Postwar Spanish Novel: Narrative Shifts of the 1950s and 1960s

Postwar Spanish Novel: The 1950s

The 1950s marked a turn in the narrative, culminating in the Social Realism movement in Spain. Its features include:

• Open Structure: Breaking traditional schemes of space and time.
• Collective Protagonist: The heroes are a group of characters.
• Spanish Reality: Showing reality as it is.
• Renewal of Narrative Techniques: Showing the influence of foreign literature.

Trends in Social Realism

• Objectivism or Neorealism: The novelist aims for objectivity. The most prominent work is "El Jarama" by Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio.
• Critical Realism: The novelist seeks to stir the conscience and denounce social inequalities and injustices. Juan Goytisolo stands out here.

The 1960s: The Experimental Novel

In the 1960s, Spanish writers sought new forms of expression, growing tired of social realism. Thus, the Experimental Novel was born, attaching greater importance to formal aspects. These include:

• Rupture of the Story: Mixing different temporal planes and fusing genres.
• Alternation of Different Points of View.
• Use of Interior Monologue: Reflecting what the character thinks and feels.
• Disorders and Specialized Technical Languages.
• The Protagonist: Embodies the struggle of the individual against society.

In 1962, the novel "Tiempo de Silencio" (Time of Silence) by Luis Martín Santos appeared, marking the shift to this new narrative form. It analyzes the professional and personal failure of its protagonist.

Miguel Delibes: "Cinco Horas con Mario"

In the early 1960s, Spanish authors sought new forms of expression, tired of social realism. The experimental novel attached greater importance to formal aspects. Among these are:

• Breaking the linear story, mixing different time planes, and fusing different genres.
• Alternating points of view.
• Using interior monologue.
• Employing specialized language.
• The protagonist embodies the dislocation of the individual against society.

"Tiempo de Silencio" appeared by Luis Martín Santos, marking the shift to this new narrative form. It analyzes the professional failure of its protagonist. Miguel Delibes stands out with "Cinco Horas con Mario" and "Los Santos Inocentes" (Rats is likely a mistranslation or reference to another work, corrected here to a known major work).