Catalan Modernisme: A Cultural and Artistic Revolution

Defining Catalan Modernisme

Modernisme is a cultural and artistic movement from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that spanned all areas of art. It is understood as the will to transform Catalan culture into a modern, national culture. Modernists believed that Catalan culture would not regain the originality it lost to Castilian patterns during the Decadence, which were also behind the rest of Europe. Therefore, they revolted against Spanish culture and the Renaixença (the Catalan Revival), especially the ideas of Romanticism, which they considered stale and conservative. They declared themselves partisans of Realism and Naturalism.

The movement represented a rupture or confrontation between the artist and society—an act of will, rebellion, and a commitment to "young people who must rebuild their artistic, intellectual, and moral education as a group, who must purify their language and sensitize their nervous system" (Jaume Brossa). Modernisme arose in a traditionalist, localist society with an archaic and alienating political system. It countered an official, Spanish-integrating culture and a semi-official, sickly, Jocs Florals-based culture with the proposal to achieve a modern national culture. As Jaume Brossa stated, "Catalonia must educate itself, with its own civilization, not be towed by other groups."

It must be said that Catalan Modernisme is not comparable to Latin American Modernism but rather to parallel movements in Europe. It was not just a school but an ideological and historical artistic current. To resolve Catalan backwardness, the modernists proposed a model of society based on enlightened cosmopolitanism and the creation of a national Catalan culture. In literary and artistic matters, they tried to change the tastes of the middle class. They created many different styles, open to any European influence, and translated Europe's most popular authors into Catalan so they could be read by everyone. The modernists considered themselves versatile artists and adopted a combative, propagandistic attitude.

The Stages of Modernisme

The first symptoms of Modernisme appeared around 1881 in the journal L'Avenç, which echoed European artistic and literary developments. Around 1890, a civic campaign for the modernization and unification of spelling began, from which we can distinguish two main stages:

• The Combat Stage (1893-1900)

  The modernists established their presence through the Sitges Modernist Festivals and collaborations in the daily press. This phase is considered regenerationist.

• The Established Stage (1900-1911)

  Modernists gained popularity among the public with their novels and prose. This phase is known for being both regenerationist and aesthetic.