Majorca > Culture of Majorca > History of Catalan language > Towards the normalization (XXth century)
In the first third of the XXth century the political Catalan movement reached the power in Catalonia, so many signs are recovered and the Catalan language follows a process of crescent normalization
An autonomous institution is recovered, the Generalitat de Catalunya, whose president, Enric Prat de la Riba, works hard with culture: creation of libraries, of schools of technical learning, of the Institute of Catalan Studies... With the founding of the Republic some important facts for the noralization of teh language were achieved: it was codified, taught at schools and at the university, it was used in press and radio ... In Majorca in 1923 the Association for the Culture of Majorca was founded. It was integrated by professionals who aimed to promote the Catalonian culture, what created an intense debate about the use of language, and its flag.
This progress, however, was restrained with the brake of the dictatorships: the one of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930) and the one of Franco (1939-1975).
Two important figures: Antoni M. Alcover and Pompeu Fabra
- Antoni M. Alcover (Manacor, 1862 - Palma, 1932). Priest and linguistic he did a great job collecting annd spreading the linguistic heritage of the Catalan, both in terms of vocabulary and popular literature. He is author of the compilation Rondaies mallorquines, of 24 volumes, that include the narrations transmited orally, from generation to generation, that the same Alcover had listened from the people of the villages and estates of the island.
Thanks to him the Catalan has a so rich and vast compilation of vocabulary as it is the Dictionary Catalan-Valencian-Balearic. Also Francesc de Borja Moll took part in its elaboration. Alcover intended to collect all the words from former and contemporary Catalan, and that is why he had to create a net of collaborators all over the countries where Catalan was spoken to collect words of every place and also he studied the books written in Catalan from the Middle Age. It is a very complete dictionary, that has information about etymology, pronunciation, dialectal carieties, sayings and idioms, translation to Spanish...
At the request and initiative of the priest Alcover, in 1906 took place the first International Congress of the Catalan, a meeting of specialists of Catalan to debate different aspects about language. The congress was a success, with over 3.000 participants, and was effective to stimulate the scientist studies and to attract the international attention.
- Pompeu Fabra i Poch (Gràcia, 1868 – Prada de Conflent, 1948). Industrial engineer, from his early youth he dedicated to study Catalan. After spending a time in Bilbao, where he occupied a chair of Chemistry, he moved to Badalona to become professor at the chair of the Catalan and member of the Philological Section of the Institute of Catalan Studies, a section and an institution he chaired years later.
The Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC), was founded in 1907 by Prat de la Riba, as institution in charge of regulating the Catalan culture and systemazing the studies about Catalan culture in general. It is structured in sections and branches; the Philological Section is the one in charge of the linguistic issues, and Fabra developed a great part of his activity linked to that section. From the IEC, he was the responsible of the codification of the language (regularization of the way of writing and of speaking the standard registry), through the following publications:
The civil war and the founding of the dictatorship of Franco had serious consecuences also at the linguistic area. The decade of the 40s was specially hard; the Catalan was prohibited in public use, in signage, at the administration, at the university, at the mass media ... Many writers and intellectuals had to go into exile, or were killed or made prisoners. The edition of books in Catalan was forbidden and there was a long silence of works and authors; just in exile there was a certain vitality of publications. However, the Catalan continued being the oral used language in familiar situations.
At the decade of the 50s the repression of Franco was lightly softened (the cultural magazien in Catalan Serra d’Or is created, also some publishing houses...) and in the 60s the cultural activity increases: Editorial Selecta and Ediciones 62 usually publish, literary awards are organized, new magazines appear (for instance, Cavall Fort, addressed to children), la Nova Cançó (New Song) se expresses in Catalan... At the end of this decade the Catalan classes began thanks to the initiative of associations as Cultural Òmnium (in Catalonia) and the Obra Cultural Balear (at the Balearics).
