A shepherd explains: the importance of an ancient profession

The subgenre of autofiction—or personal stories—has been on the rise in Catalan literature for years. Until now, it has been the domain of archetypically modern and urban authors, who recounted their global wanderings and complicated passions with varying degrees of sophistication and sincerity. An example would be the excellent Kill the nerve, ofAnna Pazos.

Four Seasons and a Flock: A Year in the Life of a Shepherd, by Jordi "Toti" Juanola (San Juan de las Fuentes, 1978), apparently has nothing to do with Pazos's book. Everything that is global and cosmopolitan, hedonistic and worldly, melodramatic and itinerant in the former is steeped in tradition and the past, and is proudly local, natural and stoic, and deeply rooted. However, to be fully appreciated, Juanola's book, which delivers what the subtitle promises—a first-person account of the daily life of a Pyrenean shepherd—must be read as a piece of autofiction.

Because 4 seasons and 1 flock It is neither a folkloric testament nor an anthropological document, but the living, personal story of a man whose ancient trade is now at risk of extinction. He is a man—the son and grandson of shepherds—who must work long hours every day of the year to survive, often under harsh weather conditions and bureaucratic and administrative conditions more fearsome than the fiercest wolf and more inclement than the worst storm. However, he is also a man who, despite everything, is convinced that he (and all those dedicated to traditional mountain livestock farming) have a key role to play in modern society.

Which sheep he saves and which ones he takes to the slaughter

One virtue of Juanola's book is that it does not pretend to be more than what it promises: the story of a shepherd who lives dedicated to his job – which he must combine, however, with the cultivation of the land –, who takes the sheep out to graze and cares for them when they are due to give birth, shears them when it is time and protects them at all times. collies, from attacks by bones and wolves and vultures, and who finally chooses carefully (without sentimentality, also without cruelty) which ones he will take to the slaughterhouse, all in a cycle that always repeats itself and never ends.

Another of the virtues of Juanola's book is that the author is aware that, to explain his profession in a complex and faithful way, he must also tell many other things. 4 seasons and 1 flock There, real events and figures from the past (maquis, civil guards, imposing greenhouses, a patriarchal uncle) coexist with materials from legendary Pyrenean folklore, passing through striking anecdotes (the paragraph where he tells how, in order to save the life of a pregnant sheep from the womb of its mother and pull it out piece by piece is memorable), political-economic and union demands, explanations of the crisis suffered by the peasantry, poetic and heartfelt descriptions of the landscape and passages that have an explicit programmatic dimension. They are instructive and important passages, because Juanola sets out how he believes things should be done for the good of all: the shepherds and the country.

Written with a lively style and genuine language, 4 seasons and 1 flock It is a unique and, for many reasons, valuable book.