Novelistic Evolution: 1960s-70s Shift in Narrative Techniques
The Novel’s Transformation in the 1960s and 70s
The literary landscape of the 1960s and 70s saw a significant shift, marked by a criticism of the social realist novels of the 1950s. This period is characterized by a renewal of the novel, influenced by Hispanic-American novelists such as Vargas Llosa, Julia Cortez, and Gabriel García Márquez. The new novel became more complex, experimental, and aimed at a minority audience.
Key Features of the Experimental Novel
- Multiple Points of View: A profound transformation occurred in narrative perspective. Traditional novels often employed a single viewpoint, be it objective, omniscient, or a character-narrator. The experimental novel embraced multiple perspectives.
- Interior Monologue and Free Indirect Discourse: The prominence of interior monologue, reflecting unfiltered thought, and free indirect discourse, a fusion of thought and narration, became central.
- Non-Linearity: The traditional linear structure was abandoned, with frequent transitions between past and present, often using flashbacks.
- Fragmented Structure: The conventional division into parts and chapters dissolved, with novels sometimes presented as a single paragraph or a series of narrative sequences.
- Genre Blurring: Boundaries between genres vanished, with experimental narratives incorporating essays, advertisements, statistics, and technical elements.
- Emphasis on Form: Formal experimentation took precedence over plot, with digressions and varied stories interrupting the main narrative.
- Stylistic Innovation: Punctuation marks were often omitted, new words were invented, and diverse styles were mixed, enriching the language and incorporating different registers. The experimental novel also disregarded likelihood, aiming to reflect the language of different characters and blending styles and tones freely.
The Beginning of the Renovation
The renovation began in 1962 with the publication of Time of Silence by psychiatrist Martin Santos. This novel marked a departure from previous works and a new beginning. Time of Silence incorporates elements of a serialized detective story, offering a social critique of an oppressive, underdeveloped world. It presents a critical view of the past and present, reflecting an existential sense of human life as something incomprehensible. The author’s perspective is marked by irony and sarcasm, with a baroque, cultist, and metaphorical style. The language is often hyperbolic, and the narrative point of view combines interior monologue, descriptions, and dialogue. Time of Silence is considered the end of social realism and the beginning of a more ambitious novel.
The 1970s and Beyond
In the 1970s, storytellers from the 1950s, such as Ana Maria Matute and Carmen Martín Gaute, continued to write. New narrators, like Luis Goytisolo, emerged, experimenting with techniques and styles in works such as Count, greens in May to the sea and the wrath of Achilles. Francisco Umbral blended autobiography and essay in his fictional narratives, with notable works like Memoirs of a child’s rights. By the mid-1970s, a weariness with the experimental novel led to a crisis, with a return to more traditional structures, simple and linear plots, and well-defined characters. The novel The Truth About the Savolta Case marked this turning point.