With the death of Franco and the founding of the democracy in 1977, this obscure period for the Catalan language finishes and progressively it appears in areas in which until then has not appeared, as the learning and teh administration. The linguistic and cultural plurality of the state is recognized and begins a phase regulated by a legal frame. (See the section LEGISLATION).
This progress, however, was restrained with the brake of the dictatorships: the one of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930) and the one of Franco (1939-1975).
Two important figures: Antoni M. Alcover and Pompeu Fabra
- Antoni M. Alcover (Manacor, 1862 - Palma, 1932). Priest and linguistic he did a great job collecting annd spreading the linguistic heritage of the Catalan, both in terms of vocabulary and popular literature. He is author of the compilation Rondaies mallorquines, of 24 volumes, that include the narrations transmited orally, from generation to generation, that the same Alcover had listened from the people of the villages and estates of the island.
Thanks to him the Catalan has a so rich and vast compilation of vocabulary as it is the Dictionary Catalan-Valencian-Balearic. Also Francesc de Borja Moll took part in its elaboration. Alcover intended to collect all the words from former and contemporary Catalan, and that is why he had to create a net of collaborators all over the countries where Catalan was spoken to collect words of every place and also he studied the books written in Catalan from the Middle Age. It is a very complete dictionary, that has information about etymology, pronunciation, dialectal carieties, sayings and idioms, translation to Spanish...
At the request and initiative of the priest Alcover, in 1906 took place the first International Congress of the Catalan, a meeting of specialists of Catalan to debate different aspects about language. The congress was a success, with over 3.000 participants, and was effective to stimulate the scientist studies and to attract the international attention.
- Pompeu Fabra i Poch (Gràcia, 1868 – Prada de Conflent, 1948). Industrial engineer, from his early youth he dedicated to study Catalan. After spending a time in Bilbao, where he occupied a chair of Chemistry, he moved to Badalona to become professor at the chair of the Catalan and member of the Philological Section of the Institute of Catalan Studies, a section and an institution he chaired years later.
The Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC), was founded in 1907 by Prat de la Riba, as institution in charge of regulating the Catalan culture and systemazing the studies about Catalan culture in general. It is structured in sections and branches; the Philological Section is the one in charge of the linguistic issues, and Fabra developed a great part of his activity linked to that section. From the IEC, he was the responsible of the codification of the language (regularization of the way of writing and of speaking the standard registry), through the following publications:
- 1913. Ortographic regulations
- 1917. Ortographic dictionary
- 1918 and successive editions. Catalan grammar
- 1932. General dictionary of the Catalan
The civil war and the founding of the dictatorship of Franco had serious consecuences also at the linguistic area. The decade of the 40s was specially hard; the Catalan was prohibited in public use, in signage, at the administration, at the university, at the mass media ... Many writers and intellectuals had to go into exile, or were killed or made prisoners. The edition of books in Catalan was forbidden and there was a long silence of works and authors; just in exile there was a certain vitality of publications. However, the Catalan continued being the oral used language in familiar situations.
At the decade of the 50s the repression of Franco was lightly softened (the cultural magazien in Catalan Serra d’Or is created, also some publishing houses...) and in the 60s the cultural activity increases: Editorial Selecta and Ediciones 62 usually publish, literary awards are organized, new magazines appear (for instance, Cavall Fort, addressed to children), la Nova Cançó (New Song) se expresses in Catalan... At the end of this decade the Catalan classes began thanks to the initiative of associations as Cultural Òmnium (in Catalonia) and the Obra Cultural Balear (at the Balearics).
With the death of Franco and the founding of the democracy in 1977, this obscure period for the Catalan language finishes and progressively it appears in areas in which until then has not appeared, as the learning and teh administration. The linguistic and cultural plurality of the state is recognized and begins a phase regulated by a legal frame. (See the section LEGISLATION).
