Influential Catalan Writers: Rodoreda, Villalonga, and Pedrolo

Mercedes Rodoreda

Mercedes Rodoreda Gurguí (Barcelona, October 10, 1908 - Girona, April 13, 1983) was a Catalan writer. Among other awards, she received the Award of Honour of Catalan Letters in 1980. She is considered the most influential contemporary Catalan language writer, evident in references to her work by other authors and its international repercussions, with translations into twenty-nine languages. Rodoreda's production covered all genres; she cultivated poetry, drama, and short stories, though she particularly excelled in the novel.

The Time of the Doves

This novel tells the story of a young girl's life as she undergoes a process of identity loss. It takes place from the Second Spanish Republic until the beginning of the postwar period. The protagonist, Natalia, is a young orphan who meets Quimet at the Diamond Square marquee during the Festival de Gracia and marries him a year later. At that time, she begins a process of losing her identity, submitting completely to Quimet's power. She ceases to be Natalia and becomes Colometa.

Llorenç Villalonga

Llorenç Villalonga i Pons was born in Palma in 1897 and died there in 1980. He was a writer and psychiatrist. He earned his medical degree from the University of Zaragoza in 1926, after studying at the medical schools of Murcia (1919), Barcelona (1920-23), and Madrid (1923-24). He specialized in psychiatry in France, where he encountered the work of Marcel Proust, which influenced him, particularly in his psychological novels Bearn or The Room of the Dolls and Death of a Lady.

Manuel de Pedrolo

Manuel de Pedrolo was born in L'Aranyó. He studied high school in Tàrrega until 1935 when he moved to Barcelona. The Spanish Civil War interrupted his studies. In 1943, he married and settled permanently in Barcelona. He began writing at a very young age, and his work has made him not only the most prolific Catalan writer but also one of the most important figures in twentieth-century Catalan literature. In 1979, he received the Award of Honour of Catalan Letters.

Typescript of the Second Origin

This science fiction novel tells the story of Alba and Dídac, aged 14 and 9 respectively, who live in a Catalan village called Benaura. They become the only survivors on Earth after aliens eliminate virtually all of humanity.