Resumen de The Skin of the Borders: Chronicles on the Shaping of a Catalan Identity in the Twenty-first Century
This chapter compares and contrasts different conceptions and interpretations of contemporary literary journalism in Catalonia. As French scholar Alexandre Gefen argues in Réparer le monde (2017), we are witnessing an aesthetical-ethical turning point in which literature seeks to nurse its readers. These forms of so-called “caring literature” have recently surfaced in literary studies, especially in relation to hybrid or between-border genres, from authors of autofiction to literary journalism. In this context, literary practices, genres, and norms are transformed, as well as the position that the figure of the writer occupies today, especially that of writer-journalist. After a decade of political instability tied to Catalan political independence, Catalan literature is at an important crossroads. We could say that, in those places where politics cannot reach, the restorative force of literature still emerges. The writers who are interested in collective reconciliation, in re-welding society, in rebuilding the bridges of dialogue or moral repair are those who are gaining more critical attention and public favor. The Catalan literature that posits the remaking of the community, the mending of the fabric of territory, has gained traction.
