Spanish Literature

A

3

Drama

Apart from the dark, symbolic tragedies of García Lorca, modern drama in Spain has not been as rich as the other genres. Among the other important contemporary dramatists are Alejandre Casona (pseudonym of Alejandro Rodriguez Alvarez), whose theatre of fantasy is best represented by Los árboles mueren de pie (1949, Trees Die at the Root), and Antonio Buero Vallejo, noted for realistic theatre with existential overtones such as Historia de una escalera (1949, Story of a Staircase). Mention should also be made of Alfonso Sastre for Escuadra hacia la muerte (1953; The Condemned Squad, 1961) and Alfonso Paso for Juicio contra un sinvergüenza (1959, Sentence Against a Scoundrel).

A

4

The Essay

In the field of the essay Julián Marías, a disciple of Ortega y Gasset, made notable contributions during the post-Spanish Civil War period. In literary criticism some of the most eminent writers have been Américo Castro, Dámaso Alonso, and Joaquín Casalduero. Among a host of other prominent Spanish essayists can be counted José Gaos, Pedro Lain Entralgo, José Ferrater Mora, María Zambrano, José Luis Aranguren, Francisco Ayala, Guillermo Díaz Plaja, Ricardo Gullón, and Guillermo de Torre.

B

Post-1975

It can be said that 1975, the year in which the dictator Francisco Franco died, is emblematic because it represents the beginning of a process that led to the recovery of writers’ freedom of expression. This period is one in which four different generations of writers came together, creating a variety of voices that dissipated the idea of a collective project, as it had been before. These include writers from before and during the Civil War, such as Camilo José Cela or María Zambrano; those of the post-war generation, of which Carmen Martín Gaite or Juán Goytisolo are typical; a third generation composed of authors who were born after the 1950s, such as Rosa Montero; and a fourth generation who published their first works after 1975—for example, José María Merino and Almudena Grandes.

Writers left behind the experimentalism that characterized previous years and developed a taste for telling stories in a more classical way. Another important issue is the presence of the different languages of Spain (see Spanish Language): Castilian, Catalan, Basque, and Galician.

B

1

Poetry

Poets developed a taste for anecdote, colloquial language, and personal feelings, although there is a reaction against this in the work of Blanca Andreu and others who defended what they called “neo-surrealism”. Luis Antonio de Villena wrote Como a lugar extraño (1990) in which he combined anecdote with a reflection on beauty. Luis Alberto de Cuenca (Poesía 1970-1989, 1990) and Clara Janés (Creciente fertil, 1989) are two other poets of this period.

B

2

The Novel

Novels of adventure, espionage, and action came back into fashion with the likes of Eduardo Mendoza (La verdad sobre el caso Savolta) and Soledad Puértolas (Caronte aguarda). Of equal importance are historical novels, such as Fernando Fernán Gómez’s El mal amor, and novels that analyse the process of writing, for example Beatus Ille by Antonio Muñoz Molina.