Linguistic Variation, Spanish Novels, and Languages of Spain
Item 11: Linguistic Variation
Linguistic variation includes two types of language varieties: registers and dialects.
These varieties are functional and depend on three factors: the communicative situation, the relationship between the speakers, and the mode of transmission of the message.
Functional Varieties or Registers
Depending on the relationship between people, there are two linguistic registers: colloquial and formal.
- Colloquial Register: Used among people who maintain a relationship of trust.
- Formal Register: Used with people you do not have that degree of proximity or familiarity.
The Novel in the Forties
The two most important novels of the forties are The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo Jose Cela and Nothing by Carmen Laforet.
- The Family of Pascual Duarte is the most representative work of the alarmist novel, depicting the inhumanity and extreme violence of rural Spain. Cela combines elements of the picaresque novel, the grotesque, and naturalism.
- Nothing is considered part of the existential novel. Carmen Laforet’s narrative reflects the emptiness and lack of expectations in the miserable and bleak life in post-war Spain.
The Social Novel: The Fifties
In the fifties, the social novel prevailed in Spain.
Narrative strategies, such as a collective protagonist, reflect the routines and daily miseries of a multitude of characters in various conditions, struggling to survive in an environment of isolation and frustration.
Techniques include:
- Fragmentary and Counterpoint Technique: The work consists of fragments separated by spaces along which a third-person narrator develops a web of simultaneous plot lines.
- Extensive Dialogues: Accurately reflect the actual speech of the time, mostly inconsequential, manifesting the boredom and lack of concerns of the protagonists.
- Presence of Objective Narrator: Conversations are occasionally interrupted by elaborate descriptions from the narrator.
The Experimental Novel
In 1962, Quiet Time by Luis Martin Santos was published, marking the starting point for the so-called experimental novel.
New narrative techniques used include:
- Interior Monologue: Using the thoughts of the characters in a disorganized and chaotic manner.
- Chronological Disorder: Jumps in time, both forward and backward.
- Multiple Viewpoints: Alternating narratives.
- Stylistic Renovations: Resulting in a literary language that departs from everyday speech.
Item 12: The Languages of Spain
Spain is considered a multilingual state.
- In Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, Catalan is spoken.
- In Valencia, Valencian is spoken.
- In Galicia, Galician is spoken.
- In the Basque Country and parts of the Community of Navarra, Basque or Euskera is spoken.
Evolution of Castilian: Four Distinct Periods
- Medieval Castilian: Medieval Castilian has many differences from the current vocabulary, affecting pronunciation and spelling.
- Classic Castilian: The publication of the Grammar of Elio Antonio Nebrija marked the beginning of the Golden Age.
- Modern Spanish: In 1713, the Royal Spanish Academy was founded, ensuring the unity and stability of the language.
- Current Spanish: The most characteristic feature of current Spanish is the constant incorporation of neologisms.