Mercè Rodoreda: Master of the Catalan Psychological Novel

Catalan Novel of War and Psychological Features

The Catalan novel is defined by themes of the Civil War and psychological features. Key influences include the personal worlds found in works like The Diamond Square (La plaça del Diamant), Bearn by Llorenç Villalonga, and Broken Mirror (Mirall trencat).

Stage 1: Childhood in Barcelona (1908–1920)

Born in Barcelona in 1908, Mercè Rodoreda was an only child. Her grandfather was a major influence, telling her stories and tales that transmitted a love for flowers, the earth, and the Catalan language. Her walks around the towers of Sant Gervasi inspired the setting of Broken Mirror. At age 9, she left school to take care of her sick grandfather. His subsequent death led to a period of deep loneliness and sadness.

Stage 2: Adolescence and Youth (1920–1938)

The loss of her grandfather led her to cultivate her interest in literature. She began writing stories and participating in literary journals such as The Journal. At age 20, she lived at her maternal uncle's house. During this period, she wrote several novels: Am I an Honest Woman? (1932), What One Cannot Escape (1934), A Day in the Life of a Man (1934), and Aloma (1938), which closed this stage. These were "straw novels" where she learned her craft and trained as a writer. Common features of this stage are a realistic style focused on insecure adolescence.

Stage 3: Maturity and Exile (Post-1939)

In 1937, Aloma was awarded the Crexells Prize. From this time, she introduced the psychological novel format. In 1939, following the end of the Civil War, she went into voluntary exile in France. She faced significant economic difficulties, working as a dressmaker and only being able to write children's stories. In 1947, she began writing poetry, and in 1954, she settled in Geneva. This peaceful environment allowed her to return to writing. In 1958, she compiled her stories into Twenty-Two Stories, which won the Víctor Català Prize.

Literary Techniques and Success

Features of this stage and her later work include psychological analysis, the technique of interior monologue, loneliness, grief, incomprehension, and detention. In 1960, she presented Colometa for the Sant Jordi Prize but did not win. In 1962, encouraged by Joan Sales, it was published under the title The Diamond Square. It achieved great success due to its realism and first-person narration, which allowed readers to identify with the protagonist, as well as its "spoken writing" style. In 1966, she published Camelia Street. Her husband passed away during this third stage.

Stage 4: Old Age (From 1966)

This stage is characterized by an approach to loneliness and death. In 1967, she published Garden by the Sea and My Christina and Other Stories, in which she suggests that life is a metamorphosis. In 1974, she released Broken Mirror, focusing again on death and loneliness. She eventually settled permanently in Romanyà de la Selva, where she lived until her death on April 13, 1983. In 1978, Flowers and Silk and Other Stories appeared, followed by Travels and Flowers in 1980.

Posthumous Works

• Death and Spring (1986)
• Isabel and Maria (1991)