The 2007 Frankfurt International Book Fair presents as its Guest of Honor the Catalan Culture. In recognition of this, the U.S. State Department hosted a webchat with Catalan-American professor Gonzalo Navajas on “Cultura Catalana in the United States.” Prof. Navajas chatted with visitors of the U.S. Consulate's booth at the Frankfurt Bookfair.
Gonzalo Navajas: Hello, everyone. I am a writer, critic, and professor of modern literature and film at the Univ. of California, Irvine. I was born in Barcelona in 1946, where I lived for the first 24 years of my life. After finishing my studies at the Universitat Central in Barcelona, I decided that I wanted to see other places. I tried Paris for a while, but in the end I could not stayed there. I came then to the US to do a Ph.D. in modern literature. I have taught and lectured at many universities and other institutions in the US and other countries. I have published a good number of books on literature, film, and theory of aesthetics. I have also published four novels, the last one, En blanco y negro, appeared this year. I am particularly happy with my double facet of novelist/writer and literary theorist/critic. This is not a very common combination and I find it reinvigorating and challenging. Today I would like to talk about: Catalan culture in the global world and in the US in particular. The cultural relations between the US and Spain in the last thirty years. The interconnections between academia and creative writing, particularly fiction. The intersections between film narratives and the novel. In addition to these general topics, I am also open to other questions you may have about my books, my experience as a writer in the global age, and my alternating life between both sides of the Atlantic.
Frankfurt Bookfair: In the time leading up to the Bookfair, there has been a lot of discussion about the Spanish and the Catalan language in book publishing. Has that been an issue for you? Does the majority of Catalans in the United States speak Spanish, Catalan or English amongst each other? Does that play a role at all?
Gonzalo Navajas: Publishing is difficult in general, regardless of the language in which you write. The difficulty increases if you write in a language that has fewer outlets than others. In the US, Catalan is not well-known outside the academic milieu and, even at the university, that knowledge is limited to the humanities and foreign languages. There are, however, pockets of Catalan manifestations of culture here. I try to do as much as I can to promote that.
Frankfurt Bookfair: It is often stated that the California experience is in effect the stereotypical American experience, I.e. what everyone’s common perception of America is resides in California, is there any truth to this idea or is it impossible to even say that there is one “California Experience”, one “American Experience”?
Gonzalo Navajas: The perception of American culture in the world is shaped daily by the visual media,TV, film, the internet, etc. California, southern California in particular where I live, the studios, Los Angeles, etc. is the center where this image of America is created. In that respect, it is not surprising that America and California are equated in the minds of many people in the world. It is a misconception to equate the two. This is a very big and diverse land. I have lived in the South of the US and in the Northwest, Seattle, etc. I can assure you that life and culture there are quite different from the ones in California. The California experience is, however, a special one because, from its inception, California has had mythical traits attached to it, first with the Spaniards, then the expansion to the West, the Gold Rush, Hollywood, Syllicon Valley... California has been very adept at creating these images of itself that now the Hollywood industry presents to the world very successfully. My personal experience of California has been an enriching one because it has broadened my intellectual and human perspective. California is in my books, for instance.
Frankfurt Bookfair: You are interested in the Catalan literature. Is this mostly the literature of the current Catalonia or also of the French Roussillon or the Catalan literature coming from the Ilse of Mallorca, for instance.
Gonzalo Navajas: The situation here regarding Catalan is a limited one. At the University of California, in my department, the majority language is Spanish. I teach contemporary Catalan literary texts and film. I do not have yet the pool of students to do more. But I am interested in all manifestations of Catalan, including all areas where Catalan is spoken.
Moderator: Please visit Prof. Navajas homepage at http://www.humanities.uci.edu/~gnavajas/
Frankfurt Bookfair: As a trained academic, do you find it more difficult to write and publish fiction or scholarly writing? Which one do you prefer and why?
Gonzalo Navajas: You have asked a very significant question for me because I have been quarreling with it until today. I started as an academic, teaching, publishing in the area of literary criticism and theory. It is indeed a very suggestive area and one that, at the professional level, was and still is a very productive one for me. Yet, eventually, I found out that it was not enough. I was daily dealing with great or not so great works of literature, writing, talking about them and I thought that it would interesting to try to do something myself along the lines of what those texts were doing. At the beginning, I did some poetry, short stories. Then I tried the novel. I have published four novels. The last two ones in particular have been well received. I am going to continue writing fiction. I am interested in the connections between narrative writing and the visual. Regarding my preferences, fiction writing and critical writing for me complement each other. I have become a better critic for writing fiction, among other reasons, because when you write a novel, you need to think of the reader and take him or her into account, will the reader get these ideas, sensation, mood,? etc. Because of that, my academic writing has become more clear, lucid, communicative, addressed at times to a larger audience rather than only to my peers. What I find fascinating about fiction writing and publishing is that your readers are unknown to you. Academic writing has a more predictable audience, the university, basically. Novels open your work to a wider and more diverse space. In that sense, I would say that it is more of a challenge. I love talking about my characters and places and stories with readers from different backgrounds and walks of life.
