Postwar Valencian Poetry (1939-1962)
The strict postwar period (1939-1962) includes writers born in the 1910s and 1920s who began writing immediately after the war. Aesthetically, they aligned with post-symbolism or realism. This group includes Joan Valls, Joan Fuster, Vicent Andrés Estellés, and Xavier Casp.
Vicent Andrés Estellés (1924-1993)
He is considered the greatest Valencian poet since the 15th century. Born in Burjassot, his poems constantly allude to the suffering caused by the Franco regime. Note that publication dates do not correspond with creation dates due to censorship. During the fifties and sixties, Estellés published four poems, including Whispered City and Bitter Maiden, but his work gained widespread recognition with the appearance of Book of Wonders (1971), which became a bestseller. Predominant themes in his work include:
- Civic Engagement: Estellés appears as an interpreter of his people, assuming their voice. His social chronicle, both bitter and hopeful, focuses on everyday details in descriptions of characters and scenes of his time.
- Love: Love is a constant flash in his work. The female body is a source of metaphors, and love is presented with great expressive intensity. Sexuality is often expressed very directly, using colloquial language.
- Poetic Language: Estellés’s poetic language is based on three pillars: the classics of the Spanish language, 20th-century literature, and everyday Valencian language. The most important features of his poetic language are:
- A language closer to everyday speech, motivated by two reasons: to connect with readers and to remain faithful to his roots. From a sociolinguistic point of view, the use of colloquial and vulgar registers stands out. Also characteristic is the breaking of the lyrical with everyday, colloquial, or ironic elements.
- Comparisons, with a clear archaic influence from Ausiàs March.
- A distinctive use of adjectives: the use of the word “double”, placed before or after the noun, creates a slow pace and elevates the abstract content.
- Repetition of words and phrases (polysyndeton).
- Parody.
- Varied metric compositions.
- Confessional poetry, often using the first person to chronicle his past.
- Dialogue poems.
Enric Valor (1911-2000)
He is a key figure in contemporary Valencian literature. His work manifests in three aspects: storyteller, novelist, and grammarian.
- Storyteller: He compiled and literary adapted a corpus of 36 Valencian tales, classified into three types: fairy tales, animal tales, and customs tales. Valor’s tales have distinct characteristics:
- Stories are set in specific Valencian areas.
- It’s not just compilation, but literary creation.
- Linguistic concern: he uses popular language with a rich vocabulary, creating a literary model.
- Careful selection of tales based on good taste.
- Novelist: In the postwar period, he began with L’ambició d’Aleix, followed by the trilogy L’idea de l’emigrant (No oblidaràs la terra promesa, Temps de batuda, and Més enllà de l’horitzó). He also published Un fonamentalista i altres contarelles del Vinalopó.
- Grammarian: Valor is also a noted grammarian, with works like Millorem la llengua and Curs mitjà de gramàtica catalana, including Les flexions verbals.
Quim Monzó (1952)
The thematic material of his stories is everyday life in the Western world, a portrait of our hedonistic, consumerist, and de-ideologized society. He analyzes current lifestyles and dominant stereotypes. Notable works include Uf, va dir ell, Benzina, La magnitud de la tragèdia, Perquè s’ha plegat el torus, Guadalajara, and Mil cretins.
Manuel de Pedrolo (1918-1990)
Better known as a novelist, he also wrote thirteen plays focused on the theme of freedom, reminiscent of the theater of the absurd of Ionesco or Beckett. These plays use conversations to show the human struggle against surrounding irrationality. Cruma aligns with the European absurdist theater trend. Formal and technical similarities are evident: absurd initial situation, circular structure, lack of action within a simple setting, timeless and ahistorical space, and anonymous characters. Also noteworthy are Homes i situació and La seva última versió per ara, where characters gain awareness to act against external determinism.