Romanticism and the Catalan Renaixença Cultural Movement

The Origins and Impact of Romanticism

Romanticism was a cultural movement that started in Germany and England at the end of the 18th century. It extended to other European countries during the 19th century as times changed. The ideals of the French Revolution and the effects of the Industrial Revolution transformed the political, economic, social, and spiritual landscapes. The Romantic movement represented a profound shift in understanding the world and art.

Romantic Sensitivity and Innovation

The Romantic sensitivity movement stood in contrast to classical trends (such as the Renaissance, Neoclassicism, Realism, and Noucentisme). It favored innovative relocations (Baroque, Romanticism, Modernism, and the Avant-garde). While classical movements defend models of beauty to follow or imitate, the Romantic movement advocates for the breaking of rules and the search for innovation.

Romanticism is an innovator that possesses the capacity to transmit emotions and feelings through art. The artist shows their inner world through their work, reflecting their personality, mood, and personal vision of reality. Furthermore, Romanticism looks back to the Medieval period, interpreted as the origin of European peoples (troubadours, knights, and hermits), to write legendary history and enhance national feelings. In the 18th and 19th centuries, popular literature began to be studied for the first time.

The Catalan Renaixença: A Literary Recovery

From the 16th to the 18th centuries, due to social and political causes, Catalan literature was scarce. Catalan society participated very little in literary movements such as the Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassicism. However, the 19th century marked the start of the recovery of Catalan as a language of culture and literature, articulated through a historical and cultural movement.

Origins and Objectives of the Movement

The origins of this movement lie in the profound social and economic transformations caused by industrialization in Catalonia and the influence of Romanticism. It focused on recovering the native language and history, discovering popular culture, and enhancing national feelings.

The primary objectives were:

• To promote literary activity to recover the use of Catalan as a language of culture.
• To create a proper literature closer to European literary movements.
• To promote knowledge of history to rescue the medieval past and the great tradition of cultural institutions from oblivion.
• To create Catalanist institutions favorable to the cultural and political recovery of the nation.

Three Iconic Moments of the Renaixença

• 1833: The publication of Oda a la Pàtria, a poem by Bonaventura Carles Aribau, which marked the beginning of the Renaissance. It exalts the nation, the historical past, and the use of the language. It gained great literary, cultural, and political resonance as a symbol of the movement.
• 1859: The establishment of the Floral Games (Jocs Florals). The motto was: Fatherland, Faith, and Love. There were three main awards: the Englantina d'or (best patriotic poem), the Viola d'or i d'argent (best religious poem), and the Flor Natural (best love poem). A winner of all three awards was named a Master in Gai Saber.
• 1877: The publication of L'Atlàntida by Jacint Verdaguer, which was the first great epic of contemporary Catalan literature.