features of the psychological novel.
Mercè Rodoreda is possibly the most important author of post-war Catalan literature.
Catalan Literature: 1970s to the Present
Since the 1970s, the political situation began to improve, which led to increased literary production and a diversity of aesthetic proposals. Literature entered under the sign of antirealism and narrative experimentalism.
Characteristics of 1970s Writers
A succession of writers with common characteristics:
- All experienced the immediate post-war period, are antidogmatic, and separate art from politics.
- Are greatly influenced by the media, have an ideological crisis, and therefore try to erase taboos and modify traditional values.
- Many of these autodidacts began writing in Spanish because Catalan was censored.
- Look for new forms of expression and new narrative structures, influenced by American, Italian, and South American literature.
- Concerned with research to create a unique style with professionalism.
Content Themes in the 1970s
In terms of content, works from the 1970s often include three topics:
- The search for personal origins. This narrates the relationship between the individual and their environment.
- Family sagas or novels set in a particular society.
- Novels that show modernity and rebellion. They break with previous genres, incorporate techniques from other arts, and show a desire to connect with the rebellions of the sixties.
Trends in the 1980s
In the 1980s, political resentment and experimentalist concerns lessened, giving way to more traditional narrative forms. The novel proliferated, focusing on historical subjects, intrigue, and adventure. Urban life of the time was often depicted ironically and realistically. In this period, many authors wrote short stories.
Trends in the 1990s
During the 1990s, there was a notable taste for historical novels, erotica, youth literature, and crime fiction. The publishing market became completely normalized.