Blas de Otero, Mihura, and Spanish Literary Movements
Blas de Otero (Bilbao, 1916)
During the early postwar years, Blas de Otero practiced law, but his literary vocation led him back to Madrid, where he studied Philosophy and Letters. His important works, Ancia, were published around 1950-1951. His first two works are considered among the best of the postwar poetry. Otero focuses on existential themes such as the meaning of life, the loneliness of man, and the failure to achieve fulfillment in love.
There is a reflection on the essence of humanity, trying to define what constitutes being a man, and the fatal conclusion is existence as pain, death, and suffering, which appear as inevitable elements. He uses religious images and themes in this existential reflection, but religion seems to offer no consolation or conclusive answers because the relationship that develops between the poet and the God referred to is antagonistic and complex.
Social Poetry
The evolution from the ego of his first books to the “us” of social poetry is evident in works such as “I call and the word peace.” The existential angst is replaced by reflections on the reality of the war and the scars of the Spanish Civil War. The author addresses issues such as violence, poverty, and lack of horizons, championing the value of the word and defending solidarity as the engine for change. For the author, poetry becomes a refuge from savagery and an instrument at the service of society, whose transformation will help experimental poetry.
Characteristics of Realism
- Minimizing the presence of the author (limited to narrating what happens).
- Limiting the role of the character (predominant context).
- Elimination of introspection and psychological analysis (the characters’ inner world does not interest the author).
- Dissolution of the argument in a succession of anecdotes.
- Structural and stylistic simplicity (his novels are linearly ordered).
- Temporal and spatial concentration (arguments focus on short time periods).
- External characterization of characters (characters are defined by what they say and do).
Miguel Mihura
(Madrid, liked comic books and worked as a journalist): Three Top Hats (written in the 1930s but not released until 20 years later, this piece represents a complete break with the previous comic theater, developing the theme of lost freedom). It combines humor and tragedy, profound truth and ridicule, and caricatures fear of norms.
Other Works
The theme of freedom is prevalent in his works and invites the viewer to live outside strict and conventional social standards. His humor ridicules the characters and actions of immediate reality, for example, criticizing nonsense and snobbery.
The Noucentista Movement
This movement is formed by a group of scholars and thinkers who have strong intellectual and scientific training and take advantage of the organs of power to carry out the social transformation of Spain through culture and science. The Noucentistas represent the established bourgeoisie, are elitist, and are in favor of a secular state and a school system away from the power of the Church (Ortega y Gasset and Eugenio d’Ors).
Reworking of the Narrative (1940-1960)
This was a period of cultural splendor for Latin America. From 1939, with the end of the Spanish Civil War, many Spanish writers and publishers settled in Hispanic countries, as well as other intellectuals from other countries. There was a restoration of the Latin American narrative, which has been known as magic realism or magical realism.