- Miquel Costa i Llobera (Pollença, 1854 - Palma, 1922). he is mid-way between the XIXth and the XXth century. Son of a well-off family of rural owners. He studied Law in Barcelona and Madrid, but his faith was had more influence on him and then he was ordained priest in Rome. He was influenced by the Romantic French authors as Lamartine, but also from the Classics, specially from Horacio and Virgilio. His first works are Poesies (that include the emblematic «Lo pi de Formentor»), the narrative poems De l'agre de la terra (1897) and Tradicions i fantasies, more romantic ones. In 1906 he published one of his most important books, Horacianes, that adapted the Latin metric to the Catalonian one to defend ideals of the Classicism and of the Mediterranean; this work achieved a great success in Barcelona, specially at the gatherings of the XIXth century. As a result of a travel to Holy Land, he writes Visions de Palestina. He died preaching at a church. He is considered to be one of the main figures of the so called Majorcan School and an essential poet in the evolution of the Catalan poetry from the Romanticism towards the el Noucentisme.
- Joan Alcover (Palma, 1854-1926). Poet, essayist and politician. As Costa i Llobera, he is one of the essential authors of the Majorcan School. He began writing poems in Spanish with influences of the Romanticism, bu when he was 47 years old he definitively adopted the Catalan as literary language; he realized it was the way of making a more sincere and personal, with which expressing the grief of the death of his wife and four sons and daughters. He published the collection of poems Cap al tard, in which he symbolicly uses landscape to express his emotions. The following work was Poemes bíblic, a set of «views» of biblical figures that show grief and human tragedy. He published essays about theory of the art, in which he opted by the aesthetic and the ethical of the Romantics, but with the contro and moderation of the Classicism advocated by Costa i Llobera. According to Alcover, the art has to be based on the sincerity to express feelings and the clarity in poetry. Some of his poems were musicalized, as La Balanguera, that in 1996 was declared the official anthem of Majorca.
- Josep Carner (Barcelona, 1884 - Bruselas, 1970). Member of a family of the small bourgeoisie, soon he showed interest for literary creation. He got his degree in Law and Philosophy and, already at this age of student, he collaborated in several publications. In 1911 he was designed member of the Philological Section of the IEC and was a close collaborator of Fabra with his task with the language. Follower of the political Catalanism of Prat de la Riba, he reflected this ideology in articles and editorials. The consular career made him travel around different European cities and of South America, and when the Civil War took place he had to go into the exile to Brussels and Mexico.
Among his works it is remarkable Els fruits saborosos, considered one of the outstanding works of the Noucentisme, movement he leads. Later the poetry of Carner evolved to the post-symbolism, with books as Auques i ventalls, El cor quiet y Nabí. His task as translator includes Chinese poets, Shakespeare, Molière, Andersen and Lewis Carrol, to name some of them. He was a renovatorof the poetry, the language and the Catalan prose.
- Carles Riba (Barcelona, 1893-1959). Poet, narrator, literary critic, translator and academic. He also worked as a professor of Greek and was a member of the IEC. He went into the exile in 1939 due to the Spanish civil war. In the first age of his poetry, it may be seen the influence of the Noucentisme, but with a certain introspective and analitical attitude towards the deep ethical life; later on, specially after having met Paul Valéry, he evolved towards the post-symbolism and the pure poetry. Some titles are Primer llibre d'Estances, Segon llibre d'Estances, Tres suites, Elegies de Bierville, Salvatge cor and Esbós de tres oratoris. As a translator, his works the Odisea by Homer and also works by Esquilo, Hölderlin, Kavafis, Plutarco, Poe, Rilke and Sófocles, among others, may be mentioned.
- Llorenç Villalonga (Palma, 1897 - 1980). He studied Psychiatry and combined this professional activity with the literary creation. As a student he already began collaborating in press and later he attended gatherings and was in contact with the writers of the Majorcan avant-garde movement. He publicly criticized the Majorcan School and the conservationist Catalanism of the island. In 1931 he published the novel Mort de dama, satire of the aristocratic and intellectual world of the island, what caused controversy and enemies. From 1934 to 1936 he directed the magazine Brisas and published short stories, articles of opinion piece... Wih the Civil War, he became a member of the party Falange and carried out a propaganda task against the Catalanism, He wrote in Spanish, but with time he distanced from fascism and took part again at the international Catalan circle.
