The Catalan Renaixença: Literary Revival and Cultural Nationalism

The Renaixença: A Cultural Revival Movement

The Renaixença was a revival movement where Romantic ideals permeated all areas:

• Social: Favored the middle class.
• Economic: Related to the Industrial Revolution.
• Political: Cultural nationalism emerged, focusing on the recuperation of Catalan literature.

The First Generation of Romantic Poets

Romanticism emerged in Germany and England, but reached Catalonia in the mid-nineteenth century. Its function was to create a new art based on imagination, contrary to reason and the imposition of standards.

In 1833, Buenaventura Carles Aribau published the first romantic poetry in Catalan in a magazine. His example was followed by other authors, leading to the restoration of the Floral Games in 1859.

The Restoration of the Jocs Florals (1859)

The Floral Games (Jocs Florals) were restored in 1859 with the aim of recovering Catalan as a language of worship and naming the literary renaissance.

Under the motto "Patria, Fides, Amor" (Homeland, Faith, Love), three main awards were granted:

1. Best poetry on a patriotic theme.
2. Best poem singing faith.
3. Best love poem (glosses).

The poet who won all three awards in the same year was proclaimed Master of Gay Science (Mestre en Gai Saber). Later, prizes were also shared for the best prose work and the best essay.

Impact of the Floral Games

The Floral Games achieved cultural normalization by fostering:

• A regular literary public.
• The first Catalan publishing houses.
• Social prestige for the language, creating poetic power and literary genres.

In 1877, Jacint Verdaguer and Àngel Guimerà won poetry prizes; Guimerà was proclaimed Master of Gay Science. Narcís Oller won the prose prize in 1879.

Guimerà and Oller, along with others, wrote for a magazine called La Renaixensa, which published the basic ideas of the movement.

The Second Generation of Romantic Poets

Led by Jacint Verdaguer, born in Folgueroles and died in Vallvidrera. At age 15, he began writing poetry. In 1865, he released works such as A la Pàtria (To the Homeland) or Matilda Lucian and Marcian, which focused on themes of faith and the historical roots of Catalonia. He later drafted the sketches for the epic poem L'Atlàntida, which won a special award at the Floral Games.

His interest in history and religion led to the drafting of Canigó, another epic poem. With the story of a comely young knight who falls in love with Flordeneu, the queen of the Canigó fairies, the poem achieves a double mythologizing process: the Pyrenees and the birth history of Catalonia.

Other noteworthy works include Montserrat, Aires del Montseny, and the Ode to Barcelona, dedicated to the nation's capital.

Verdaguer devoted much of his life to singing the Christian faith, for example, in Lo somni de Sant Joan (The Dream of Saint John). He also wrote mystical and ascetic poetry, often expressing opposition to the excesses of ecclesiastical and social hierarchies.

The popularity of his poetry is evident in the fact that many people sang his works without knowing the author, such as the Virolai, dedicated to the Virgin of Montserrat.

He is also recognized as a prose writer, having published four books.