Spanish Narrative (1940-1970): From Realism to Experimentation
Spanish Narrative (1940-1970)
From Realism to Experimentation
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) profoundly impacted subsequent cultural activity. Literature became an escape for some and an instrument of denunciation for others. During the 1940s, authors like Camilo José Cela, with The Family of Pascual Duarte (1942), and Miguel Delibes, with The Shadow of the Cypress is Long (1947), ushered in an era of realism, reflecting a commitment to portraying reality. By the 1960s, this formula began to evolve, incorporating social themes and innovative narrative techniques.
The Rise of the Novel
Today, the novel stands as the most cultivated literary genre. Both poetry and theater have experienced a decline compared to the novel’s prominence. Cela’s The Family of Pascual Duarte marked his literary debut and established his style. His novels, often described as documentaries rather than social critiques, present harsh realities of Spanish life in the 1940s. Cela acts as an omniscient narrator or observer, presenting situations without explicit judgment. His notable works include The Hive, San Camilo 1936 (1969), and Boxwood (1999). He also wrote travel narratives, such as Journey to the Alcarria (1948). Cela was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1989.
Miguel Delibes and Social Criticism
Miguel Delibes, since the publication of The Shadow of the Cypress is Long (1948), maintained a consistent literary career. The Road (1950) marked the beginning of his rural novels. In this work, Daniel, the Little Owl, poignantly evokes his childhood on the eve of his departure for the city. Delibes’s social criticism culminated in The Holy Innocents (1981). Other notable novels include The Prince Dethroned (1973).
The Social Novel of the 1950s
Cela, Delibes, and Laforet paved the way for the social novel. Earlier glimpses of this genre emerged in the late 1920s with authors like José Díaz Fernández (The Blockhouse, 1928, and The New Romanticism, 1930) and Ramón J. Sender (Magnet, 1930). Following these precedents, numerous authors in the 1950s embraced social criticism. Employing an objectivist technique, they focused on observable realities, portraying poverty, injustice, and loneliness with humanitarian concern. Two main groups emerged: objectivist realism and social realism.
Objectivist Realism
and social realism. Realism objectivist The authors belonging to this trend reflects the daily reality as they perceive it. They write about poverty, poverty, social injustice and loneliness, driven by a humanitarian solidarity free from political partisanship. Most of these authors had close personal contacts: Rafael Sanchez Ferlosio (1927) publishes the most important work of this trend characterized by the objective presentation of facts: El Jarama (1956). The author admirably reflects the speech of young people in the fifties, and their lack of vision because of the difficult situation in the country. Social Realism Social commitment of the authors in this group is far more profound than the previous ones, and who see literature as an instrument of denunciation. Continually limited by censorship and the lack of freedom of expression. Written on the side of the workers and inhabitants of the suburbs and criticize the bourgeois class, wealthy and inefficient. These authors, emerged in the late fifties or early sixties, are engaged politically, leaving aside the imagination to focus on objectivism: Juan Goytisolo (1931) wrote his first novel in the realistic social realism: Games of hands ( 1954), The action of these novels takes place in the Civil War days. Goytisolo technique used objectivist Little by little tired of the social novel, and from 1966 evolved into the experimentalism in Signs of identity (1966. He has published many novels, the latest of which is Carajicomedia (2000). The novel of the sixties: from social concerns and the experimentalism during the sixties is not lost socially engaged novel, but as we have seen since the last years of the fifties is detected some depletion of this trend and a clear trend towards experimentation and renewal. Authors like Luis Goytisoloor Juan Goytisolo is the vanguard of new trends The news not only affect the argument or structure, spelling also, as some authors deleted punctuation or paragraphs, and is often mixed genres. It is not intended to denounce the situation only social, but also pursues the formal beauty. Two novels are considered models of new trends: Time of Silence (1962) by Luis Martin Santos and Signs of identity (1966) by Juan Goytisolo . Luis Martín Santos (1924-1964) marks a before and after the Spanish novel with the publication in 1962 of Time of silence. Marks the end of the social novel and the beginning of intellectual renewal of the decade. The language is quite cultured and developed, which hindered the interpretation of the narrative. They appear all walks of Madrid in the forties. Juan Benet (1927-1993) is one of the leading representatives of the renewal of the novel.’ll Return to Region (1967) contributes to ending social realism. It consists of monologues organized not chronologically put into the mouths of different characters, which is difficult to interpret .. Other titles are A Meditation (1970), The other house of Mazon (1973). All are characterized by linguistic and syntactic difficulty.