Spanish Narrative and Theater until 1939
Item 3: Spanish Narrative until 1939
Pío Baroja, born in San Sebastian to a family of doctors, championed absolute freedom in his novels, expressing his personal vision through characters reflecting his own personality.
Key Elements of Baroja’s Novels:
- Characters: Misfits struggling against a pessimistic world.
- Action: Driven by a desire to avoid boredom, showcasing diverse environments, frequently Basque landscapes.
- Dialogue: The core of many works.
- Style: Clarity, precision, and speed, debated for grammatical errors (Ortega) or praised for its Quixote-like quality (Azorín).
Novels: Over 60, influenced by his favorite writers.
Stages:
- 1st Stage: Basque Trilogy, The Tree of Knowledge, Shanti Andía.
- 2nd Stage: Marked by sincerity, considered the most representative figure of his generation.
Miguel de Unamuno, born in Bilbao, a doctor of letters and Greek professor, explored various genres. His novels emphasize reality and essential human problems against provincial Spanish society.
Characteristics of Unamuno’s Novels:
- Termed nivolas.
- Focus on characters over setting.
- Existential themes.
- Evolution of characters.
- Fundamental ideas explored.
Major Novels: Peace in War, Love and Pedagogy.
Azorín challenged traditional novel structures, fragmenting narratives into snapshots.
Works: The Will, Confessions of a Small Philosopher.
Valle-Inclán, known for his extravagances, excelled in plays, poetry, and novels.
Works: Sonatas, Tyrant Banderas, Iberian Ring.
Novencentista Narrative: Ramón Pérez de Ayala and Gabriel Miró
Ramón Pérez de Ayala moved away from Realism, focusing on intellectual tragicomedy.
Gabriel Miró, from Alicante, emphasized inner life and landscapes.
Characteristics of the Generation of ’98
Precursors: Regenerationists like Ángel Ganivet, Joaquín Costa.
Genesis and Evolution: Focused on Spain’s decline, philosophical concerns, and aesthetic sobriety. Key members: Azorín, Baroja, Maeztu, Unamuno, Antonio Machado, Valle-Inclán.
Characteristics at Maturity:
- Influence of European irrationalism.
- Existential concerns.
- Subjective focus on Spain’s issues.
- Idealism for national regeneration.
- Search for authentic Spain through landscape, history, and literature.
Literary Language: Rejection of Baroque and 19th-century rhetoric, clarity, precision, traditional words, lyricism.
Innovations: Modern novel techniques, less successful in theater.
Spanish Theater Before the War: Valle-Inclán and Lorca
Introduction: Attempts to restore drama, influenced by European trends, with limited success except for commercial theater and works by Valle-Inclán and Lorca.
Commercial Theater:
- Jacinto Benavente: Bourgeois audience appeal, The Bonds of Interest, The Passion Flower.
- Comic Theater: Álvarez Quintero brothers, Pedro Muñoz Seca, Carlos Arniches.
Theatrical Restoration Attempts:
- Unamuno: Minimalist theater, focus on inner states, The Other, Brother John.
- Azorín: Anti-realist theater, subconscious and marvelous, themes of happiness, time, death.
Valle-Inclán:
- Strongly anti-realist, interaction between text and visuals.
- Early Works: Modernist influence.
- Barbaric Comedies and Galician Topic: Silver Face trilogy.
- Farces and Nonsense: Bohemian Lights, social and political satire.
Lorca:
- Poetic language, music, dance, and scenography.
- Lorca’s Trilogy of Tragedies: Blood Wedding, Yerma, The House of Bernarda Alba.
Lorca’s Theatrical Constants:
- Poetic expression of life’s problems.
- Experimental, without direct precursors or successors.
- Unified subject matter with progressive enrichment.
- Themes of time, freedom, repression.
Steps:
- Postmodernism: Pedro Salinas, Gerardo Diego.
- Pure Poetry: Emilio Prados, Jorge Guillén, Luis Cernuda.
- Avant-garde: Gerardo Diego, Emilio Prados.
- Surrealism: Rafael Alberti, Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre.
- Neopopularism: Lorca, Alberti.
- Return to Tradition: Gerardo Diego, Salinas.
- Political Poetry: Alberti.
- Poetry of Uprooting (Inner): Dámaso Alonso, Aleixandre.
- Poetry of Uprooting (Outer): Cernuda, Alberti, Guillén.