Reseña

Massanés is one of the most popular 19th-century poetesses. She wrote in Spanish and Catalan, and her work is assigned to Romantic currents and, from the 1850s on, to the Catalan Renaissance. She was an active participant in the recovery and dignification of Catalan language and culture. Her vindication of women's right to write is a brave gesture that initiates a chain of affiliations to women's writing. Carmen Karr (1865-1943) and Massanés were the introducers of feminism in Catalonia. Dolors Monserdà (1945-1919) vindicated her work and wrote her biography.

Actividades

Valenciano

• Els adjectius de l’amor
  • España > Lengua Catalana y Literatura > 1º ESO > Las lenguas y sus hablantes
  • España > Lengua Catalana y Literatura > 1º ESO > Reflexión sobre la lengua
• L’amor matern
  • España > Lengua Catalana y Literatura > 1º ESO > Las lenguas y sus hablantes
• Qui és qui més t’estima?
  • España > Lengua Catalana y Literatura > 1º ESO > Las lenguas y sus hablantes

Justificaciones

• One of the most popular poets in the 19th century. She wrote in Catalan and in Spanish.
• Her poetry is characterised by the diversity of its themes: love, the native land, religion, social criticism, women's issues and motherhood.
• Her fight for women's rights establishes her as one of the first feminist figures in Catalonia, together with Carme Karr.
• She stands out because of her defence of women's right to write.
• She participated and hosted many literary gatherings.
• She was an active participant in the recovery of Catalan language and literature through the restoration of Floral Games.
• She is an honorary member of the Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona since 1893.

Biografía

She was born in Tarragona in 1811, and her mother passed away when she was five. She was then under the care of her father, Josep Massanés, a writer, engineer and soldier in the liberal front. From him, she inherited the desire to learn, the love for her country and the liberal ideas.

She received a typical education for women in her social class (music and painting, but not literature), so she became self-taught. Besides Catalan and Spanish, she also mastered Latin, Italian and French. She started publishing her first poems in Spanish in the newspaper El Vapor in 1834. She continued publishing in the press and obtained social and public recognition, being appointed member of Societat Filodramàtica in 1837 and honorary member of the Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona in 1838. 

In 1843 she travelled to Madrid because of her marriage. There, she participated in literary circles and was appointed member of the Liceo Artístico-Literario in Madrid. She was honoured to be congratulated by Queen Isabella II, together with Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, for reading her poems. She was also invited to participate in the Álbum a la Reina Isabel II por su mayoría de edad (1843). 

Her poems in Spanish are collected in two books: Poesías, in 1841, and Flores Marchitas, in 1850.

In October 1844, they came back to Barcelona, where she re-engaged in the literary circle at the time. She participated in and hosted many literary gatherings with T. Aguiló, M. Milà i Fontanals, J. Rubió i Ors, among others.
Her poetry covers many topics: love, the native land, religion, social criticism, women's issues -in some emblematic poems like La Resolución (Poesías) or A una literata and La muger (Flores marchitas). These topics were marked by the trend and tradition of Romanticism and Catalan Renaissance; the three main subjects of this cultural movement were home land, faith and love.
Motherhood is also the topic of one of her most famous poems at the time, Un beso maternal, which was even translated into English and recommended in schools in New York. 

During the 1850s and 1860s, Massanés was an active participant in the recovery and creation of Catalan language and literature, and so she started writing in Catalan. She played a part in the restitution of the Floral Games (started in 1859). She was queen of the games in 1862 and received an extraordinary award in 1864. Victòria Penya, from Mallorca, was also one of the few women awarded. Massanés collaborated in the books Los trobadors nous (1858) and Los trobadors moderns (1859) and in 1882 she was included in the Llibre de la pàtria. Colecció de poesias del modern renaixement.

Her figure was highly praised at the time, both by her literary peers, like Víctor Balaguer and Rubió i Ors, who dedicated her one of the poems in Lo gayter del Llobregat; and by the people, given the fact that, as it is stated in an anthology from the early 20th century, her poems about the African War (mostly La roja barretina catalana) were read at "the Athenaeum, cafés and the homes of all people in Barcelona".
 

Obras

Bibliografía

Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana. Barcelona: Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, Maria Josepa Massanés i Dalmau, (retrieved on 17-03-2022).

Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC), 17-03-2022 Josepa Massanés, (retrieved on 17-03-2022).

Diccionari Biogràfic de Dones, 17-03-2022 https://dbd.vives.org/, (retrieved on 17-03-2022).

El nacional, https://www.elnacional.cat/ca/efemerides/marc-pons-maria-josepa-massanes-poeta-moderna-catala_625082_102.html, (retrieved on 17-03-2022).

Real Academia de la Historia, https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/12286/josefa-massanes-i-dalmau, (retrieved on 17-03-2022).

Enfoque Didáctico

- Her poem "Un beso maternal" can be studied in the linguistic and social block in 1st and 2nd of ESO.

- Her writings in Catalan can be tackled in the block of literary education in 4th of ESO when studying Romanticism and Catalan Renaissance.

- In universal literature to learn about Romanticism.

- She can be tackled in Spanish language and literature because she also wrote in Spanish.

- The translation of "Un beso maternal" can be read in English.

- There are a few texts by Massanés that can be read in the subjects we have mentioned but that are also suitable for ethical values and tutoring sessions: on the one hand, her speech "Sobre la instrucció de la dona" (1879) in defence of women's right to education; on the other, her "Discurso preliminar", the opening of her book Poesías (1841) and a poem in that same book entitled "La resolución", where she states her fight for women's right to write.

Documentos