I wanted to comment on a project by Espais Escrits (Written Spain), an association grouping other institutions promoting Catalonian literature. They developed started developing in 2006 a project called Mapa Literari Català (Catalonian Literary Project), mapping the biography of writers from Catalonia, Spain, and their presence in different parts of the world. The project allows for us to visually locate common geographical places, read parts of diaries, journals, and read extracts of their literary work. It also includes multimedia content such as photographs and videos. It was redesigned and improved for tech updates, and released during the Spring of 2018.
Moreover, it also adds information in different languages, including what these authors produced in English, Castilian, and Catalan. The institute receives funding from the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Fundació Lluís Carulla. The project can be accessed at http://mapaliterari.cat/ca/ and the organization at http://www.espaisescrits.cat .
In the Rutes Literàries (Literary Routes), http://www.mapaliterari.cat/ca/api/guia/30/josep-pla/ruta-josep-pla-a-calella-de-palafrugell several distinct routes walk you through the important monuments and physical spaces that have literary importance for those writers. In the Route of Josep Pla, in Costa Brava, Spain, the institution organizes a walking tour around the places of literary importance for the works by Pla in Palafrugell, a fishermen village where he would spend the summers with his family. His writing describes several important places in that small town of Calella de Palafrugell. Below is a small extract about his perception of the village, and its change with time:
“El que queda encara a Calella és obra dels vells, graciosos mestres de cases. La població, per altra banda, s’ha modificat totalment. El nombre de pescadors és reduïdíssim; si en queda encara algun deu ésser perquè no gosen posar una perruqueria per a senyores o perquè no tenen prou veu per a cantar amb Pepet Gilet, en Tianet i en Blau. Això no és obstacle perquè Calella –que és un agregat de Palafrugell- sigui un dels pobles més bonics del nostre litoral –potser el més bonic vist del mar estant.”
“What remains in Calella is the work of the old, graceful house builders. The population, on the other hand, has been totally modified. The number of fishermen is very small; If there is still some ten it is because they would not like to start a hairdresser’s shop for ladies or because they do not have enough voice to sing with Pepet Gilet, in Tianet and Blau. This is not an obstacle because Calella, which is an aggregate of Palafrugell, is one of the most beautiful villages on our coast, perhaps with the most beautiful view of the sea.” (my translation)
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