Anthologist: Carlos Vitale
Preface: Anna Rossell
Translation: Yorgos Goumas, Ati Solerti
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Jaume C. Pons Alorda, Pau Vadell i Vallbona, Guim Valls, Gabriel Ventura, Sònia Moya Villanueva, Guillem Gavaldà, Anna Gual, Àngels Gregori, Mireia Calafell, David Caño, Laia Noguera i Clofent, Rubén Luzón, Laia Malo (Laia Martinez i Lopez), Jaume Coll Mariné, Maria Antònia Massanet, Àngels Moreno, Arnau Orobitg, Maria Isern Ordeig, Misael Alerm Pou, Sílvie Rothkovic, Emili Sánchez-Rubio, Irene Solà Saez.
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Catalan poets in the twenty-first century
Any methodological approach towards the compilation of an anthology is risky by nature, because it is inextricably linked with the process of a necessary selection. It is difficult to decide what criteria will be used for making this selection. Is it the ostensible quality of the participants’ material? The prizes awarded to poets, which very often – as we all very well know – are not based on any rules of quality? The personal criteria of the anthologist, which are more or less influenced by his or her taste? Or criteria based on ideology? To all this we should add the fact that the ultimate selection requires the knowledge of the existence of certain names, which have been drawn for a group according to the above criteria, which means that other names have been excluded. This is how the ultimate selection remains captive to a vicious cycle that feeds on itself and becomes wider and wider, because anthologies ultimately become reference sources that reproduce themselves. Itamar Even-Zohar has called them “factors for the potential canonization of a specific repertory”. From this perspective, an anthology is much more than a simple collection of texts: it is a text in itself, a work of reference.
Other than the above difficulties, we should add that in the case of anthologies exclusively dedicated to female poets, a trend that has lately become more and more frequent for reasons of historical, social and cultural balance, the main criterion of selection is gender.
We shouldn’t underestimate the distorting effect brought by the persecution or marginalization of women – both in literature and other fields of human activity – due to ignorance or sexism. This, in turn, has blocked the transmission of the true extent of their work throughout history, and at the same time, it has also encouraged attempts at rectifying this injustice, with results whose quality is somewhat dubious. This is why, for a long time now, there have been plenty of rectifying efforts which have sprung up from the desire to restore the value of women’s work in all fields. The use of gender as a criterion of choice is proof of that.
I believe that this fair and justified intention is the main reason for publications exclusively dedicated to works of female authors. However, we can also include another completely different reason, at least as far as literature, and poetry in particular, are concerned: anthologists see in women poets an individual feminine voice, which is different than the male voice. Because it is evident, as established by the texts on the theory of femininity by Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva and Luce Irigaray, that women write with a feminine voice and a feminine perspective on things, certainly not because of their biology, but because of historical discriminations, which have brought – as a reaction aiming at vindication – a more intense and detailed view of women towards femininity, and they have encouraged a social and cultural presence grounded on a different logic, ideology and style. At the same time, they have also caused an ever increasing contribution from women, which were ignored in the past and now rise to their rightful place.
Even so, one cannot claim that female poets are heiresses to a poetry created exclusively by women. Their art has been influenced by male poets, whom they have adored – much like male poets, even if to a smaller extent, had found their muse in women.
Taking all the above into account, I decided to avoid mentioning any names, because this would be both arbitrary and unfair from my part, since it would complicate an already complex situation even further.
However, it is worth noting the dialectics that accompany all anthologies. As a reference text, an anthology is undoubtedly a tool with which readers will become acquainted with several names, thus gaining the ability to navigate a field which, by sheer range alone, would otherwise be difficult to access. On the other hand, it is up to the readers themselves to finish their journey by extending their own range of reading.
