Iorgos Seferis visita Catalunya: notes dʹun viatge, un discurs... i una endevinalla

Abstract

Iorgos Seferis fou convidat a pronunciar el pregó de la Fira del Llibre dʹOcasió, a Barcelona, el 1964, un any després que li fos concedit el premi Nobel. El poeta anotà en el seu diari (inèdit fins 2019) observacions i reflexions a propòsit de la seva visita, una ocasió que el posà en contacte, durant uns quants dies, amb una cultura, la catalana, que el sorprengué i lʹencuriosí. Sʹanalitzen aquí aquestes anotacions, així com també el ressò dʹaquella visita en la premsa de lʹèpoca.

George Seferis was invited to deliver the opening speech of the Book of Occasion Fair, in Barcelona, in 1964, a year after he was awarded the Nobel Prize. The poet wrote in his diary (unpublished until 2019) observations and reflections on his visit, an occasion that put him, for several days, in contact with the Catalan culture, that surprised him and aroused his curiosity. These annotations are analyzed here, as well as the echo of that visit in the contemporaneous press.