Catalan Literature: Decline After the 15th Century to Renaixença

Sixteenth–Eighteenth Century Decline

After a magnificent fifteenth century, literary production in Catalan declined both in quantity and quality. Causes of this devallada (decline) included several social and cultural dynamics that reduced the cultivation of literature in Catalan over the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Causes of the Decline

The main causes of the decline were varied and interrelated:

• alienation from the royal court;
• being dazzled by Castilian literature and its prestige;
• consequences of a number of historical events: revolts, the War of the Spanish Succession, and others;
• the appearance and spread of the printing press, which helped Spanish (Castilian) become the more widely distributed language for printed works.

The literature of the period also reflects two fundamental facts: the influence of humanism and the Renaissance, and a reaction against the medieval worldview.

Humanism and the Renaissance Influence

Humanism and the Renaissance left a mark on Catalan letters, but their impact did not immediately reverse the long decline. The social and cultural shifts of subsequent centuries continued to shape literary production.

Nineteenth-Century Renaixença and Industrial Change

19th Century Renaixença: During the nineteenth century, Catalonia experienced profound social and economic transformation driven by industrialization. As a result of industrialization, on the one hand an industrial bourgeoisie became the dominant class and, on the other hand, a proletariat emerged. After three centuries of decline in the cultivation of serious literature, a slow recovery began: a literary movement called the Renaixença (Renaissance) started to develop. The origins of this movement can be found in the social and economic development of Catalonia and in the emergence of Romanticism.

Essential Features of Romanticism

Romanticism in Catalonia exhibited a set of essential features:

• individualism and emphasis on the self (subjectivism);
• predominance of feeling and imagination;
• a claim for freedom of creation;
• a renewed interest in and admiration for the Middle Ages;
• interest in popular culture;
• the search for and valuation of beauty.

Jocs Florals and the Rise of National Consciousness

The search for beauty fostered a growing national consciousness. In 1859 the Jocs Florals (the Floral Games) were inaugurated as a public cultural event. The themes of the contests were dominated by motifs such as homeland, faith and love. In the revival of Catalan literature the most prominent figures included Jacint Verdaguer (poetry), Narcís Oller (theatre and prose) and Àngel Guimerà (theatre).

Àngel Guimerà: Life and Career

Àngel Guimerà (born in Santa Cruz in 1845, died in Barcelona in 1924) played a central role in consolidating the Renaixença through theatre. His family returned to Catalonia in 1853, where he learned Catalan. His father was a businessman and Catalan by origin.

Stages of Guimerà's Work

Guimerà's dramatic production can be divided into three stages:

1. First stage: Clear Romanticism

   The first stage, clearly romantic, began with early works that combined placid lyricism and historical drama. (Original phrasing retained where uncertain: "began with the placid and Wales was tebcar with King and Monk".) It comprises a set of historical dramas. Sea and Sky (Sea and Sky) is the most important work of this stage and is considered one of Guimerà's best plays.

2. Second stage: Synthesis of Romanticism and Realism

   The second phase covers approximately the period from 1890 to 1900. These are the years of artistic fullness, during which Guimerà sought a synthesis between romanticism and realism. Corresponding to this stage is the trilogy that contains some of his best works: Maria Rosa, Lowlands and Daughter of the Sea.

3. Third stage: Adaptation to New Aesthetics

   The third stage reflects Guimerà's desire to adapt to new theatrical aesthetic trends. With works such as Spider he tried to connect to regenerationist modernism, while pieces like The Holy Thorn and Queen show elements approaching symbolist modernism.

Throughout these stages Guimerà contributed decisively to the consolidation of Catalan theatre within the broader Renaixença movement and to the recovery of Catalan as a literary language.