The literary production of Villalonga includes every genre. He wrote theatre plays as Fedra, that reflects his relation with the poet Emília Bernal, and Desbarats, that collects costumbrist pieces and others related to the theatre of absurd. In short narrative he left works as El lledoner de la clastra, El llumí i altes narracions, Narracions... But it is novel where we find his best works: La novel·la de Palmira, Desenllaç a Montlleó, L’àngel rebel, Andrea Víctrix... and possibly his main work, Bearn. The work of Villalonga is, generally, very cohesionated and has a close relation with the life of the writer; many of the characters of his works may be identified with real people. His subjects and obsesions are the decadence of aristocracy, the conflictive love/attachment relations, the mixture of reality and phantasy, the deshumanization of the occidental society, the mythification of environment... Clear influence form the French literature, specially from Marcel Proust.
- Mercè Rodoreda (Barcelona, 1908 - Gerona, 1983). Only daughter of a couple lover of the letters, her childhood was marked by the figure of her maternal grandfatehr, who instilled into her a deep Catalanist feeling. With just 20 years, she got married with her oncle, fourteen years older than her, of whom later on get separated. As a refuge of this dissapointing marriage, she began writing for some publications and, later, began writing novel. At the end of the Civil War she went into exile to several towns of France, after to Geneva, where she continued writing. In novel she has left us titles as Aloma, El carrer de les Camèlies, Mirall trencat or La plaça del Diamant, among others; this last set at the headquarter of Gracia (Barcelona), it tells the story of Colometa, a woman as so many others to whom the war distroyed life and illusions. Among the collections of short stories we can mention Vint-i-dos contes, Viatges i flors i Quanta, quanta guerra...
The work of this author is featured by a depp psychological treatment of the characters; a basicly feminine thematic, with a women as a protagonist; the description of the Catalan society at the XXth century and a narrative poetic style full of symbolism.
Rodoreda received many literary awards in her life, as in 1980, the Honour Prize of the Catalan letters. The nove La plaça del Diamant (The square of the Diamond) may be nowadays read in over twenty languages.
- Joan Alcover (Palma, 1854-1926). Poet, essayist and politician. As Costa i Llobera, he is one of the essential authors of the Majorcan School. He began writing poems in Spanish with influences of the Romanticism, bu when he was 47 years old he definitively adopted the Catalan as literary language; he realized it was the way of making a more sincere and personal, with which expressing the grief of the death of his wife and four sons and daughters. He published the collection of poems Cap al tard, in which he symbolicly uses landscape to express his emotions. The following work was Poemes bíblic, a set of «views» of biblical figures that show grief and human tragedy. He published essays about theory of the art, in which he opted by the aesthetic and the ethical of the Romantics, but with the contro and moderation of the Classicism advocated by Costa i Llobera. According to Alcover, the art has to be based on the sincerity to express feelings and the clarity in poetry. Some of his poems were musicalized, as La Balanguera, that in 1996 was declared the official anthem of Majorca.
- Josep Carner (Barcelona, 1884 - Bruselas, 1970). Member of a family of the small bourgeoisie, soon he showed interest for literary creation. He got his degree in Law and Philosophy and, already at this age of student, he collaborated in several publications. In 1911 he was designed member of the Philological Section of the IEC and was a close collaborator of Fabra with his task with the language. Follower of the political Catalanism of Prat de la Riba, he reflected this ideology in articles and editorials. The consular career made him travel around different European cities and of South America, and when the Civil War took place he had to go into the exile to Brussels and Mexico.
