Valencian Folktales

Enric Valor

By: Paul Scott Derrick, Maria-LluÃ¯sa Gea-Valor

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Paperback | 27 May 2024

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Paperback
196 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 1.07

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Enric Valor is one of the most important Valencian authors of the 20th century. This selection of his highly popular rondalles (folk tales) will for the first time introduce his work to an English-speaking audience. At a time when Catalan was under threat from the cultural bulldozer of the Franco regime, which condemned the use of anything but Castilian Spanish in public communication, Valor went to great lengths to disseminate knowledge of the language, through writing grammars and linguistic studies, as well as teaching it to fellow inmates when he was imprisoned by the regime for his cultural activities. These tales, collected over a number of years in small villages in the province of Alacant, were a significant part of his ongoing efforts to safeguard the Valencian language and the culture and history of the region. The Rondalles Valencianes have been compared to Italo Calvino's Italian Folk Tales and Henri Pourrat's Treasury of French Folk Tales. Like them, Valor aimed in rewriting the oral material to establish a common national body of folk narratives and to make the stories more appealing to Valencian readers, young and old alike. The critical Introduction provides an outline of the author's life and an overview of his work as novelist, grammarian and folklorist, as well as an assessment of the tales which identifies their place within the broader European folklore tradition.

Industry Reviews

"This volume opens a window for English-speaking readers to a rich regional folktale tradition little-known outside of Spain. It presents a delightful body of beautifully rendered literary versions of folktales, informed by oral traditions, gracefully transposed for the page, and authoritatively translated." Joseph Sobol, Professor of Storytelling, University of South Wales

"These folktales, rooted in the oral tradition and written in Enric Valor's rich, personal prose, are presented here for the first time in a magnificent English translation. The imaginary universe of these lovely Valencian stories thus acquires an international dimension." Carme Oriol, Professor of Folk Literature, Universitat Rovira i Virgili

"Enric Valor's Valencian Folktales conserve the memory of a strong, resilient culture. From anonymous voices and age-old traditions, Valor constructs universal stories of a timeless popular mythology. This translation will be appreciated by scholars and students of culture, literature and folklore." Rafael Beltran, Professor of Medieval Literature, Universitat de Valencia

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