Frankfurt Bookfair: Catalan culture in the U.S. is often equated with more general Iberian culture or even Hispanic/Latino culture. What distinguishes Catalan culture from these other classifications?
Gonzalo Navajas: As I said earlier, Catalan is a small culture in a huge country with many other cultures and languages. At the academic level, Catalan is studied and/or considered within the Iberian context, and other times within the European context. Connections to Latino culture are not made, because Latino culture is viewed as a North-American phenomenon. Catalan is slowly in the process of finding its identity within this reality.
Moderator: Please see http://www.catedramdelibes.com/archivos/000042.html (Catedra Miguel Delibes)
Frankfurt Bookfair: Do you keep on speaking the Catalan language in the U.S. and could it be possible that your Catalan has been Americanized with regards to the wording, grammar or style.
Gonzalo Navajas: My family and personal situation is conducive to maintaining my Catalan. At home I speak Catalan with my wife and children, in addition to English and Spanish. I go to Barcelona often, I visit my brothers and sisters there. I have friends, etc. I do no think my language has been affected greatly—and certainly not negatively—by my living in the US.
Frankfurt Bookfair: How would you define Catalonian Literature? Is it simply an expression of a Franco-Spanish literary tradition written in Catalonian? Or does it represent other distinct literary styles?
Gonzalo Navajas: My view of culture is a broad one. Literary texts are a main component of what I do, but they are not the only ones. In my courses and writings, I have always argued in favor of a view of culture that integrates different configurations. This is why I include the visual, the popular, music etc. I do not think that classical literature and canonical texts are the only ones that define culture. Catalonia and Catalan have a distinct identity or their own that goes back to medieval times. That reality, I believe, precedes and it is superior to other factors such as geo-political circumstances.
adolatkal: Dear Mr. Gonzalo Navajas!
What were your feelings while moving from Barcelona to California? You have been living in the USA for 37 years, how do you feel the Moor soul in the good preserved Californian Ivi Leaqua universities, other buildings? It seems, that these premises were waiting for Catalan Culture , Literature, Music. You were honored in Frankfurt, may be, you know, where there in the USA are somewhat similar ones, but connected with German Culture, Literature and Music?
Mrs. Halima from Uzbekistan.
Gonzalo Navajas: California is a receptive land for other cultures. Catalan is a small part of that mosaic of cultures. At the beginning, I felt disconnected and out of place, then I found my niche here and I make my contribution to the knowledge and diffusion of the culture. Other small cultures can do the same. It is not an easy task, I admit.
Moderator: Please see http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/FichaAutor.html?Ref=10675 (Portal de la Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes)
Frankfurt Bookfair: Do you feel that the film industry should do a more effective job of publishing films that represent true “Americana” as opposed to distorted visions of modern society
Gonzalo Navajas: Your question is, of course, important, but I do not think it has an easy answer. The Hollywood industry is an entity onto itself. It sets its own rules and objectives. And it responds to the demands of the market as much as or even more so than to artistic motivations. So called "big films" maintain the studios and their budgets. The place for more ambitious films is limited. In that sense, I am somewhat pessimistic regarding the possibilities of Hollywood to reform itself. Outside Hollywood, there are independent filmmakers doing very interesting work.
Frankfurt Bookfair: What are your suggestions for aspiring creative authors hoping to push their own works, aspiring academics?
Gonzalo Navajas: Let me tell you quite clearly: it is difficult. Having said that, I WILL SAY EMPHATICALLY to you: do not let the difficulty deter you from continuing your work. If you persist, you will find the place for you. You will find a publisher who will be willing to take risks for you. PLEASE CONTINUE YOUR WORK.
Moderator: We wish to thank Prof. Gonzalo Navajas for joining us today from California. This webchat is now closed. Upcoming: Please join our next webchat for a discussion on “Book Lust” and Library Services with Nancy Pearl on October 16 at 9.00 AM GMT: http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/USINFO/Products/Webchats/pearl_16_oct_2007.html
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