20th Century Spanish Narrative: From Exile to Experimentation
Spanish Narrative After 1936
Prose in Exile
The end of the Spanish Civil War led many intellectuals into exile. Their works are generally characterized by:
- The evocation of a lost Spain
- The memory of the Civil War
- The desire to recover the past
- Nostalgia and pain
- Anxiety and loneliness
Some prominent authors in exile include:
Max Aub
Aub’s series, particularly those set during the Civil War and Valverde Street, are notable for their Galdosian realism, irony, humor, and playful tone.
Francisco Ayala
Ayala’s short stories, such as The Ace of Clubs, and novels like Deaths of a Dog and The Bottom of the Glass, are significant. His novels reflect on power and violence, avoid omniscience, and play with different perspectives on a single event.
Rosa Chacel
Chacel’s works, including Memoirs of Leticia Valle and the Maravilla Neighborhood trilogy, are written in elaborate and carefully constructed prose, with structured sequences and frequent ellipses.
Ramón J. Sender
Sender’s novels are characterized by formal and thematic diversity. Requiem for a Spanish Peasant stands out, exposing the moral dilemmas of a priest who betrays a Republican farmer.
Other notable narrators who published their work in exile include Poncela, Andújar, Barea, and José Ramón Arana.
Prose in Spain
Prose of the 1940s
During this period, works emphasized a sordid atmosphere, violent action, and sharp language to tell often gruesome stories, a style known as “alarmism.” Prominent authors include:
Camilo José Cela
Cela’s The Family of Pascual Duarte, a clear example of alarmism, is influenced by the picaresque novel, Naturalism, and the works of Valle-Inclán. The Hive reflects Cela’s skepticism, negative view of humanity and the world, and distrust of all ideals.
Miguel Delibes
The Way portrays the life of a nation and its people through the eyes of a child, idealizing the rural world as a lost paradise. Cinco horas con Mario (Five Hours with Mario) is a long soliloquy of a woman who speaks in her imagination with her deceased husband. Formally, it features a peculiar monologue, breaks with linear narrative, constant reiteration of events revealing the protagonist’s obsessions, and the use of irony. Other important works include The Hunter and Diary of a Rat.
Prose of the 1950s
This period is known as Social Realism due to its focus on social issues and realistic aesthetics. Within this movement, two currents emerged:
Objectivism
Objectivism is characterized by the predominance of dialogue, condensed time and space, individual protagonists, and linear narration. Notable authors include:
Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio
Ferlosio’s El Jarama features characters who reflect a critical and hopeless view of Spanish life.
Juan García Hortelano
Nuevas amistades (New Friendships) describes the lives of university students, while Tormenta de verano (Summer Storm) portrays the routine of a group of bourgeois vacationers on a Barcelona beach.
Critical Realism
Critical Realism shares features with Objectivism, such as condensed space and time, collective protagonists, and linear narration. However, these novels have a more explicit intention of social criticism, focusing on contemporary Spanish society. Authors include:
Ignacio Aldecoa
Known for his short stories, narrative conciseness, and stylistic expression, Aldecoa also published four novels: The Light and the Blood, With the Wind, Great Sun, and Part of a Story.
Jesús Fernández Santos
Los bravos (The Brave) describes the difficult life in a small town in León, where ignorance and violence reign.
Carmen Martín Gaite
Entre visillos (Between Curtains) portrays the life of a provincial youth with no prospects.
Antonio Ferres
Ferres published stories with social content, focusing on themes like migration to the big city and slums, as seen in Piquette.
José López Pacheco
Central eléctrica (Power Plant) stands out for its denunciation of labor exploitation and miserable living conditions.
Prose of the 1960s
During this period, many narrators abandoned the aesthetic of realism and embraced formal experimentation. Characteristics of this period include:
- Minimal or irrelevant plot and action
- Reduced number of secondary characters and condensed space
- Focus on the main character as the center of the novel
- Avoidance of linear narrative
- Literature as the essence of the work (metaliterature)
- Linguistic and stylistic renewal
Notable authors include:
Luis Martín-Santos
Tiempo de silencio (Time of Silence) critiques the miserable state of Spanish society and its values. It incorporates digressions, interior monologues, and ironic use of language.
Juan Benet
Volverás a Región (You Will Return to Región) represents a break with previous traditions. Región is an imaginary place that distorts the relationship between space and time and influences the constitution of the characters.
Juan Goytisolo
Señas de identidad (Marks of Identity) features multiple narrators, breaks punctuation rules, overlaps temporal planes, uses flashbacks, ellipses, and free verse.
Juan Marsé
Si te dicen que caí (If They Tell You I Fell) portrays a sordid and brutal reality with violent and aggressive vocabulary.
Luis Goytisolo
The tetralogy Antagonía (Antagonism) features metaliterary reflection, technical virtuosity, an abundance of cultural references, and autobiographical elements.
Authors like Delibes, in Five Hours with Mario, and Cela, in Oficio de tinieblas, 5 (Office of Darkness, 5), also experimented with experimental fiction during this period.