Renowned Catalan author Albert Sánchez Piñol has described Catalans as “orderly people who want to make a revolution” in an interview about his latest novel, a political fable that recasts Herman Melville’s Moby Dick to explore the recent Catalan independence movement.
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His new book, Després del naufragi (After the Shipwreck), is not a retelling but a continuation of the 19th-century American classic. However, it inverts the original’s premise. Where Captain Ahab was a madman leading a sensible crew to ruin, Sánchez Piñol’s version portrays an “excited population” pushing a reluctant and squabbling leadership towards a predestined catastrophe.
Speaking to Catalan news outlet VilaWeb, the author explained the novel serves as a direct allegory for the turbulent period known as the procés, culminating in the October 1st independence referendum of 2017.
An Allegory for the ‘Procés’
In Després del naufragi, the ship’s two officers, who are constantly at odds, are easily recognisable as former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his Vice President, Oriol Junqueras. Sánchez Piñol, whose previous works include the international bestseller Cold Skin, makes no secret of the parallels.
“The characters are recognisable and I’m not hiding from it,” he said, admitting that the constant infighting between the political leaders was a key inspiration. This political division continues to have an impact, with recent disagreements, for instance, stalling the Catalan budget.
The author’s central thesis is that the political class was unprepared for the groundswell of popular demand for independence. “I believe the Catalan ruling class didn’t want to do it, they didn’t feel prepared or capable, but they had to surf the wave,” he told VilaWeb. “The political leadership was more occupied with fighting among themselves than leading the cause.”
A Revolution of Orderly People
The novel, however, reserves its most trenchant critique for the crew, representing the Catalan people. They are depicted as disciplined and well-meaning but ultimately lack the revolutionary zeal to complete their mission. A key moment in the fable sees the crew pass up an opportunity to kill the great white whale, Moby Dick, which symbolises the Spanish state.
“Historically, [the Catalan people have] been very rebellious and very un-revolutionary,” Sánchez Piñol reflected. “There’s this element of revolt, but it isn’t brought to completion. Something stops it.”
To illustrate his point, he recounted a famous anecdote about Lenin’s observations of German revolutionaries training in Russia.
“They were doing an exercise to storm a train station. There was just one problem. First, they queued up to buy a ticket.”
Sánchez Piñol believes Catalans suffer from a similar syndrome. “We are disciplined people, people of order who want to make a revolution.”
Owning the Narrative
The book, published by Univers, marks a departure for Sánchez Piñol after many years with La Campana publishing house. It also features striking illustrations by visual artist Franc Aleu, created using artificial intelligence as a tool.
Ultimately, Sánchez Piñol stressed the importance of Catalans defining their own recent history before others do it for them. He compared the situation to the German film Downfall, which depicted the final days of the Third Reich. When asked why they made it, the director reportedly said, “So the Americans don’t make it for us.”
“I think we need to have our own version,” Sánchez Piñol stated, arguing that literature is the perfect medium to explore the complex, multifaceted, and often painful events of the procés. “If you can talk about your own death, it means you’re not dead. If we have the capacity to describe all this, we can begin a new stage.”
In the interview, the author also made a direct contemporary political point, identifying the leader of the Catalan Socialists, Salvador Illa, as the modern incarnation of Moby Dick. “The worst enemy that Catalan identity has today is called Salvador Illa… The enemy is that one. You can’t make pacts with it, because it will devour you… It won’t leave you in peace until you disappear.”
