Catalan Poets and Avant-Garde Movements: A Deep Dive

Joan Salvat-Papasseit (1894-1924)

Joan Salvat-Papasseit was born into a humble, proletarian family. He theorized about what kind of poet he wanted to be and created magazines. He was a supporter of last-minute avant-gardism and wrote what he called futurist manifestos, but they were nothing more than a reaction to the Noucentista poetry of his time. Very close to the avant-garde in his first books of poems, such as "Poems in Hertz Waves" and "Irradiator, Harbor, and Seagulls," he delighted in the new expressive resources and the very communicative effectiveness he obtained: calligrams, words of freedom, and Cubist composition. But increasingly, he chose a poem that included the social and the loving. He knew how to extract the lyrical and sensual. In "The Exploits of the Stars," and especially "The Poem of the Rose to Her Lips," he created poetry that did not reject materials from the cutting edge or traditional forms of the metric, which mythologized everyday reality from a vitalism that moved between elegy and enthusiasm.

Salvador Espriu (1913-1985)

Salvador Espriu was the author of fiction, drama, and poetry. He drew up a universe of great complexity, built around Greek, Egyptian, and Judaic mythology. He also created the myth of Sinera, which was a reworking of the experiences of his childhood in Arenys. In his poetry, there are three themes: reflection on death and the human condition, the elegance of a lost mountain, and the poetry of the Civil War. It is the scene that remains after the experience of the war. In many verses, he expresses the dream of a future of freedom, peace, and coexistence in Spain. The poetic reflection orientation has a great social and political collective echo.

Gabriel Ferrater (1922-1972)

Gabriel Ferrater developed a new line for Catalan poetry: the poet knows that the experience of the poem is a space shuttle image of memory and an intense, enriching reflection. He did not appreciate much conventional poetry resources (musicality, sentimentality, etc.) and was more in favor of a more neutral style, with systematic approaches to prose. "Women and Ten" (1968) is the title that Ferrater gave to his poetry collection. In fact, it indicates the basic impulse that led him to write poetry: the value of love and reflection on the passage of time.

Avant-Garde Art Movements

Avant-garde art movements are a collection of literary and artistic trends that emerged during the first third of the twentieth century, especially in France and Italy, with a willingness to break with artistic models, but also moral ones, then in effect and therefore, in general, in a spirit of protest or subversion of the established order.

Futurism

Futurism was an artistic and literary movement issued through the "Futurist Manifesto," published in "Le Figaro" (1909). The proposal involved a rejection of tradition and excitement for innovation, especially mechanical. It called for war, speed, and violence. Its influence lasted until the 1920s. In literature, it advocated for words of freedom, the destruction of syntax, the infinitive as the only accepted verb form, and introduced varied typography.

Cubism and Surrealism

Further information is needed to provide a comprehensive description of Cubism and Surrealism in this context.