Spanish Realism and Naturalism: Key Authors and Characteristics
Spanish Realism and Naturalism
In the mid-nineteenth century, Realism began to develop in Europe. This movement is characterized by a reaction against the excesses of Romanticism and the abuse of subjectivity and imagination. Naturalism was born in France, seeking to explain the causes of human behavior and taking into account new scientific ideas about human beings. Realism in Spain is based on the literary tradition, analyzing and dissecting contemporary reality. As for Spanish Naturalism, Emilia Pardo Bazán disseminated the ideas of Zola.
Key Features of Realism
Realism is primarily a narrative literary movement. The predominant genres are the short story and the novel. Its main features are:
- Objective Observation: Realistic works stem from the observation and analysis of reality, making them likely and believable.
- Contemporary Setting: The writer reflects the moment in which they live, observing the surrounding society, allowing the reader to recognize it.
- Concrete Spaces: The spaces are concrete and recognizable.
- Approach to the Thesis: The work is often guided by a thesis that aims to convince the reader.
- Psychological Analysis: The characters are normal, neither heroic nor special. The bourgeoisie and the proletariat dominate, and marginal female characters are highlighted.
- Omniscient Narrator: The narrator knows every last corner of the characters’ souls and organizes the facts at will, making judgments.
- Style: Presents a natural language, sober and away from hype. The language of the narrator is educated and careful, and the dialogues are real everyday language.
Benito Pérez Galdós: A Leading Figure
Benito Pérez Galdós is the most representative author of Spanish Realism. He mainly wrote thesis novels, which attack religious fanaticism and the presence of clergy in public and private affairs, such as Doña Perfecta. He also wrote contemporary novels, reflecting the changing society of the time and reflecting all social classes, such as Torment. In his last period, he wrote spiritual and symbolic novels such as Nazarín, and also wrote historical accounts. Dialogue is characteristic of his works, as well as actual dialogue or interior monologue. Another characteristic is loyalty to some characters in different novels.
Leopoldo Alas ‘Clarín’ and La Regenta
Leopoldo Alas, ‘Clarín’, includes short narrative works such as A Pipe. There are also numerous valuable stories published in collections such as The Lord and the Rest is Story. His masterpiece is La Regenta, which is about a young married woman, Ana Ozores, generous and kind, unsatisfied with her marriage and with her life, who falls into the spiritual seduction of Don Fermín de Pas, an ambitious, ruler and sensual priest. Clarín combines narration, description, and dialogue modes, making regular use of free indirect style, plus the records of their language are very varied.
Other Notable Authors
Other featured authors are: Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, representative of novels of view, whose best-known work is The Three-Cornered Hat; Juan Valera, stated that the novel’s target was to be pretty distracting and idealize, as in Pepita Jiménez; Emilia Pardo Bazán, whose urgent issue is to reconcile naturalistic doctrines with Christianity, etc.