20th Century Spanish Literature: Camilo José Cela and Miguel Delibes
Camilo José Cela
Trying to Pigeonhole Various Trends: Realism, Objectivism
Camilo José Cela is one of the most prolific and innovative writers of Spanish society, each of his narrative techniques and literary works unique. Poet, playwright, essayist, writer, and storyteller, Cela was born in Cortines in 1916 and died in 2002. An admirer of the writers of the Generation of ’98 and a big fan of Pío Baroja, we find very distinctive characters and environments in his novels. His works are characterized by a richness of language and description, a wide view of reality (speaking of the marginalized, such as those with disabilities or those from the LGBTQ+ community), and an interest in criticizing social marginality. His complex characters usually have names, surnames, and nicknames. Cela used a large number of registers and adjusted the language to the geographical scope.
Cela is the author of The Beehive, which opened the period for social realism. Other notable works include: New Adventures and Misadventures of Lazarillo de Tormes (1944), Journey to the Alcarria, Rest Pavilion, Thrilling Hungry (1962), and Christ Versus Arizona (1988).
The Family of Pascual Duarte (1942)
The Family of Pascual Duarte reflects the negative aspects of life: cruelty, suffering, death, anxiety, and nausea. Unlike existentialism, which strives to find meaning for human life, this novel reflects the stark squalor of life without seeking a remedy.
The novel begins with the memories of the protagonist, Pascual, from jail before his execution, recounting what has led him to this state. Pascual represents a primitive individual from a village in Albacete (Almendralejo). In the novel, we witness the murder of five people. He kills his horse because it fell to the ground with his pregnant wife on it and caused her to have a miscarriage. He kills his dog, Chispa, because he felt its eyes reproached him for the death of his second child, who died young. He kills El Estirao because he seduced and exploited his sister, Rosario. He kills his mother due to her constant criticisms and because he holds her responsible for the misery of his family (his father, an alcoholic, abused his wife and children, and his brother died at about 7 years old, drowned in a large pot of oil). He commits a social crime and kills the village chief, the Earl of Torremejía, and is therefore sentenced to death.
The work begins with “Lord, I’m not bad.” This highlights the gap between reality and Pascual’s self-perception. Is Pascual a murderer or a victim of a society that creates the circumstances that lead him to kill? Cela makes us feel compassion for the protagonist. In the end, the reader sees a murderer, but also a victim of his environment.
Miguel Delibes
Spanish Writer and Journalist
Miguel Delibes studied law and practiced as a young journalist. In 1947, he won the Premio Nadal with his first novel, Shadow of the Cypress is Long. His literary career was full of successes. His works stand out: Five Hours with Mario (1966), which reflects the contradictions within Franco’s middle class, and The Holy Innocents (1982), a work in which he outlined the rural areas of Castilla (which was later adapted into a film). His latest novel, The Heretic (1998), won the National Fiction Prize. He died in 2010 at 90 years old.
The Shadow of the Cypress is Long
This novel, written in the first person, contains autobiographical elements. A pessimistic and bitter view of life is reflected through the protagonist, who is filled with existential bitterness. The novel is narrated in the past tense, from the perspective of someone who looks at his past and analyzes what has motivated his personality. It uses flashbacks and has death as a central theme.
The novel has two distinct parts: Pedro’s childhood and adolescence, and his adulthood. The atmosphere of the novel is claustrophobic, from the house to the city where it develops, Ávila, a walled city. The descriptions are very thorough.
Pedro, an orphan since childhood, goes to Ávila for his education, to the gloomy home of Don Mateo Lesmes, who instilled in him the belief that to be happy, one must avoid any relationship with the world, excitement, or affection. The vitality of youth allows him to overcome this ingrained pessimism, but certain events force him to remember what he learned. His friend and roommate, Alfredo, dies. Thus, the protagonist becomes imprisoned even within himself, also influenced by Don Mateo, a pessimistic man with little faith in people.
Throughout their studies, Marino and Pedro will contemplate the horrors of war. Everything leads to isolation. But on his sailing journey, he meets Jane, an American girl whom he rescues when her boat drifts. The protagonist falls in love with this cheerful girl and marries her, but she is killed by a carriage. Pedro returns to Ávila.
This is not a cheerful novel. It explores the ever-present nature of death and the idea that the death of a loved one slowly robs us of our own identity.
Sensationalist Fiction
, presented the real situation of the worker and peasant classes and lack of solidarity and disorientation the new nouveau riche. The stark, considered 40’s literary movement inspired by the naturalism of the nineteenth century, is to present an underworld of passions, instincts and physical defects are exaggerated intentionally raw to criticize aspects of reality. Select Hard sordid aspects of reality, Existentialism in the destiny of man and his loneliness. The characters have in common that they are anti-heroes, creatures frustrated by life, failed and doomed to death.