JOSEP CARNER DAVANT LA NONSENSE LITERATURE

Abstract

Around 1925, Josep Carner’s literary works offered, among other things, a reflection on the power and limits of human knowledge as conveyed by language, a repeated questioning of the possibility of plain and direct statement. We can place in this context his interest in the wordplay tradition in English, and, most of all, in that of the so-called nonsense literature. This article explores the reasons for this interest, which arguably go beyond mere cultural curiosity, while examining from the same point of view some instances of Carner’s translations of Alice in Wonderland and the limerick form.