Jesús Moncada
Encyclopedia
Jesús Moncada i Estruga (Mequinenza/Mequinensa
, Aragon
, Spain
), 1941 - Barcelona
(Catalonia
, Spain
), June 13, 2005) was an Aragonese writer in Catalan
.
Considered one of the most important Catalan authors of his time, he received various prizes for his work, among them the Premio Ciutat de Barcelona and the Premio Nacional de la Crítica in 1989 for Camí de sirga (The Towpath) and the Creu de Sant Jordi
, awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya
in 2001. In 2004—a few months before his death—he received the Premio de las Letras Aragonesas.
Moncada is one of the most translated authors of Catalan literature. Camí de sirga has been translated into fifteen languages, among them Japanese
and Vietnamese
. He also translated into Catalan many Spanish
, French
, and English
works of authors such as Guillaume Apollinaire
, Alexandre Dumas, père
, Jules Verne
, and Boris Vian
.
On July 9, 2005, he returned to Mequinenza (in Catalan, Mequinensa), where he was awarded the title of "favorite son." He died on June 13, 2005 from cancer. His ashes were scattered in the noble house of old Mequinenza, now inundated by the Ribarroja reservoir, where he was born and where his works are set, under the watchful eye of his mother, his siblings -Rosa Mari and Albert-, his brother-in-law and nephew, and the neighbors of Mequinenza.
Mequinenza
Mequinenza or Mequinensa is a town and municipality of the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is located by the confluence of the rivers Segre and Ebro.-History & Features:...
, Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, Spain
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...
), 1941 - Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
(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...
, Spain
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...
), June 13, 2005) was an Aragonese writer in Catalan
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...
.
Considered one of the most important Catalan authors of his time, he received various prizes for his work, among them the Premio Ciutat de Barcelona and the Premio Nacional de la Crítica in 1989 for Camí de sirga (The Towpath) and the Creu de Sant Jordi
Creu de Sant Jordi
The Creu de Sant Jordi is the highest civil distinction awarded in Catalonia . It was established by the Generalitat de Catalunya autonomous government by virtue of the Decret 457/1981 de 18 de desembre in 1981.. The medal was designed by goldsmith Joaquim Capdevila.-Recipients:*List of...
, awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya
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....
in 2001. In 2004—a few months before his death—he received the Premio de las Letras Aragonesas.
Moncada is one of the most translated authors of Catalan literature. Camí de sirga has been translated into fifteen languages, among them Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
. He also translated into Catalan many Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
works of authors such as Guillaume Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire
Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki, known as Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother....
, Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
, Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
, and Boris Vian
Boris Vian
Boris Vian was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer. He is best remembered today for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of their...
.
On July 9, 2005, he returned to Mequinenza (in Catalan, Mequinensa), where he was awarded the title of "favorite son." He died on June 13, 2005 from cancer. His ashes were scattered in the noble house of old Mequinenza, now inundated by the Ribarroja reservoir, where he was born and where his works are set, under the watchful eye of his mother, his siblings -Rosa Mari and Albert-, his brother-in-law and nephew, and the neighbors of Mequinenza.
Novels
- Camí de sirga (The Towpath) (1988)
-
- The novel tells the story of a town situated at the confluence of two great rivers, the EbroEbroThe Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
and the SegreSegreSegre may be* Beniamino Segre , Italian geometer* Corrado Segre , Italian geometer distantly related to Beniamino* Emilio Segrè , Italian American physicist* Segre River, a river in Catalonia...
, through the memories of its inhabitants. This avalanche of memories piles up until the 20th century, and is provoked by the construction of a reservoir and the imminent flooding of the town. The book also contains some reflections about history, memory, fiction and about the lies they all involve. The general tone is nostalgic, without being bitter, but some of the personalities and situations are also comic. It evokes: - - the hypocrisy and cruelty of human relations in a town in which everyone knows everybody
- - the influence of history -the First World War in Europe and the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil WarThe 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...
- on the history of the town, - - the economic system at work in the town and the Ebro valley.
- The novel tells the story of a town situated at the confluence of two great rivers, the Ebro
- La galeria de les estàtues (The Statue Gallery) (1992)
-
- Unlike the other two novels, La galeria de les estàtues is set mainly in the fictional town of Torrelloba rather than in Mequinenza. It relates the tragic story of Dalmau Campells and his family during the tension and represion of the Franco regime.
- Estremida memòria (Shaken Memory) (1997)
-
- This novel revolves around events that shook the community of Mequinenza in 1877, when four of the townspeople were exectuted for murder and robbery. More than a hundred years later, the community is still wounded by the legacy of what happened, as becomes clear when a writer finds a report of the events written at the time by a local court scribe. As he investigates further in order to write a book about what happened, he finds that he has disturbed the past and angered some of the present-day residents of Mequinenza who would rather have left the episode safely buried in the past.
Short stories
- Històries de la mà esquerra i altres narracions (Stories of the Left Hand) (1981)
- El cafè de la granota (The Frog Café) (1985)
- Calaveres atònites (Astonished Skulls), collection of short, humorous stories. The action takes place in post-war Mequinenza) (1999)
- Riada (2000)
- Contes (compilation of his first three books of short stories) (2001)
- Cabòries estivals i altres proses volanderes (2003)