Spanish and Latin American Literature: 1960s to Present
Spanish Narrative: 1962 to the Present
A New Stage in Spanish Narrative (1962)
1962 marked a new stage in Spanish narrative. Time of Silence (Luis Martín-Santos) and The Time of the Hero (Mario Vargas Llosa) were published, coinciding with the boom of the Hispanic narrative. The renewal of novelistic creation is characterized by the following:
- Readers attending a new social scene confirmed the inefficiency of the economy.
- Literature became a weapon to transform the world.
- Disappointment with the social function of the novel led to a reevaluation of formalities, style, care for novelistic structure, and a recovery of imagination and subjectivism, which favored the appearance of lyrical elements.
The American Novel
In this period, the experimental novel speaks of three aspects affecting the composition of the novel:
- Formal structure (arrangement of the parts).
- Investigation of the structure of consciousness in the social context.
- Structure of consciousness in the personal context.
The new concept is called the deconstruction of the novel (from construction to destruction of the different previous models). It also implies a transformation in its elements: action, characters, points of view, structure, dialogue, descriptions, and types of monologue.
Novelists of ’68
A new generation of narrators who lived through the rebellion against Francoism have been designated as the Generation of ’66 (Félix de Azúa, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, José María Vaz de Soto) or of ’75 (Eduardo Mendoza, José María Merino, Juanjo Millás).
The Novel from 1975 Until Now
- Unpublished works are published in full (Time of Silence).
- The narrative of exiled authors is recovered.
- The early years brought a boom in the political novel of democracy.
- Writers of different generations coexist: those of ’36 (Camilo José Cela), ’50 (Juan Marsé), ’68 (Eduardo Mendoza), and ’80 (Arturo Pérez-Reverte).
- The narrative landscape presents a range of current issues and formal quality.
Types of Novels
Metanovel
Literature about literature, as seen in Fragments of an Apocalypse.
Lyrical Novel
It has a subjective tone and shows a strong trend towards maximum concentration. It abounds in oneiric elements (the world of dreams) and references to myths and symbols (Mazurka for Two Dead by Cela, The Holy Innocents by Miguel Delibes).
Historical Novel
These novels are based on history to write a novel:
- Middle Ages: In Search of the Unicorn (Juan Eslava Galán).
- Golden Age: The Heretic (Miguel Delibes).
- Nineteenth Century: The Fencing Master (Arturo Pérez-Reverte).
- Twentieth Century: The Truth About the Savolta Case, Soldiers of Salamina (Javier Cercas).
Poetry
The Generation of ’68: The Novísimos
Pere Gimferrer, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, and Félix de Azúa were born after the Civil War. They contributed a new sensitivity based on an emerging consumer society that assimilated new elements: cinematic mass media, comics, and modern foreign music.
Characteristics
- Extensive cultural training.
- Exquisite care in writing.
- Rescue of elements of modernism and decadentism.
- Aversion to social poetry.
- A variety of themes, sometimes practicing metapoetry.
- Cryptic writing, very difficult to interpret.
- Two lines: writing in the early sixties and writing at the end of the decade or later in the seventies.
Poets of Recent Years
Ana Rossetti (Cádiz) writes strongly erotic poetry. Felipe Benítez Reyes uses several different poetic styles and registers, including irony.
Latin American Literature
The Novel
- Horacio Quiroga: Modernist novel.
- Exaltation of the land: Don Segundo Sombra.
- Novel of the Mexican Revolution: The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela.
- Avant-garde novel: Fantastic novels by Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar.
- Existential novel.
- Magic realism: Synthesis between the reality of American myths. Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude.
- Boom of the Latin American novel.
Poetry
- Rubén Darío: Postmodernism.
- Gabriela Mistral: Sentimental poetry.
- Vicente Huidobro: Avant-garde.
- César Vallejo: Social poetry.
- Pablo Neruda: Love poetry.