Spanish Literature

C

Realism

The second half of the 19th century was the era of realistic fiction in Spain, as it was in other countries. Spanish Realism reached its peak in the works of Benito Pérez Galdós, who ranks among the great novelists of Europe. In a series of 46 historical romances entitled Episodios nacionales (National Episodes, 1873-1879 and 1897-1912), Pérez Galdós interpreted Spanish contemporary history in fictional form. In addition, he wrote thesis novels, that is, novels dealing with religious, social, or political problems. His principal thesis, the evil of religious intolerance, is expounded most powerfully in his novel Doña Perfecta (1876; trans. 1880), but his masterpieces are a series of realistic novels portraying Madrid society, notably Fortunata y Jacinta (1886-1887, Fortunata and Jacinta).

Other novelists depicted life in the different regions of Spain: José María de Pereda portrayed life in the area of Santander; the politician Pedro Antonio de Alarcón and the statesman, poet, and scholar Juan Valera y Alcalá Galiano both dealt with life in Andalusia; and Countess Emilia Pardo Bazán treated life in Galicia. Pardo Bazán and the novelist Clarín (pseudonym of Leopoldo Alas y Ureña) accepted the techniques of Naturalism. Valera, on the other hand, differed from the Realists in his partiality for beauty rather than for strict accuracy. Two other novelists of this period who achieved international renown were Armando Palacio Valdés and Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. A contemporary of the realistic novelists was the critic and historian of Spanish literature Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo.

D

The Generation of 1898

In the last decade of the 19th century Spain entered a period of unusual, creative activity. The group of writers known as The Generation of 1898—which includes such diverse figures as the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo, the Galician writer Ramón del Valle Inclán, the poet Antonio Machado y Ruíz, the essayist Azorín, pen name of José Martínez Ruíz, the Spanish Basque novelist Pío Baroja y Nessi, and the dramatist and critic Jacinto Benavente y Martínez—accomplished a profound transformation of Spanish literary techniques and style. In their poetic work they were influenced by the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío (pseudonym of Félix Rubén García-Sarmiento), leader of the movement known as Modernism, which was characterized by great originality of images, rhythms, and rhymes.

Although the members of The Generation of 1898 had very different styles, they had in common a questioning and critical attitude, an awareness of the need for liberalization and modernization in Spain, and a deep insight and feeling for what is peculiarly Spanish. The writings of Unamuno, particularly his forceful essays and poems, express a philosophy that has similarities to existentialism. The works of Valle Inclán express the artistic attitude known as aestheticism, that is, the love of art and beauty for their own sakes. The landscape, history, people, and spirit of Castile are given their most authentic expression in modern times in the poems of Machado and in the essays of Azorín. Pío Baroja, author of the 20-volume series of novels Memorias de un hombre de acción (1913-1931, Memories of a Man of Action), is the greatest novelist of Spain after Pérez Galdós. Benavente, author of Los intereses creados (1907; Bonds of Interest, 1917), won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1922 and was the most distinguished Spanish dramatist of his time.

V

The Modern Period

A

Pre-1975

In the 20th century the trend in Spanish letters begun by The Generation of 1898 abated temporarily during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), as many intellectuals were silenced or went into exile. However, it recovered strength after World War II.

Among the works of early 20th-century writers, sensitivity and absolute purity of form characterize the poetry of Juan Ramón Jiménez, a well-known lyric poet and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956. The essayist and philosopher José Ortega y Gasset, a master of Spanish prose, is internationally renowned as a major interpreter of the spirit of his time. Other notable prose writers of this period are the novelist, poet, and critic Ramón Pérez de Ayala; the novelist and essayist Gabriel Miró; the novelist, dramatist, critic, and aphorist Ramón Gómez de la Serna, who was the leading exponent of literary Expressionism in Spain; the critic and essayist Eugenio d'Ors; the essayists Salvador de Madariaga y Rojo and Gregorio Marañón; and the scholar and critic Ramón Menéndez Pidal.

