Catalonia - Art and Culture 2018

Language and literature Culture between

Two languages for one literature

twoworlds Which play by a Catalan author inspired operas and films in Germany? And which Spanish novel took post-war Barcelona to the bookshops of half the world?

Catalonia has had its own language for many years, Catalan , although it is not the only official language. It shares this status with Spanish , a lan- guage with which it coexists perfectly on a daily basis and which the whole population knows. Both are Romance languages, which means they are very similar. Both are studied at school and many international residents learn them too. Statistically speaking, the preferred language for reading is Spanish, although more and more read- ers are now choosing Catalan as the first option. Literary production in Catalonia is never- ending; the Catalan authors write in either lan- guage depending on their preferences and even alternate publications in Spanish and Catalan, as is the case of Eduardo Mendoza, the author of The Truth about the Salvota Case . In Spanish, particularly outstanding works are Javier Pérez Andújar’s, Los príncipes Valientes ; or Juan Mar- sé’s, Últimas tardes con Teresa , and in Catalan, Jaume Cabré’s, Confessions ; Jordi Puntí’s, The House of Silence ; Blanca Busquets’s, The House of Silence; or Imma Monsó’s, L’aniversari . Spanish and Catalan, the two languages heard in the street, enjoy great health in the literary panorama.

T

he dramatist and poet Àngel Gui- merà (1845-1924), who was very popular in Barcelona in his day, wrote in Catalan. And despite this,

best European authors, published his last novel, Confessions , a monumental work of more than 1,000 pages, in 2011. WHEN GABO MET PLA These are examples that show that Catalo- nia’s literary culture moves between Catalan and Spanish, and that both languages have given it international recognition. In 2015, Barcelona was declared the UNESCO City of Literature. Don Quixote de la Mancha had his last adventure in this city. And between 1967 and 1974, Gabriel García Márquez re- sided in Barcelona, among other authors of the Latin American boom who came to Bar- celona to work with the literary agent Car- men Balcells. During her stay, Gabo met Josep Pla (1897-1981). The author from the Costa Brava spent his entire life going back and forth between both languages using them to cover of his favourite subjects: gas- tronomy.

he achieved international projection. One of his best-known works is Terra Baixa (Low- lands), which in 1903 inspired a German op- era by Eugen D’Albert. A century later, in 2001, Carlos Ruiz Zafón published The Shadow of the Wind , a novel set in Barcelona in the 1940s. He wrote it in Spanish, but it was translated into more than 30 languages. With a strong career as a scriptwriter, the writer Jaume Cabré , considered one of the

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Sant Jordi is undoubtedly the day on which the most books are given. When the weather cooperates, the day is a glorious one. The streets fill with stands of books and roses . Books, because we commemorate the death of Cervantes, and roses because St. George killed the dragon, according to legend, roses blos- somed from its blood. Be aware: this is Lover’s day in Catalonia.

josep pla.

a bookshop in barcelona on the day of sant jordi.

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