Features of the Latin American Post-Boom Novel
The thematic, narrative, and stylistic features of The House of the Spirits can be included in the literary movement called the post-boom (generation of 1980), which followed the generation known as magical realism (1960s).
Literary Background
- The Novel: Combines fantastic elements of magic, folk beliefs, and supernatural or extraordinary events possible in reality. The Mexican author Juan Rulfo (1918-1986) anticipated magical realism in Pedro Páramo (1955).
- The Political Novel: Addresses social and political problems, denounces dictatorships, and explores themes of imprisonment. Mr. President (1946) by Miguel Ángel Asturias, a Nobel Prize in Literature winner, repudiates the Guatemalan dictator.
- The Historical Novel: Seeks to unravel the historical puzzles of the Americas to investigate their origins and identity. The best example is Manuel Mujica Láinez (1910-1984) in his novel Bomarzo (1962), which recreates the Italian Renaissance.
- The Existential Psychological Novel: Delves into the intimacy of modern man, subject to corrosive daily conflicts and alienation from society. These are urban novels, whose protagonists wonder about the meaning of life. The themes of these novels include isolation, despair, and the desire to isolate oneself. A key example is Ernesto Sábato’s The Tunnel (1948).
- Magical Realism: Exemplified by Gabriel García Márquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and Juan Rulfo in Pedro Páramo (1955). Both works create ghostly atmospheres in the towns of Macondo and Comala, accumulating events beyond sensory perception.
Space in The House of the Spirits
In the study of space, we will distinguish between the fictional space (the house) and the real space (Chile or abroad).
The House
The house is the central space. The story takes place in two households: “the big house on the corner” and “the estate of the Three Marys.” The first, the house of the spirits referenced in the novel’s title, is used as a symbol of the nation in which two opposing camps must coexist. The construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction of spaces is a fictional element that helps reinforce the novel’s circular structure. Men and women leave their mark on the house. While Esteban occupies the front, conceived as a symbol of power, wealth, and the taste of his kind (the library, the English garden, etc.), Clara adds and dismantles rooms in the back as needed. The rooms that Clara annexes to the home, and the adaptations and uses of these spaces by Blanca and Alba, result in greater freedom for themselves and help them achieve their ideals.
Outer Space
There is no allusion to the name of the country, but it is linked to the time of events. This space becomes an important element in Part 2 of the novel, as the social and political upheaval in the country comes to occupy a central place in the narrative. Outer space is a symbol of freedom, even barbaric disorder. In the countryside, people are themselves and give vent to their passions. The town house symbolizes a closed space marked by social norms, order, and conventions.