The Fracturing of the Poetic Ego in the Verse of Joan Salvat-Papasseit and Vicent Andrés Estellés

Joan Salvat-Papasseit and Vicent Andrés Estellés were both highly politicised and committed writers. This article seeks to focus on the nature of the poetic ego fashioned by both authors and its function as a key element for the communication of the ideological message. The toxicity of the capitalist system regarding mental health, as elucidated by countless theorists from André Breton to Mark Fisher, will act as framework for the assessment of the creative identities of the two poets. Far from being a straightfoward evocation, it is argued that Salvat’s protagonist is a complex and contradictory figure whose multiplicity suggests a dissociative indentity dissorder. In Estellés the diagnosis is more severe, offering clear indications of schizophrenia. However, authorities from Otto Rank to Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari will be referenced to illustrate the creative results generated by this psychopathology.