Post-War Spanish Novel: Literary Movements of the 1940s and 1960s

The 1940s: Post-War Spanish Novel

The novel of the 1940s focused heavily on the social and gender dynamics prevalent in the immediate post-Civil War decade, often reflecting the harsh realities of the time.

Literary Movements of the Forties

Restorers of Realism

This group published books closely aligned with the style and themes of 19th-century Spanish realism (e.g., Benito Pérez Galdós).

• Key Authors: Juan Antonio Zunzunegui, Ignacio Agustí, José María Gironella.

Innovators

A group of writers who began with a tone of realism but quickly moved toward desperate existential themes. Living under strict censorship, their works denounced the misery and troubles plaguing the country. Their novels, often described as tremendist, offered the reader a profound sense of anxiety and suffocation.

Representative Authors and Works (1940s)

Camilo José Cela

• The Family of Pascual Duarte (1942): A novel structured as the confession of a condemned man attempting to justify his crimes.
• The Hive (1951): A collective story depicting the misery and difficulties of life among the people of Madrid after the war.

Carmen Laforet

Born in Barcelona, she won the Nadal Prize in 1944 with her seminal novel, Nada (Nothing).

Miguel Delibes

Born in Valladolid in 1920, his early work includes the novel La sombra del ciprés es alargada (The Shadow of the Cypress is Long).

Gonzalo Torrente Ballester

A Galician writer, academic, professor, critic, and novelist. Notable works include The Joys and the Shadows, Don Juan, and The Saga/Fuga of J.B.

Trends of the Late 1940s and 1950s

Objectivism or Neorealism

Focused on objective description and social documentation.

• Key Authors: Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio (El Jarama), Ignacio Aldecoa, Ana María Matute, Carmen Martín Gaite, and Juan Marsé.

Critical Realism

A movement that used realism to critique social structures.

• Key Works and Authors:
  • Duel in Paradise (Juan Goytisolo)
  • New Friends (Juan García Hortelano)
  • The Ditch (Alfonso Grosso)
  • Two Days of September (José Manuel Caballero Bonald)

The 1960s: Renewal and Formal Experimentation

Spanish authors, weary of the limitations of social realism, sought radical new ways of expression, leading to significant formal innovations in the novel.

Key Formal Innovations

• Rupture of Linear Narrative: Mixing different temporal planes and fusing literary genres.
• Alternation of Perspectives: Using multiple viewpoints and shifting grammatical persons.
• Internal Monologue: Extensive use of stream of consciousness techniques.
• Stylistic Alterations: Experimentation with punctuation standards and the incorporation of technical or specialized languages.
• The Protagonist: A shift away from the collective protagonist toward an individual protagonist struggling against society.

Representative Works of the Sixties

• Luis Martín-Santos: Tiempo de silencio (Time of Silence)
• Miguel Delibes: Five Hours with Mario and The Rats
• Camilo José Cela: San Camilo 1936
• Juan Goytisolo: Señas de identidad (Hallmarks)
• Juan Benet: Volverás a Región (You Will Return to Región)
• Juan Marsé: Últimas tardes con Teresa (Last Evenings with Teresa)