"Kathryn Crameri focuses on a crucial moment of cultural change in Catalonia. She discusses the complex response of writers and literary critics to Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy and to the new possibilities for the expression of Catalan identities which resulted from it. The study considers the cultural and political context of the Catalan novel from the 'Renaixenca' to the present day, and offers a detailed analysis of novels by four very different writersMontserrat Roig, Manuel de Pedrolo, Juan Marse (who writes in Spanish) and Biel Mesquida, all of whom share an underlying thematic preoccupation with individual and national 'transitions' and with the intricate relationship between language and identity. They challenge institutionalized visions of the link between Catalanism, and offer a more pluralistic and personalized version of Catalan identity."--BOOK JACKET.