Spanish Novels of the 1940s and 1950s: Trends and Authors

The Novel of the Forties

We can distinguish different tendencies in the narrative of these years:

Traditional Realist Novel

It is a literature that follows the traditional lines and does not contribute to building aesthetic guidelines, presenting some interesting works and authors such as Zunzunegui, Ignacio Agustí or Jose Maria Gironella, making a sort of classic novel, influenced by Azorin, Pio Baroja, Concha Espina, Bartholomew Suns...

Alarmist Realist Novel

It tells stories of cruel, in many cases of war setting. It has a harsh neo-realism, harsh language, expressive, reflecting miserable environments. These stories are violent and torn, offering a degrading view of life and man. This trend began with writers who extolled war as a victory, Rafael García Serrano, Camilo Jose Cela breaks but that picture with a more profound human drama that is not marked by partisan leanings. One of his works is "The Family of Pascual Duarte" (1942), which represents a harsh vision of wretched and brutal realities from the perspective of a confessed murderer.

Existential Fiction

Runs parallel to the alarmism. They are novels of bitter reflection of everyday life. His themes are loneliness, inadequacy, frustration, death... with marginal characters, uprooted, disoriented and distressed. Regarding technical aspects, it tends to reduce the space where the characters suffer unbearable pressures. The narrators dispense with the stylistic devices. Key works are: "Nothing" and "What Happens in Quiroga Elena Street" by Carmen Laforet.

Other Authors of the Novel of the Forties:

Rafael García Serrano / "The Faithful Infantry

Agustin de Foxa / "Cut Czech Madrid"

Tomás Borrás / "Czech Madrid"

G. Torrente Ballester / "Javier Mariño"

The Novel of the Fifties

The fifties represent the rebirth of the Spanish novel. A new generation of writers, the half-century generation, which together with the Generation of 36, develop a narrative compromised. Camilo José Cela take the lead in "The Hive", which simply presents what happens outside, as if he were a witness.

Social Characteristics of the Novel:

• The Spanish books reflect reality and serve to expose social injustices.
• The narrative techniques used, which are characterized by:
  • Objectivism: The narrator is simply telling the facts without value judgments. This is what treatment is called "behavioral." Dialogue predominates.
  • There is often a collective protagonist, as in "The Hive."
  • A brief development of the action in tight spaces.
  • Concentration time: In many cases the action takes place in a short time, as in "El Jarama" and "The Hive."
  • A simple language, where sentences are typically short and vocabulary tailored to the simplicity of the stories.
  • Concern closer to reality to reflect it faithfully.
  • Desire for social transformation.

• Topics:

• • The world of everyday life, represented in "The brilliance and blood" of Ignatius Aldecoa and "The joys and shadows" of G. Torrente Ballester.
  • The loneliness and isolation of the individual, reflected in "The curtains" by Carmen Martin Gaite or northwest Fiesta" by Ana Maria Matute
  • The critical view of thought and culture of the time, as in "El Jarama" Rafael Sanchez Ferlosio.

  • Authors of the Social Novel of the Fifties:

• Way José Cela "The Hive"
• Miguel Delibes "Miguel Delibes"
• Carmen Martin Gaite "The curtains"
• Aldecoa Ignacio "The glow in the blood"
• López Salinas "Mine"
• López Pacheco, "Power Plant"
• Alfonso Grosso "With flowers to Mary"