Joan F. Mira: «Des de la finestra veig Europa»

Abstract

Joan F. Mira is one of the key figures in contemporary Catalan culture. Because of his many interests (anthropologist, translator and author in different genres) he is not easily classified. In the manner of T.S. Eliot, Mira has managed to tie his output with the great classical works of Catalan literature and that of Europe. His interests, strictu sensu, stretch from a microcosm located in his hometown in Valencia’s Horta, to the great European cities – and cultures far beyond – which he has visited during his life-long journey either physically or with his readings. This article seeks to offer an approach to strategies employed by Mira, including cultural anthropology or his narrative’s hybridity, to incorporate into his discourse spaces he has mapped during his life or by extension, those of his country. Methodology is based on a geocritical approach applied to literary studies (Bou, Marqués, Salvador, Tally, Westphal), with a transversal and multidisciplinary approach to the analysis of the work of Joan Francesc Mira.