Spanish Narrative (1939-1970s): From Existentialism to Experimentation
Spanish Narrative from 1939 to the Late Sixties
From Cela and Delibes to Martín-Santos and Laforet, Spanish narrative from 1939 to the late sixties actively sought new ways to break the cultural lethargy of the early postwar years. The output of this phase is usually divided into three periods:
Existentialist Novels (1940-1950)
The environmental conditions of the postwar period determined the themes and narrative techniques of the novels written during this time. Influences from the picaresque novel of the Golden Age and the works of Pío Baroja are evident. Three representative works are: Nada by Carmen Laforet, The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela, and The Shadow of the Cypress is Long by Miguel Delibes.
Themes:
- Disenchantment and Tragic Fate: Characters reflect the miserable reality of the Spanish Civil War.
- Uncertainty of Human Destiny: Actions are not steps toward a definite end, but errors, detours, always searching for authentic values that give meaning to life.
- Absence or Communication Difficulties: The isolation of individuals is a consequence of the meaninglessness of existence, which prevents connection with others.
- The Spanish Civil War: Novelists try to understand the war’s outbreak and the confusion and resentment it left behind.
Narrative Techniques:
- Individuality: The protagonist is a unique individual, often violent, oppressed, or undecided, conscious of their vital blur. They are placed in extreme situations that lead to violence, routine, or isolation, highlighting the emptiness and monotony of life.
- Restricted Space: Settings are tight and interior, often urban environments.
- Limited Time: The narrative covers a few hours or days.
- First-Person Narration: Frequent use of the monologue.
- Functional Language: Language is prioritized over artistic expression.
Social Novel (1950-1960)
Authors like Ignacio Aldecoa, Jesús Fernández Santos, Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, and Juan Goytisolo consolidated the renewal of the novel during this period. This committed group denounced human problems and social demands. A representative work is The Hive by Camilo José Cela, which recounts the daily lives of characters who frequent a café in Madrid.
Themes:
- Individual and Collective Solitude in Spanish Society: This theme is reflected in three environments: rural life (e.g., Los bravos by Jesús Fernández Santos), urban life and the bourgeoisie (e.g., The Red Leaf by Miguel Delibes), and the working world (e.g., Mine by Armando López Salinas).
Narrative Techniques:
- Collective Protagonist: Some characters remain passive (e.g., Jarama by Sánchez Ferlosio), while others struggle to survive and dignify their lives (e.g., Volverás a Región by Juan Benet).
- Specific Locations: The social novel is set in defined places.
- Linear Time: Time is concentrated in short periods.
- Third-Person Narration: Predominantly a witness narrator who only describes what they see without judging or offering opinions.
- Fragmented Structure: Long novels are divided into untitled chapters separated by white space or asterisks.
Experimental Novel (1960-1970)
In the late 1950s, writers began to question the literary quality of the social novel. Its simple style, focused on objectively reporting facts, had impoverished the narrative. This led to experimentation with formal elements (language and narrative techniques). Tiempo de Silencio by Luis Martín-Santos marked the beginning of this total renovation.
Themes:
- Shift from Objective Facts to Dialectical View of Spanish Reality: The novelist’s complaint is no longer focused on objective facts but on a more complex understanding of reality.
Narrative Techniques:
- Weakened Plot: The argument loses importance and disappears entirely in some novels.
- Return of the Individual Character: The individual character reappears, but always in conflict, searching for their identity or struggling with the social environment.
- Broken Chronology: Chapters disappear, and the chronological order is disrupted. Cinematic techniques are used, with references to previous or later events.
- Multiple Storylines: Several simultaneous stories are narrated with alternating sequences, creating counterpoint.
- Omniscient Narrator with Multiple Viewpoints: The third person is combined with the second and first person.
- Interior Monologue and Digressions: The thoughts of characters are reproduced, and the narrator comments on facts related to the theme but outside the main plot.
- Baroque Language: A variety of linguistic registers, abundant use of rhetorical figures, introduction of fragments from other genres, a mix of prose and verse, alteration of typography, and the breaking of the paragraph are employed.
- Syntactic Rupture: The syntactic structure is abandoned with the alteration or absence of punctuation and the inclusion of conversations in other languages.
Novel in Exile
Due to the Civil War, several writers continued their literary production outside Spain, in countries in America and Europe. These include Arturo Barea with The Forging of a Rebel, Rosa Chacel with Barrio de Maravillas, Francisco Ayala with Deaths of a Dog, Max Aub with The Magic Labyrinth, and Ramón J. Sender with Requiem for a Spanish Peasant. This novelistic trend continued even after Spain’s democratic transition began in 1975.