Post-1936 Spanish Narrative: Trends and Context
ITEM 10: THE POST-1936 SPANISH NARRATIVE
1. CONTEXT
The Spanish Civil War ended and the Franco dictatorship began. This period can be divided into three stages:
- Political and economic isolation.
- Gradual opening and end of political isolation.
- Modernization and economic development through tourism and foreign investment.
The country’s social situation mirrored the evolution of the Franco regime. It began with an economic crisis, followed by slow economic prosperity, which caused large migrations. Additionally, the labor movement resurged, leading to strikes.
After the war, Spain experienced a literary depression, which had serious consequences for the country’s culture until the 1960s when new creative streams emerged. The postwar period saw a break with previous literary traditions and a strong censorship that impoverished the art scene. This led to the development of sub-literature like comics and romance novels, while a liberal Spanish culture developed in exile with figures like Juan Ramón Jiménez and Severo Ochoa.
2. FEATURES
The novel and the essay lost numerous literary references due to the death, exile, and censorship of writers. Additionally, pre-war works became less accessible. Key characteristics of this period include:
- Exile of many pre-war novelists.
- Censorship: prohibiting the dissemination of works led to self-censorship among novelists, but also fostered greater creativity.
- The Civil War as a central theme, either as a direct experience, memory, or due to the writer’s situation.
- Rupture and discontinuity with previous literary traditions, as the pre-war perspective was inadequate for the new situation.
- Search for new models in foreign literature or in the realist tradition.
3. TRENDS
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Use reality as a literary theme, which differs between authors depending on their ideological perspective.
– Novel nationalist Falangist embodies the vision, where the winners are good and the bad guys are vanquished. Highlights The faithful infantry García Serrano.
– Fantasy fiction, and humorous as a resource was used to escape the grim reality and overcome the traditional realism with a skeptical and disenchanted. Highlights The Living Forest Wenceslas Fernandez
.
– Traditional Realism: The bourgeoisie is the fundamental issue. The argument is developed over a long period and with many facts. Uses traditional techniques and the characters have psychological consistency. The death ship of Zunzunegui.
– Existential or sensationalist fiction: it expresses the disappointment of people and their tragic fate with issues such as the uncertain fate or the isolation of the Civil War. The protagonists are usually violent or oppressed individuals, chaotic urban environments and choking and also very little time to reflect the tragedy of the war. Predominantly the narrator-protagonist and the monologue with a slang. The stark reality, a trend that accentuated the black realism, raw and violent, started The Family of Pascual Duarte Camilo Jose Cela.