Ressenya a "Bulletin of the Comediantes", núm. 70/1, p. 175-178

Publicada a: 
Bulletin of the Comediantes
Any: 
2018
Autor(s): 
Albert Lloret

I begin by noting that all chapters of Solervicens’s volume underscore the distinctive episteme of the literary production of the periods covered. This epistemic emphasis aims to correct earlier attempts to write the history of Catalan literature between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment in terms of exceptionalism, failure, or decadence. This book contributes a comprehensive and articulate narrative and several commendable perspectives. For one, this literary history displays an illuminating comparative component. Contributors do not just address, for example (and as could be expected), Castilian, Italian, or neo-Latin literature that influenced Catalan authors, but rather, all chapters also pay attention to the literatures written in languages other than Catalan within the Catalan-speaking lands. Another feature that should be highlighted is the volume’s emphasis on the literary thought of the age, be it produced in the Catalan lands (rarely in Catalan) or elsewhere in Europe.It should easily become the go-to reference work on the Catalan literature of the period, including its drama. I can only wish that the dialogue in which its authors engage with other literary traditions stirs an interest in scholars of other Romance, and particularly Iberian, literatures to join the conversation.