Spanish Theater and Literature: Trends and Key Authors

Spanish Theater: Main Trends

There are three main trends in Spanish theater:

• Theater of Tax Avoidance or Consumption: A continuation of the style established by Jacinto Benavente, it aims to entertain a public that identifies with the moral values of the bourgeoisie. Some representative authors are José Maria Pemán, Joaquín Calvo Sotelo, Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena, etc.
• Theater of Humor: Of an intellectual nature, it presents crazy situations, full of imagination and ingenuity, which demonstrate human contradictions. Notable authors include Enrique Jardiel Poncela (*Eloísa Is Beneath an Almond Tree*, *Thieves Are Honest People*) and Miguel Mihura.

Miguel Mihura's *Three Top Hats*

In Miguel Mihura's (1905-1977) production, *Three Top Hats* stands out. Its action is as follows: Dionisio is staying the night before his wedding in a provincial hotel and meets the young Paula, who is part of a company of magazines. They fall in love, but the idyll is short: Dionisio resigns the next day and returns to reality, abandoning his dreams to get married.

Social Theater of Witness and Commitment

This type of theater addresses the problems of modern man and his fight against an adverse fate, which commonly includes injustice, lack of solidarity, and egoism. In this theater, the ethical component predominates, along with the search for truth, the exercise of freedom, and the transformation of society.

Antonio Buero Vallejo

The most prominent representative of this trend is Antonio Buero Vallejo (1916-2000). The action of *History of a Staircase*—his first work—is developed around the stairs of a tenement. The characters are unable to leave the miserable world in which they live (a social problem) and to overcome their apathy or their conformity (an existential problem) in order to fulfill their dreams and aspirations.

Spanish Writers in Exile

Many Spanish writers went into exile during or after the Civil War. This "pilgrim Spain" included prominent figures such as Juan Ramón Jiménez, León Felipe, Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Rafael Alberti, Luis Cernuda, and Emilio Prados.

Among the exiled writers, the following stand out:

• Poets: José Bergamín (*Rhymes and Sonnets Laggards*), Juan Gil Albert (*Illusions*)
• Playwright: Alejandro Casona (*Trees Die Standing*)
• Narrators: Ramón J. Sender (*Chronicle of Dawn*, *Requiem for a Spanish Peasant*), Francisco Ayala (*The Usurpers*), Max Aub (the series of novels *The Magic Labyrinth*), Rosa Chacel (*Memoirs of Leticia Valle*), and Arturo Barea (*The Forging of a Rebel*)

Social Novel of the 1950s

The novels of social realism attest to the problems and conflicts of Spanish society at that time. Their purpose is to denounce these issues. To achieve this, they use simple language, abound in the colloquial register, and adopt an objective approach: the narrator notes what the characters do and say and records it (objective narrator).

Camilo José Cela's *The Hive*

The novel that opens this trend is *The Hive* (1951) by Camilo José Cela. Over three days, the duration of the action, many characters show the mediocrity of their lives and their physical and moral miseries in post-war Madrid. Although the author claims to be objective, the narrator often uses an omniscient perspective.

Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio's *El Jarama*

The most representative novel of this trend—and of objectivist technique—is *El Jarama* (1956) by Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio. It narrates sixteen hours of a Sunday in which a group of young people from Madrid takes a trip to the Jarama River. Their conversations betray the boredom, ignorance, and lack of aspirations that characterized their lives and reflected the society of the time.