Early 20th Century Spanish Novel: Themes and Authors
Early 20th Century Spanish Novel
The lyrical, romantic innovations of the early twentieth century resulted from the pessimistic view of Western culture at the time. Unable to find meaning in existence, the message was one of frustration and despair. The main innovations in the novels were:
- Attention to the problem of history
- Centralization of the hero
- Momentariness and fragmentation
- Dramatization
Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja defended the possibility open to all and proclaimed the absolute freedom to design the writer. For Baroja, the novel is a genre that fits all. His novelistic production has two stages:
- Until 1912: variety of themes, including the best creations, such as Camino de Perfección and El Árbol de la Ciencia.
- Diverse settings, exotic ingredients, predominance of the narrative of historical background, ironic perspective, such as Memorias de un Hombre de Acción and Las Sirenas del Laberinto.
Camino de Perfección, published in 1902, is structured around the protagonist (Fernando Ossorio) who oscillates between periods of suffering and states of apathy. He takes a journey in which he evolves and reaches the fullness of life.
The Struggle for Life trilogy consists of La Busca, Mala Hierba, and Aurora Roja. It offers a true reflection of Madrid society of the early 20th century and narrates the struggle from the bottom upward, from outsiders to enter the city.
El Árbol de la Ciencia reflects the moral despair and disorientation of Spain in that era in the life of Andrés Hurtado until his suicide. He possesses an unrelenting pessimism and has seven parts.
Memorias de un Hombre de Acción is a historical narrative series composed of 22 works, united by the biography of Eugenio de Aviraneta.
Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno’s novel became an ideal means of interpreting reality, expressing the issues he was obsessed with: the affirmation of personality, fighting instinct, the desire to dominate others, and death. Unamuno’s novels focus on the inner conflicts of the characters generated by strict, interlocking family relationships.
Niebla, subtitled nivola, published in 1914, introduced the combat against determinism through Augusto Pérez.
San Manuel Bueno, Mártir, published in 1930, tells of the loss of faith in Don Manuel Bueno, who substitutes his lack of faith in established texts with a desire to believe.
Azorín
Azorín can be regarded as breaking with the nineteenth-century conception of the novel in his novel production. Azorín had an in-depth analysis of perception.
La Voluntad (1902) is an impressionistic novel. The protagonist, Azorín, is passive, contemplative, and pessimistic.
Doña Inés (1925) includes descriptions of the environment and the sensitivity of the characters.
Ramón del Valle-Inclán
Valle-Inclán’s work rejects all traditional realism. Progressively, he introduced innovations in fictional technique, culminating in his highest setting, the esperpento, composed of the Sonatas.
The Sonatas (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) represent an allegory of human life. El Marqués de Bradomín is Catholic, ugly, and sentimental. The Carlist War provides a vision of traditional Spain facing the liberal goal.
Ramón Pérez de Ayala
Ramón Pérez de Ayala focused on the individual’s moral change. Pérez de Ayala created an experimental novel, particularly concerned with the issue of consciousness, which includes unconscious and subconscious aspects. His tetralogy consists of Tinieblas en las cumbres, AMDG, La pata de la raposa, and Trotadoras y danzaderas.
Belarmino y Apolonio (1921) explores the idea of harmony, as first looked at by Ordenador.
Gabriel Miró
Gabriel Miró created a powerful novel of lyricism. In Miró’s novels, although lacking action, raw emotion, the facts are diluted to produce prints of text.
Las Cerezas del Cementerio (1910) contains decadent elements, with its hymn to beauty and sensibility.
Ramón Gómez de la Serna
Ramón Gómez de la Serna’s novels attach importance to prohibited content (carnal imperatives), such as La Viuda Blanca y Negra (1918).
Benjamín Jarnés
Benjamín Jarnés’s works revolve around a single character and proclaim an ideology of freedom.