Early 20th-Century Spanish Narrative: A Shift in Focus
Early 20th-Century Spanish Narrative
A Shift in Focus
The early 20th century marked a significant change in Spanish narrative. Novels like The Way of Perfection (Pio Baroja, 1902), Love and Pedagogy (Unamuno), The Will (Azorín), and the Sonatas (Valle-Inclán) shifted focus from external reality to the personal and intimate emotions of characters. This new narrative style presented several key features:
Key Features of the New Narrative
- Diminished Emphasis on Plot: The ‘how’ of storytelling became less important than the ‘what’. Minimal action, subjective time, and blurred spaces replaced traditional chronological narratives.
- Fragmentary Presentation: Narratives often fragmented, focusing on significant moments for the protagonist, interspersed with descriptive and reflective pauses, creating a sense of uncertainty.
- Focus on Protagonist’s Conflicts: The inner world of the character took center stage, with external reality serving primarily as a backdrop for the character’s internal portrait.
- The Protagonist: Often a bohemian artist, maladjusted, and anti-bourgeois, leading to nihilism and a sense of failure.
The protagonist’s thoughts and dialogues, along with indirect speeches and monologues, became prominent. The dramatized novel, with a diluted narrator’s voice, emerged in the early decades of the 20th century.
The ’98 Generation (Noventaiochistas)
The novelists of the ’98 Generation, influenced by Schopenhauer, expressed both optimism and concern for modernization. They manifested an avant-garde cult of progress and a hedonistic inclination.
Key Authors
Pío Baroja
Baroja’s novels incorporated philosophical reflection, adventure, criticism, and humor. His protagonists were often misfits, and his works featured numerous characters, dialogic practices, and detailed descriptions. The Struggle for Life trilogy (The Search, The Weed, and Red Dawn) offered a reflection of Madrid society and the struggles of the underprivileged. The Tree of Science reflected the moral despair and disorientation of Spain at the time.
Miguel de Unamuno
Unamuno’s novels focused on inner conflicts related to personality assertion, death, and the idea of God. He valued “viviparous” novels. Mist questioned the nature of reality and human dependence on God. Saint Manuel Bueno, Martyr explored the substitution of faith with will.
Azorín
Azorín’s novels, like The Will and Doña Inés, represented a break with 19th-century conceptions. They featured fragmented narratives, influenced by Impressionism, cinema, and a focus on contemplative protagonists. Doña Inés incorporated detailed descriptions of the environment and characters’ sensitivities.
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán
Valle-Inclán’s Sonatas (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter), written as memories, allegorized human life with a focus on carnal love. His style evolved, culminating in the grotesque. Tirano Banderas, a historical novel, exemplified this technique. The Iberian Ring series depicted Spain as a bullring, highlighting absurdity and collective ownership.
Noucentisme Novelists
Noucentisme novelists introduced a more vital and optimistic tone.
- Ramón Pérez de Ayala: Used dialogue and perspectivism in works like The Shaman of His Honor.
- Gabriel Miró: Known for lyrical prose. His early works, like Cemetery of Cherries, showed modernist elements. Later works, such as Our Father San Daniel and The Leper Bishop, featured rich descriptions, synaesthesia, and explored the passage of time.
The 1920s
- Ramón Gómez de la Serna: Explored themes of sexuality and death in works like The Black and White Widow.
- Benjamín Jarnés: Focused on individual characters and themes of freedom and joy of life, using fragmented narratives in works like Madness and Death of Nobody.