Among his works it is remarkable Els fruits saborosos, considered one of the outstanding works of the Noucentisme, movement he leads. Later the poetry of Carner evolved to the post-symbolism, with books as Auques i ventalls, El cor quiet y Nabí. His task as translator includes Chinese poets, Shakespeare, Molière, Andersen and Lewis Carrol, to name some of them. He was a renovatorof the poetry, the language and the Catalan prose.
- Carles Riba (Barcelona, 1893-1959). Poet, narrator, literary critic, translator and academic. He also worked as a professor of Greek and was a member of the IEC. He went into the exile in 1939 due to the Spanish civil war. In the first age of his poetry, it may be seen the influence of the Noucentisme, but with a certain introspective and analitical attitude towards the deep ethical life; later on, specially after having met Paul Valéry, he evolved towards the post-symbolism and the pure poetry. Some titles are Primer llibre d'Estances, Segon llibre d'Estances, Tres suites, Elegies de Bierville, Salvatge cor and Esbós de tres oratoris. As a translator, his works the Odisea by Homer and also works by Esquilo, Hölderlin, Kavafis, Plutarco, Poe, Rilke and Sófocles, among others, may be mentioned.
- Llorenç Villalonga (Palma, 1897 - 1980). He studied Psychiatry and combined this professional activity with the literary creation. As a student he already began collaborating in press and later he attended gatherings and was in contact with the writers of the Majorcan avant-garde movement. He publicly criticized the Majorcan School and the conservationist Catalanism of the island. In 1931 he published the novel Mort de dama, satire of the aristocratic and intellectual world of the island, what caused controversy and enemies. From 1934 to 1936 he directed the magazine Brisas and published short stories, articles of opinion piece... Wih the Civil War, he became a member of the party Falange and carried out a propaganda task against the Catalanism, He wrote in Spanish, but with time he distanced from fascism and took part again at the international Catalan circle.
The literary production of Villalonga includes every genre. He wrote theatre plays as Fedra, that reflects his relation with the poet Emília Bernal, and Desbarats, that collects costumbrist pieces and others related to the theatre of absurd. In short narrative he left works as El lledoner de la clastra, El llumí i altes narracions, Narracions... But it is novel where we find his best works: La novel·la de Palmira, Desenllaç a Montlleó, L’àngel rebel, Andrea Víctrix... and possibly his main work, Bearn. The work of Villalonga is, generally, very cohesionated and has a close relation with the life of the writer; many of the characters of his works may be identified with real people. His subjects and obsesions are the decadence of aristocracy, the conflictive love/attachment relations, the mixture of reality and phantasy, the deshumanization of the occidental society, the mythification of environment... Clear influence form the French literature, specially from Marcel Proust.
- Mercè Rodoreda (Barcelona, 1908 - Gerona, 1983). Only daughter of a couple lover of the letters, her childhood was marked by the figure of her maternal grandfatehr, who instilled into her a deep Catalanist feeling. With just 20 years, she got married with her oncle, fourteen years older than her, of whom later on get separated. As a refuge of this dissapointing marriage, she began writing for some publications and, later, began writing novel. At the end of the Civil War she went into exile to several towns of France, after to Geneva, where she continued writing. In novel she has left us titles as Aloma, El carrer de les Camèlies, Mirall trencat or La plaça del Diamant, among others; this last set at the headquarter of Gracia (Barcelona), it tells the story of Colometa, a woman as so many others to whom the war distroyed life and illusions. Among the collections of short stories we can mention Vint-i-dos contes, Viatges i flors i Quanta, quanta guerra...
The work of this author is featured by a depp psychological treatment of the characters; a basicly feminine thematic, with a women as a protagonist; the description of the Catalan society at the XXth century and a narrative poetic style full of symbolism.
Rodoreda received many literary awards in her life, as in 1980, the Honour Prize of the Catalan letters. The nove La plaça del Diamant (The square of the Diamond) may be nowadays read in over twenty languages.