Spanish Postwar Novel and Theater Movements

Spanish Novel and Theater: Postwar Movements

Narrative

Existential Novel and Tremendismo

Existential novel: The novel opens with tremendismo, exemplified by Cela; this style reflects stark language, violence, crime, and the brutality of human beings struggling to survive. Laforet's novel describes the consequences of the Civil War through everyday people who suffer the ravages of hunger and want.

Social Novel

The social novel: Writers sought to denounce social injustice and raise awareness of individuals. The theme focuses on Spanish reality, represented in rural and urban settings, all in conditions hostile to a prosperous middle class. In style, it gives greater emphasis to content than to form. Narrators abandon an extensive vocabulary and prefer simple techniques such as linear narrative or dialogue. Foremost among them are Carmen Martín Gaite and Ignacio Aldecoa.

Revival of the Novel in the 1960s

The revival of the novel of the sixties: In 1960, novelists seeking new narrative techniques to renew the genre were initially stuck in the social novel. Soon a new wave of novels appeared, characterized by:

• Formal complexity: The novels became more elaborate, showing greater concern for form and style.
• Varied topics: The writer no longer felt compelled to transform the world and addressed all kinds of subjects.

Stand out: Luis Martín-Santos and Miguel Delibes.

Theater

Bourgeois Theater

The bourgeois theater: During the dictatorship there was a commercial, bourgeois theater: light in tone and intended to meet bourgeois demand for escapist comedies and entertainment. Because of censorship, this theater often took refuge in absurd humor and wit to develop a very mild criticism of society. Stand out: Jacinto Benavente, Miguel Mihura, and Enrique Jardiel Poncela.

Social Theater

The social theater: This opened the door to a theater of social protest, whose intention was to make the viewer reflect on the society in which they lived. Unlike bourgeois theater, the themes of this drama revolve around social injustice; its characters belong to disadvantaged classes and works are often set in poor neighborhoods. It is a realistic theater that uses direct language and dialogue and frequently features marginal characters. Notable authors include Lauro Olmo and Antonio Buero Vallejo.

Experimental Theater

The experimental theater: Under authors such as Gap, Ionesco, Pirandello and others, an experimental theater emerged, based on the absurd and grotesque humor, the presence of dreams, and symbolic critique. The works remain critical, but the complaint moves from the real to the symbolic plane. The style is more sophisticated, and the language is full of metaphors and symbols. Stand out: Francisco Nieva and Fernando Arrabal.