At this point, I will only list the most contemporary and widely-acclaimed anthologies of Catalan female poets from 1975, the year of publication of the first post-war anthology, until 2018, the year of publication of Carlos Vitale’s “Doce poetas catalanas par el siglo XXI” in La Náusea magazine, the only exception being an anthology from the 1930’s. These anthologies are useful for anyone wishing to get initiated into Catalan women’s poetry, which, for many different reasons, remained unknown until now. The prefaces of these anthologies demonstrate how arbitrary their various selection criteria were. In some cases, the criteria were just plain geographical, with the intent to restore areas that were practically ignored by the central cultural policy. These anthologies are: Manuel Folch i Torres: “Libre d’or de la poesia femenina” (1930), Esteve Albert et al.: “Les cinc branques. Poesia femenina catalana” (1975), Silvia-Marina Aresté & Isabel Dolç Anfruns: “Le veus de la Medusa. Vint-i-una poetes valencianes” (1991), Sam Abrams: “Survivors” (1991), Franscesc Calafat: “Camp de mines. Poesia catalana del País Valencià 1980-1990” (1991), Montserrat Abelló, Neus Aguado, Lluïsa Julià & Maria-Mercè Marçal: “Paisatge emergent. Trent poetes catalanes del segle XX” (1999), Vinyet Panyella: “Contemporànies” (1999), Alícia Beltran & Pere Perelló: “Segle 21. Vint-i-una poetes per al segle vint-i-u” (2001), Carme Riera: “Antologia de poesia catalana femenina” (2003) and Carme Sant-Celoni: “Eròtiques i Despentinades” (2008).
However, there are anthologies that don’t distinguish between genders, but – due to the abovementioned historical, social and cultural factors – feature mostly male poets. I will mention several such anthologies, which were published from the second half of the twentieth century onwards. Most of them also include a historical background, because their purpose is to serve as a reference guide. Some of these anthologies are: Rafael Tasis: “Antología de la poesia catalana: de Llull a Verdaguer”, in a Spanish translation (1949), Ma Isabel Grifoll, Ma Lluïsa Julià & Rosa Ma Delor: “Antologia de la poesia catalana” (2005), and Isidor Cònsul & Llorenç Soldevila: “Nova antologia de la poesia catalana” (2013). This particular anthology is presented as “a reading journey of poetic creation in Catalan from twelfth and thirteen century troubadours Guillem de Berguedà and Cerverí de Girona to Maria-Mercè Marçal, the last classical poet of the twentieth century”. There is also the anthology compiled by Albert Folch, titled “Selecció de poesia catalana”, which is sponsored by the Open University of Catalonia, whose website offers a collection of eight hundred poems from one hundred and sixty-three Catalan poets, and has thus become a major point of reference for Catalan literature on the Internet. Also notable are: José Corredor-Matheos: “Antología esencial de poesía catalana” (2001). Josep Paré & Enric Martín: “Antologia de la poesia catalana” (2009), and Carlos Clementson: “Esta luz de Sinera. Antología de la poesía catalana” (2011). This anthology also includes an extensive introduction that explains the historical conditions in which the anthologized poets lived. Another noteworthy anthology is “Antologia de la poesia catalana: nova tria” (2018) by Joan Oriol i Giralt. Other anthologies which are focused on a specific time period are: Joan Triadú, “Antologia de la poesia catalana (1900 – 1950)” (1951) and Vicenç Altaió & Josep M. Sala-Valldaura: “Mig segle de poesia catalana. Del Maig del 68 al 2018” (2018). I will refrain from listing any of the numerous books-collections, which were created for purposes other than those of a typical anthology – or, in other words, with an objective other than providing readers with a panoramic view of a specific time period.
In this anthology, the poet-translator Carlos Vitale undertakes the difficult and complex task of presenting to us, through Vakxikon Publications, twenty-two poets who compose in Catalan – despite the fact that their origin is not exclusively Catalan – eleven men and twelve women, translated into Greek. His effort is all the more valuable because he has chosen young poets, born from 1980 onwards, a fact that makes this project all the more demanding, not only because their young age does not place them in a wider historical process, but also because Catalan poetry is very popular among the younger generations. With this anthology, Vitale also demonstrates that he is also a skilled talent scout. His expert judgment will be our steadfast and reassuring guide, and the light of his beacon will take us to a safe harbor.
Anna Rossell Ibern
Philologist, literary critic, writer