Post-Franco Spanish Literature: Novel and Poetry Trends Since 1975

Spanish Literature: Trends Since 1975

The Novel

The novel since 1975 exhibits several significant features:

• A mixture of reality and fiction. A representative work is The Dark Side (1985) by José María Merino.
• Inclusion of fantastical, mythical, and legendary worlds. An outstanding work is The Adventures of the Knight Kosmas (1981) by Joan Perucho.
• Literary games.
• Proliferation of minor novelistic subgenres.

Novelistic Subgenres

Subgenres that had been neglected throughout the twentieth century began to gain relevance. The most prominent include:

1. Historical Fiction

   In this subgenre, the plot is set entirely in a past era.

2. The Detective Story

   This subgenre has been addressed by authors such as Eduardo Mendoza, with The Truth About the Savolta Case (1975).

3. The Short Story (Tale)

   The short story is a key formal tendency of the contemporary tale. It is characterized by addressing similar issues to the novel but with a tendency towards brevity.

   Some of the most relevant authors who have cultivated these narratives are Luis Mateo Díez and Juan Pedro Aparicio, amongst others. Its closest precedent is found in the micro-stories of the Guatemalan writer Augusto Monterroso (1921–2003).

Poetry

The Poetry of Experience

In the early 1980s, a poetic tendency began to grow, advocating a return to the expression of sentimentality, everyday themes, and clarity of expression.

Key characteristics of the Poetry of Experience include:

• Concept of Poetry

  The new poets conceive of poetry as the narrative of everyday experience.

• Themes

  Everyday life and experience become the central theme of poetry. Sometimes this experience is fictionalized, meaning it is created artistically.

• Style

  Poets opt for a flat expression, close to colloquial language, which facilitates connection with the reader. However, this expressive simplicity often hides a deep concern for the poem's formal construction.

Felipe Benítez Reyes (Cádiz, 1960) is one of the most recognizable voices in the Poetry of Experience.

Minimalist Poetry

Minimalist Poetry developed from the poetic line launched by José Ángel Valente. Its practitioners include Andrés Sánchez Robayna, among others.

This is a conceptual poetry that eliminates circumstantial and anecdotal elements, opting for a concentrated expression full of resonances.