Catalan Literary Movements: Noucentisme, Mallorcan School, and Avant-Garde

Noucentisme: A Classicist Movement in Catalan Literature

Noucentisme was a Catalan cultural and political movement that emerged in the early 20th century. It encompassed various aspects, including language, culture, and education. As a classicist movement, Noucentisme emphasized a return to order, harmony, and balance, reflecting the broader European rationalist trends of the time. Politically, Noucentisme was closely associated with the Regionalist League, led by Enric Prat de la Riba. This party represented the Catalan nationalist aspirations of the conservative bourgeoisie.

Key Characteristics of Noucentisme

• Mediterranean spirit
• Christianity
• Formal artificiality
• Measurement and balance
• Wisdom and clarity
• Precision and lightness
• Urban civilization and the city
• Domesticated landscapes

The Mallorcan School: Poetic Tradition and Landscape

The Mallorcan School refers to a distinct poetic movement within Catalan literature, characterized by its focus on formal perfection and the exaltation of the Mallorcan landscape. It encompasses two generations of poets, spanning from 1903 to 1921. Notable figures include Maria Antònia Salvà, Llorenç Riber, Miquel Ferrà, Miquel Forteza, Guillem Colom, and Joan Pons i Marquès. However, the term primarily refers to the two most prominent authors of the period: Joan Alcover and Miquel Costa i Llobera.

Key Characteristics of the Mallorcan School

• Pursuit of formal perfection
• Traditionalist nationalism
• Return to classical Greco-Latin forms
• Exaltation of the Mallorcan landscape
• Depiction of a tranquil, rural setting without tensions
• Search for equilibrium
• Subjectivism and intimacy
• Emotional containment
• Refinement of verse
• Use of a cultured and refined language

Avant-Garde: Breaking with Tradition in Catalan Art

The Avant-Garde refers to a series of artistic and literary movements that emerged in Europe during the first third of the 20th century. These movements, originating primarily in France and Italy, profoundly impacted the Catalan cultural landscape. The Avant-Garde was characterized by a desire to break not only with established artistic models but also with the prevailing moral and social order. It represented a spirit of protest and subversion, seeking to establish new theories of art, often bordering on anti-art, reflecting a deep crisis in the arts and literature.

Key Characteristics of the Avant-Garde

• Rejection of bourgeois-established schemes
• Destruction of traditional art
• Search for new forms of expression
• Assimilation of other cultures, both geographically and temporally distant
• Social nonconformity
• Use of Freudian methods and discoveries

Major Avant-Garde Movements

• Cubism: Showed the different facets of reality. Key figure: Guillaume Apollinaire.
• Futurism: Emphasized danger, recklessness, and the speed of machines as icons of the movement. Key figure: Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.
• Dadaism: Expressed dissatisfaction with established norms, prevailing morality, and religion. Key figure: Tristan Tzara.