Mercè Rodoreda
Encyclopedia
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
novelist in the Catalan language
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
.
She is considered by many to be the most important Catalan novelist of the postwar period. Her novel La plaça del diamant ('The diamond square', translated as 'The Time of the Doves
The Time of the Doves
The Time Of The Doves is a 1962 novel written by exiled Catalan writer Mercè Rodoreda. It is noted by its use of stream of consciousness. The book is named after a square in Barcelona's district of Gràcia...
', 1962) has become the most acclaimed Catalan novel of all time and since the year it was published for the first time, it has been translated into over 20 languages. It is also considered by many to be the best novel dealing with the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Biography
She was born at 340 carrer de Balmes, BarcelonaCarrer de Balmes, Barcelona
Carrer de Balmes , named after the Catalan philosopher and ecclesiastic Jaume Balmes, is one of the most important avenues in Barcelona . It was devised in 1859 as part of Ildefons Cerdà urban plan....
, in 1908. Her parents were Andreu Rodoreda, from Terrassa
Terrassa
Terrassa is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the comarca of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell, the historic capital....
and Montserrat Gurguí, from Maresme
Maresme
Maresme is a comarca located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the comarques of Barcelonès and Selva , and also bordering with Vallès Oriental ....
. In 1928, just 20 years old, she married her uncle Joan Gurguí, 14 years her senior, and in 1929 she had her only child, Jordi. She began her writing career with short stories in magazines, as an escape from her unhappy marriage. She then wrote psychological novels, including Aloma which won the Crexells Prize, but even with the success this novel enjoyed, Rodoreda decided to remake and republish it some years later since she was not fully satisfied with this period of her life and her works at that time.
At the start of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, she worked for the autonomous Government of Catalonia
Generalitat de Catalunya
The Generalitat of Catalonia is the institution under which the autonomous community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Catalonia....
.
She was exiled in France and later Switzerland, where in 1957 she broke her silence with the publication of her book Twenty-Two short stories, which earned her the Víctor Català Prize. With Camelia Street (El Carrer de les Camèlies) (1966) she won several prizes. In the 1970s, she returned to Romanyà de la Selva in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and finished the novel Mirall trencat (Broken Mirror) in 1974.
Amongst other works came Viatges i flors (Travels and flowers) and Quanta, quanta guerra (How much War) in 1980, which was also the year in which she won the Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes. During the last period of her lifetime, her works developed from her usual psychologic style to become more akin to symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism in its more cryptic form.
In 1998 a literature prize was instituted in her name: the Mercè Rodoreda prize for short stories and narratives.
She was made a Member of Honour of the Association of Writers in Catalan Language (Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana
Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana
The Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana , also known by the acronym AELC, is a professional organisation of authors, poets, scriptwriters, translators and other writers in the Catalan language...
). The library in Platja d'Aro is named in her honor.
She died in Girona
Girona
Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell, with an official population of 96,236 in January 2009. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès...
of liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
, and was interred
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
in the cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
of Romanyà.
Most important works
- Aloma (1938)
- Vint-i-dos contes (1958)
- La plaça del diamant (The Time of the DovesThe Time of the DovesThe Time Of The Doves is a 1962 novel written by exiled Catalan writer Mercè Rodoreda. It is noted by its use of stream of consciousness. The book is named after a square in Barcelona's district of Gràcia...
) (1962) - El carrer de les camèlies (1966)
- Jardí vora el mar (1967)
- Mirall Trencat (1974)
- Semblava de seda i altres contes (1978)
- Quanta, quanta guerra... (1980)
- La mort i la primavera, ("Death in Spring"; Rochester, NY: Open Letter Books 2009, ISBN 978-1-934824-11-5).
External links
- Mercè Rodoreda in LletrA, Catalan Literature Online (Open University of Catalonia)
- Mirror Play: Virtual Exhibition on Mercè Rodoreda
- Biography and reviews at escriptors.com
- Mercè Rodoreda at Open Letter Books
- A Domestic Existentialist: On Mercè Rodoreda by The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...