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The ''Renaixença'' (; also written ''Renaixensa'' before spelling standardisation), or Catalan Renaissance, was a romantic revivalist movement in
Catalan language Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...
and culture through the mid 19th century, akin to the Galician ''
Rexurdimento The ''Rexurdimento'' ( Galician for Resurgence) was a period in the History of Galicia during the 19th century. Its central feature was the revitalization of the Galician language as a vehicle of social and cultural expression after the so-calle ...
'' or the
Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
''
Félibrige The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...
'' movements. The movement began in the 1830s and lasted until the 1880s, when it branched out into other cultural movements. Even though it primarily followed a romantic impulse, it incorporated stylistic and philosophical elements of other 19th century movements such as Naturalism or
Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...
. The name does not indicate a particular style, but rather the cultural circumstances in which it bloomed.


Overview

Along with the later ''
modernisme ''Modernisme'' (, Catalan for "modernism"), also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan cultu ...
'', this movement ended a period of Catalan cultural decline commonly known as Decadència, that dated back at least to defeat in the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
(1701–1714)Art Nouveau in Catalonia
on GaudiAllGaudi.com. Accessed 26 March 2006.
and the subsequent
Nueva Planta decrees The Nueva Planta decrees (, , ) were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V of Spain, Philip V, the first House of Bourbon, Bourbon Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain, during and shortly after the end of the War of the Spani ...
, which suppressed
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
's traditional institutions, privileges, and ''
furs A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...
'' beginning January 16, 1716. Thus, the aim of this movement was the full restoration of Catalan as a language of culture, not only through the promotion of various forms of
art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
,
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
and
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
in this language, but also attempting to establish a normative standard for the language, something however not fully accomplished until the first quarter of the 20th century. As with most of the other Romantic movements, it was noted for its admiration of the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, which was often reflected in art, and in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, the literary contest known as
Jocs Florals Floral Games were any of a series of historically related poetry contests with floral prizes. In Occitan, their original language, and Catalan they are known as (, ; modern or ). In French, they became the (), and in Basque (). The origina ...
or ''Jocs de la Gaia Ciència'' was revived. The Renaixença occurred not only in Catalonia proper, but also in other Catalan-speaking regions such as the
Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...
.The Renaixença
, part o
Els Moviments Literaris Contemporanis a les Balears
, on mnm.uib.es. Accessed 26 March 2006. A journal particularly associated with the movement was the magazine '' La Renaixença'', from which the name was taken- originally spelt ''Renaixensa'' before the Fabrian
spelling reform A spelling reform is a deliberate, often authoritatively sanctioned or mandated change to spelling rules. Proposals for such reform are fairly common, and over the years, many languages have undergone such reforms. Recent high-profile examples a ...
.


Notable individuals related to Renaixença

*
Bonaventura Carles Aribau Buenaventura Carlos Aribau y Farriols (1798–1862) was a Catalan economist, stenographer, writer and politician who wrote in Spanish, Catalan, Latin, and Italian.''Diccionari d'Història de Catalunya''. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1998. , p. 58, e ...
, writer. His poem '' Oda a la pàtria'' is usually acknowledged to have kick-started the movement. *
Manuel Milà i Fontanals Manuel Milà i Fontanals (; May 4, 1818 – July 16, 1884) was a Spanish scholar. He was born at Vilafranca del Penedès, near Barcelona, and was educated first in Barcelona, and afterwards at the University of Cervera. In 1845, he became prof ...
, linguist, philologist and
troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...
literature scholar, of great influence and one of the main initiators of the ''Renaixença''. *
Joan Maragall Joan Maragall i Gorina (; 10 October 1860 – 20 December 1911) was a Catalan poet, journalist and translator, the foremost member of the movement in literature. His manuscripts are preserved in the Joan Maragall Archive of Barcelona. Li ...
, poet, translator from Greek and German, journalist and essayist. * Jacint Verdarguer, poet, penned
L'Atlàntida ''L'Atlàntida'' () is an 1877 poem in Catalan by Jacint Verdaguer. It consists of an introduction, ten books, and a conclusion, dealing with the wanderings of Heracles in the Iberian Peninsula, the sinking of the continent of Atlantis, the cre ...
and the Catalan national epic, ''
Canigó The Canigó ( , ; ; ) is a mountain located in the Pyrenees of southern France. The Canigó is located less than from the sea and has an elevation of . Due to its sharp flanks and its dramatic location near the coast, until the 18th century t ...
''. *
Àngel Guimerà Àngel Guimerà i Jorge (; 6 May 1845 or 6 May 1847 or 1849 – 18 July 1924), usually known simply as Àngel Guimerà, was a Catalan Spanish playwright and poet. His work is known for bringing together under romantic aspects the main elemen ...
, playwright. *
Narcís Oller Narcís Oller i de Moragas (; 10August 184626July 1930) was a Catalan writer, most noted for the novels ''La papallona'' (The Butterfly) which appeared with a foreword by Émile Zola in the French translation; his most well-known work ''L'Escany ...
, novelist influenced by
Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...
's naturalism, chronicled the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
, society and changing mindsets in his novels. *
Frederic Soler Frederic may refer to: Places United States * Frederic, Wisconsin, a village in Polk County * Frederic Township, Michigan, a township in Crawford County ** Frederic, Michigan, an unincorporated community Other uses * Frederic (band), a Japanese r ...
, known as ''Pitarra'', playwright using colloquial Catalan. * Joaquim Rubió i Ors, poet, known variously as ''Lo Gayté del Llobregat'', ''El Gaiter del Llobregat'', among others *
Víctor Català Caterina Albert i Paradís (L'Escala, Spain, 11 September 1869 — 27 January 1966), better known by her pen name Víctor Català, was a Catalan writer in Catalan language, Catalan and Spanish language, Spanish who participated in the Modern ...
(real name Caterina Albert i Paradís),
symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...
writer. * Martí Genís i Aguilar, writer. * Antoni Puig i Blanch, poet. * Francesc Camprodon, poet. * Víctor Balaguer, writer. Used the pseudonym ''Lo trovador de Montserrat''. *
Antoni Gaudi Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton and Antonio. As a Polish given name it is a variant of the ...
, architect. Greatest exponent of
Catalan Modernism ''Modernisme'' (, Catalan for "modernism"), also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan cultu ...
. * Maria Antònia Salvà i Ripoll, poet.


Notes


Further reading

* Joan Badia i d'altres, ''Llengua Catalana Cou'', Ed.Teide, Barcelona, 1988, * Enciclopèdia catalana de l'estudiant ''Llengua i literatura catalanes'' núm. 5


External links


Renaixença
from the ''Nou diccionari 62 de la literatura catalana'' (2000). Page also contains extensive links to other reference-quality material. In Catalan.
Renaixença, civisme i nacionalisme
on the site of the Museu d'Història de Catalunya. In Catalan.
La Renaixença
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renaixenca 19th century in Catalonia Culture of Catalonia Catalan-language literature Catalan symbols Catalan words and phrases Submovements of Romanticism ca:Renaixença#Renaixença a Catalunya