Catalan Poetry Evolution: 1970s to 1990s

Catalan Poetry: From the 1970s to the 1990s

9.A. At the beginning of the 1970s, Foix's work was recovered, and two books crucial to overcoming realism were published. These books tipped Catalan poetry: The Mirror by Peter Gimferrer and Trench Poetry by Joan Brossa. In Valencia, the new references were Joan Navarro and Salvador Jàfer. The anthology of Amadeus Fabregat (Fresh Meat) collected this change of direction that turned away from the preceding realism. Poetry is not realistic. In a few years, the following features became dominant:

• Practical rebellion: Connecting writing practices that had shaped the history of 20th-century poetry, poetry is regarded as freelance speech.
• The poetic word stops being used to narrate and becomes suggestive, evocative, imaginative, and ambiguous.
• Poetry was considered again as a research tool of the poet's subjectivity. The poem ceased to be waterproof and became diaphanous.
• New arguments: Arguments from the poets' innovative points of view, the claim of dissent, and the breakdown of traditional values with culture, family, and society.

During the 1980s, poetry continued more or less along the same parameters. The poets built up a view of reality from the "I", through the addition of personal experiences, and poetry was conceived as an expression of one's privacy. A subjective nature of narrative poetry and everyday issues that dealt with identity, relationships, eroticism, and the passage of time.

In the 1990s, poets abandoned the idea of acting as a collective memory and tended towards autobiography and intimacy. They observed a tendency to withdraw from speech, with shorter and less emphatic poems, more intimate, alluding less fiercely.

Miquel Martí i Pol: A Voice of the People

10. Miquel Martí i Pol was born into a working-class family. Because of the family's precarious economic situation, at age 14 he began working as an accountant. In 1972, he had to take a leave due to multiple sclerosis. In the late 1950s, he was added to the kernel of the pioneering New Song as a songwriter. Politically, he was a member of the PSUC (Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia) and the Assembly of Catalonia.

The quality of his poetry cannot be understood without his commitment to the people, his working condition, and a disease, multiple sclerosis, that accompanied him throughout his life. Martí i Pol's poetry is autobiographical in nature and can be classified into several stages:

• Twenty-Seven Poems in a Time: Conditioned by their subjects and his disease, they explore loneliness, anxiety, and the presence of death.
• Beyond this stage, Travelogue Vacation is updated: He takes in life and is clearly committed to the future with optimism. (Dear Martha, The Beautiful Roads)

During the 1990s, his poetry presented a new turn, defined by confusion, disappointment, and insecurity. An example is the Book of Solitudes. A poet committed to life, he built his expertise on three major biographical and poetic human values: honesty, authenticity, and solidarity.

Miquel Martí i Pol is the most-read poet of Catalonia in recent decades. His tone made him accessible to popular audiences without losing the support of critics or academic bodies. His constant reference to the social and national Catalan context meant that many of his poems were cited by politicians, while others set his poems to music, which further contributed to his popularization. He was one of our award-winning poets, and among the awards he received are the National Literature Prize and the Prize of Honor of Catalan Letters.