The Spanish Novel: Evolution and Trends
The Novel After the War
The evolution of the 1990s novel in the first half of the twentieth century was paralyzed by the Civil War. The supervision and censorship of the Franco dictatorship after the war marked the political, social, and cultural development. Several Spanish intellectuals were exiled abroad, and those who stayed had to conform to Franco’s ideology. Three periods are distinguished:
Existential Novel
This narrative expresses the heartbreak and anguish of humanity. Its works are influenced by the Golden Age.
Topics:
- Uncertainty of human fate: Characters seek values that give meaning to their lives and escape monotony.
- The absence of communication: Isolation is a consequence of the meaninglessness of life (existence), which prevents connection with others.
- The Spanish Civil War (the November): An attempt to overcome the resentment of the war.
Narrative Elements:
- Characters: The protagonist is a unique individual aware of their oppressed, blurred, indecisive, and aggressive life.
- Time-space: Urban environments are reflected: chaotic cities or stifling rural environments (province). Time is limited to a few hours or days.
- Point of view: First-person narrative (character) expressing their thoughts.
- Style: Colloquial notes, however, there are exceptions.
Social Fiction
The fifties marked the beginning of a slow economic recovery, which brought about sociocultural change. The opening of Spain to Europe allowed the entry of literary narratives that introduced new techniques. This kind of novel is concerned with human and social problems, aiming to contribute to the transformation of Spanish reality. Social vindication is their common denominator.
Topic:
Spanish society characterized by individual and collective isolation.
The social novel reflects three areas of Spanish society:
- Urban life: The city is a suitable environment for novels starring the bourgeoisie, whose lifestyles are criticized.
- The working world: Migration from the countryside to the city leads to the transformation of peasant workers into industrial workers.
- Rural life: The social novel shows the subhuman living and working conditions of the rural population, living isolated from reality.
Style:
Sobriety and simplicity.
Characters:
The protagonist becomes collective.
Space-time:
Set in specific physical locations, reflecting the rural and working-class (field, mine, village, etc.). The point of view is expressed in the 3rd person, losing the role it held in the existential novel.
The Experimental Novel
Some writers began to question the literary quality of the social novel. The objective reporting of facts led to narrative impoverishment and a decline in reader interest. The symptoms of wear of the social novel, along with influences from renovating Latin America, gave way to a reform of continuous experimentation with formal elements. The authors do not focus solely on social reporting but adopt a dialectical vision of Spanish reality.
Innovations:
- Argument: Loses importance and may disappear altogether.
- Characters: Individual but always in conflict with themselves.
- Point of view: The omniscient narrator reappears, adopting the vision of reality from several characters.
Language and Style:
- Variety of linguistic registers: Learned words, slang.
- Introduction of fragments of other genres.
- Abundant use of rhetorical figures.
- Abandonment of syntactic structure with the alteration or absence of punctuation.
- Mixture of prose and verse, conversations in another language.
The Novel of Exile
Due to the Civil War, some writers continued their literary production outside Spain.
Topics:
- Spain’s past: Examining the past to understand the determinants of the new configuration of Spain.
- The longing for Spain: The exile yearns for their lost homeland, evoking experiences and places and imagining the time of their return.
- The reality of exile: Some choose to illustrate and denounce the problems in their host countries.
- The human condition: Opting for abstraction and symbolism, their stories become a philosophical reflection on human nature.
The Novel from 1975 to Present
The theme of novel experimentation from the sixties extends into the seventies, with works continuing to refresh narrative techniques. Thanks to the mechanization of production processes, the increase in commercial formulas, and the support of new technologies, the publishing industry is experiencing strong momentum. The novel generally acquires the following characteristics:
- Argument structure: Recovery of stories recognizable by the reader, in search of verisimilitude.
- Point of view: Predominance of third-person omniscient or witness narrators.
- Space-time: Guided by the chronological order of events.
- Characters: The protagonist remains individual.
- Style: A return to simplicity and naturalness.
- Theme: Disengagement from social and political commitment and a return to existential questions.
Trends in the Contemporary Novel:
- Historical novels: Set their works in various stages of history for various purposes: to offer a personal interpretation, explain aspects of the present compared with the past. Reality and fiction often mingle in these novels. Contextualized historical novels about the Spanish Civil War are common.
- Detective story: Presents as a game for the intellect. The plot is well-articulated: a policeman or detective investigates and deciphers a series of clues to solve an enigma in urban environments.
- Adventure novel: Located in open and exotic spaces and different historical periods. It recounts the incidents of a character who experiences varied adventures to achieve a goal.
- Intimate novel: Presents a varied range of personal, existential issues, often highlighting an uneasy intimacy, besieged by anxiety and uncertainty, the search for identity and the meaning of life.