New Galician Narrative: Features, Authors, and Works
New Galician Narrative: Features, Authors, Works
The New Galician Narrative emerged during a very vibrant and dynamic period (between 1950-1960), influenced not only by the Galician context but also by developments in Europe. The post-war era brought significant changes in artistic expression and marked substantial development in subsequent years. Currents of thought like Marxism and existentialism, focusing on the reflection of human existence, consolidated. A key reference for the youth of those years was the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. In Galicia during these decades, the social situation differed from the European one, heavily marked by the Franco dictatorship, where fear and repression were part of everyday reality.
Techniques and Influences
The New Galician Narrative assimilated new techniques used by leading authors in the literary renewal of the twentieth century. These included methods such as the interior monologue or stream of consciousness, the detailed description of characters’ moods, an atmosphere of unreality or confusion between dream and reality (influenced by authors like Franz Kafka), the disruption of linear chronological narrative, objectivism (obxectalismo) or the detailed description of objects, and objective narration (reducing the narrator’s overt presence), among others.
The NNG Movement
The New Galician Narrative (NNG) can be defined as a movement renewing the formal and thematic aspects of Galician narrative. It involved using modern narrative techniques inspired by innovative international authors and literary movements of the century. The authors of the NNG were mostly young people with shared characteristics. They published in the ‘Illa Nova’ collection by Editorial Galaxia, participated in the Festas Minervais, and collaborated in newspapers such as La Noche, among other activities. The beginning of this school’s production is considered to be 1954 with the publication of Nacemento dunha árbore by Gonzalo Rodríguez Mourullo.
Common Features
Common features of the NNG include:
- The use of various narrative techniques promoting narrator detachment and a closer focus on the character.
- Themes centered on existential angst, the absurdity of life, and characters often portrayed as anti-heroes.
- Disruption of linear time in the narrative structure.
- Predominance of urban settings.
- Dreamlike or unsettling atmospheres.
- A pessimistic and desperate portrayal of reality under Franco’s dictatorship.
Key Authors and Works
Gonzalo Rodríguez Mourullo
Gonzalo Rodríguez Mourullo reflected fate, absurdity, and incomprehensibility in his works. He presents a world of nightmares and anxiety, often playing with the confusion between reality and fiction. His most representative work is Nacemento dunha árbore (1954), considered the inaugural work of the NNG. These characteristics also appear in his work Memorias de Tains.
Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín
Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín is one of the key authors of the NNG, although some of his later works fall outside this movement. His works feature a constant interplay between reality and fantasy, the interpretation of a mythical past, themes of violence, the use of evocative place names (toponyms) and personal names (anthroponyms), the incorporation of characters or actions from other works (sometimes altered), and significant symbolism, among other traits. Notable works include Percival e outras historias, reflecting existential themes and Arthurian legends; O crepúsculo e as formigas, featuring innovative techniques like the monologue; and Arrabaldo do norte, whose characters are often anonymous.
Camilo Gonsar
Among Camilo Gonsar’s works, Cara a Times Square stands out. This novel has an allegorical character and is open to various reader interpretations. For many, it is the novel that concludes the NNG movement. Another significant work is Lonxe de nós e dentro, where themes of violence and absurdity appear.
María Xosé Queizán
From the author María Xosé Queizán, we can highlight A orella no buraco, included in the NNG, as her other works belong to later periods. This book is divided into chapters employing the objectivist (obxectalista) technique.
Xohán Casal
Xohán Casal is the author of one novel associated with the NNG, Adiós, María. This work utilizes the interior monologue technique and manipulates the treatment of time.
Carlos Casares
Carlos Casares developed an important body of narrative work, including children’s literature like As laranxas máis laranxas de todas as laranxas. He was also prominent as a journalist and essayist and was associated with the Galaxia Group. His notable works within the NNG context include Vento ferido and Cambio en tres, which feature the interior monologue and objectivism (obxectalismo). His last novel was O sol do verán, which tells a story of impossible love and the suicide of one of the protagonists.