"Ser tota ulls": the visual imagination of Mila and Natàlia, the two major characters of Caterina Albert/Víctor Català and Mercè Rodoreda”

Abstract

This chapter aims to analyse the parallels between the visual imagination construction of Mila and Natàlia, two of the most representative (and popular) heroines in Catalan literature. Starting from the idea that the act of looking is key in both characters’ processes of knowledge, the study will focus on the lexicon associated with the semantic field of visual perception. As we will see, Mila and Natàlia’s sensitivity makes them especially imaginative and gives them a very fine-tuned ability to observe. Paying attention to detail, both protagonists develop emotional relationships with objects, animals and people, through which they reach knowledge. As they gain experience, this visual imagination allows them to communicate, master a situation and make decisions. Thanks to this scopic dimension, Mila and Natàlia’s voices echo the main contributions of modernity to the contemporary novel: the construction of a complex individual gaze, which is projected on the environment and on others, and a living and transformative imagination.