A

1

Poetry

A brilliant generation of poets, known as The Generation of 1927, flourished during the late 1920s and the 1930s. The greatest of these poets and the most universally known was Federico García Lorca, who expressed the popular spirit of Spain in his dramas and lyric poems. Other notable poets of this generation include Jorge Guillén, Rafael Alberti, and Vicente Aleixandre y Merlo. Guillén was known for his collected poetry (Cánticos), first published in 1928 and expanded in editions of 1936, 1945, and 1950, and Clamor (3 vols., 1963), verse with political and social themes. Opposed to Franco, Guillén went into exile in 1939, and his verse reflects his growing pessimism. Aleixandre, who won the Nobel Prize in 1977, exerted considerable influence on other Spanish poets. His verse, beginning with Ámbito (1928, Environment), is largely sensuous and Surrealist in imagery. Antología total (1975) is the most recent complete collection of his work. To a group sometimes referred to as The Generation of 1936 belong Germán Bleiberg, Carmen Conde, Luis Felipe Vivanco, Juan Panero, Leopoldo Panero, Luis Rosales Camacho, Dionisio Ridruejo, and especially Miguel Hernández, who achieved the greatest recognition with the publication of El rayo que no cesa (1936, The Relentless Lightning). The Generation of 1936 is characterized by their expression of religious faith.

Nine poets dominate the generation succeeding that of 1936; they are Rafael Morales, Vicente Gaos, Carlos Bousoño, Blas de Otero, Gabriel Celaya (pen name of Rafael Múgica), Victoriano Crémer, José Hierro, Eugenio de Nora, and José Maria Valverde. Hierro is representative of the anti-aestheticism, social commitment, and concern for Spain that characterize the group as a whole. Other characteristics of the group include: (1) subjective poetry of the individual in conflict with the external world, as in the early poetry of Blas de Otero; (2) a realistic attitude, neither tragic nor frenzied, but serenely and religiously intimate, as in the work of Valverde and the later poetry of Blas de Otero; and (3) objective tendencies and social poetry, as in the writings of Gabriel Celaya, Victoriano Crémer, and Eugenio de Nora.

Lorenzo Gomís, in his collection Poesía 1950-1975 (1978), ranges from personal, local concerns to verse of a lofty vision.

A

2

The Novel

The novel has been the most flourishing genre in 20th-century Spanish literature. The novels of Juan Antonio de Zunzunegui, two of whose best works are La ulcera (1948, The Ulcer) and La quiebra (1957, Bankrupt), are characterized by strong picaresque tendencies. Max Aub, whose works include La verdadera historia de la muerte de Francisco Franco (1960, The True History of the Death of Francisco Franco), often wrote about the Spanish Civil War. One of the best novels by Francisco Ayala, critic and sociologist as well as novelist, is Muertes de perro (1958; Death as a Way of Life, 1964), which presents a nightmarish view of humankind. The novels La familia de Pascual Duarte (1942; The Family of Pascual Duarte, 1946), by Camilo José Cela, and Nada (1944; trans. 1958), by Carmen Laforet, are among the best-known works written in a new type of realism known as tremendismo, which features the anti-hero and an insistence on the ugly, harsh aspects of life. Cela, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1989, has written widely varying types of novels and is also known for his travel books. La colmena (1951; The Hive, 1953) is considered by some to be his best novel.

A more traditional type of Realism is represented by the work of such authors as Ignacio Agustí and José María Gironella, author of Los cipreses creen en Dios (1953; The Cypresses Believe in God, 1955), a saga of family conflicts symbolizing the political dissensions in Spain that led to civil war. Miguel Delibes has written travel books and realistic novels, noteworthy among which are La sombra del ciprés es alargada (1947, The Cypress' Shadow Is Long) and Cinco horas con Mario (1966, Five Hours with Mario). Ana Maria Matute, one of whose most insistent themes is children and who often writes with exaggerated realism despite her lyrical touches, is known for such works as Los niños tontos (1956, The Retarded Children) and Primera memoria (1959, First Memory). El jarama (1955; The One Day of the Week, 1962) is an objective novel of highly original style by Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio. The novels of Juan Goytisolo deal with existential problems and protest against a certain emptiness of contemporary Spanish society. Among his best-known works are Juegos de manos (1952; The Young Assassins, 1959) and Duelo en el paraíso (1955; Children of Chaos, 1958). The novels of Ramón Sender, considered the most important Spanish novelist of his generation, include Mr. Witt en el cantón (1935; Mr. Witt Among the Rebels, 1937), Crónica del alba (1942, Chronicle of the Dawn), and Requiem por un campesino Español (1962, Requiem for a Spanish Peasant).