Spanish Literature: Post-Civil War Novel Trends

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Spanish Literature After the Civil War

The period between 1939 and 1975 can be divided into three stages:

  • First Decade: Very little literature, writers divided among addicts and non-conforming schemes.
  • Second Decade: Social realism reflecting the dramatic circumstances in the country. Literature is committed and combative, aiming to transform society.
  • From 1960 Onward: Social realism wanes, writers seek new ways and approaches for the renewal of literary language.

The Novel Since 1939: Post-Civil War

The Existential Novel (1940s)

A social disruption caused by the civil war and the disorientation caused by the war logic is added to the cultural and intellectual isolation by the rigorous censorship of the Franco regime. While there's narrative theme war of poor quality, the most interesting novels address the reality of the moment. Under the heading of existential realism are many novels whose themes are malaise, confusion, despair, anguish, and the absurd, reflecting the bitter experience of life. Usually with a single protagonist, these novels feature characters who feel lost or prisoners in a closed and threatening environment. There is no social criticism, but rather the testimony of a society that offers nothing to some individuals. The two most representative works are: The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela and Nada by Carmen Laforet. The history of the postwar novel begins with The Family of Pascual Duarte. This book offers a harsh vision of poverty in a brutal and monstrous world, inaugurating the trend called "tremendismo" that involves acting with extreme cruelty and violent unpleasantness, even repulsive (his characters are often marginalized people, criminals, perverts, morons mental or physical) in a torn and direct language.

The Social Novel (1950s)

The 1950s opened with The Path by Miguel Delibes. The novel, centered in a rural environment inhabited by simple people, marks the beginning of a new realism: the narrator adopts a testimonial approach that will intensify in later works. The publication in 1951 of The Hive by Camilo Jose Cela, marks a new stage leading to the replacement of individual by collective protagonist. The action is set in 1942 in poor post-war Madrid where it crosses a multitude of characters. In this decade, a new generation of novelists is more concerned about the social situation of the country than the individual. Influenced by "Italian neorealism," the novel shifts towards critical and engaged, becoming "social realism," also known as objectivism. These writers assign a social function to literature and reflect an objective reality that they seek to transform. They inhibit fantasy and imagination to focus on the daily lives of the working classes, with an almost documentary approach to faithfully reproduce their way of talking and ways of life. They denounce social injustice and the authenticity and bias in the bourgeoisie and ruling classes. Authors include Rafael Sanchez Ferlosio (The Jarama), Miguel Delibes (Rats), Ana Maria Matute, Juan Goytisolo, and Ignacio Aldecoa.

The Experimental Novel (1960s)

By the early 1960s, it was considered that social realism had exhausted its themes and the novel needed new narrative techniques. The disappointment of the authors with the difficulty of literature fulfilling a social function was added to the desire to raise the aesthetic level of the literary work, without leaving the contents of a social nature. There is more concern for man in full and formal questions. The key work, the starting point in testing in the novel, is Tiempo de silencio by Luis Martin Santos. It features an individual protagonist, a medical researcher surrounded by many other characters of different social groups (from the inhabitants of the slums of the suburbs to the upper middle class). Rather than plot, the constant concern of the author is the comments, structural organization, and the language used, since the vocabulary and style are totally divorced from realism. There are many important novels of this period, both by known authors and others who begin to publish now. Examples include hallmarks of Juan Goytisolo, Five Hours with Mario by Miguel Delibes, and Gonzalo Torrente Ballester. In the 1960s also began the emergence of the Hispanic narrative that will be hugely beneficial to our literature.

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