Spanish Literary Movements and Verbal Periphrases

Posted on Jun 11, 2025 in Latin

Spanish Literary Movements and Authors

Narrative of Exile: Spanish Pilgrimage

Many novelists went into exile, some having already achieved literary prestige, while others were slightly younger and less known. Excluded from literary canons and unable to publish their works, they were hardly known and influential writers in the weak domestic literary scene, especially after 1960.

Exile left its footprint on Rosa Chacel (1898-1994). Her novels moved away from realism, focusing on the analysis of emotions. This is emphasized in the trilogy formed by Barrio de Maravillas (1976) and Ciencias Naturales (1988).

Political commitment during the Civil War continued in Ramón J. Sender (1901-1982). His depiction of Spain before the Civil War provides a framework for the chronicle Crónica del Alba (1961-1966). Tensions that caused the Civil War, referred from the viewpoint of the defeated, are present in Réquiem por un campesino español (1960). The theme of the Gypsies is humorously addressed in La tesis de Nancy (1962).

The same attitudes of commitment are seen in Max Aub (1903-1972), who provides an overview of the Civil War in the six volumes that form his El laberinto mágico (1943-1968).

Also, Francisco Ayala (1906-2009) reflects on dictatorship in general in Muertes de perro (1958) and El fondo del vaso (1962).

Arturo Barea (1897-1957), from Madrid, gained fame with his trilogy La forja de un rebelde (1941-1944), which offers a Republican view of the Civil War.

Tremendismo and Humanism in 1940s Novels

Tremendismo is a narrative style characterized by an exaggerated realism coupled with verbal violence. It began with the publication of La familia de Pascual Duarte (1942) by Camilo José Cela. This novel narrates, with crude and very expressive language, the story of an Extremaduran peasant who commits a series of family crimes and is sentenced to death.

In this same vein is Nada (1944) by Carmen Laforet (1921-2004), set in Barcelona. It tells the first-person story of a girl who goes to study in Barcelona and encounters a hostile world and the petty society of the time.

Also, La sombra del ciprés es alargada (1948) by Miguel Delibes (1920-2010), set in Valladolid, describes a character’s permanent anxiety and obsessive fear of death, a situation that leads him to social isolation. It was awarded the Nadal Prize.

Spanish Verbal Periphrases

Aspectual Periphrases

Aspectual periphrases indicate the phase of development of a verbal action. They include:

  • The prospective aspectual periphrasis: indicates an action that is about to start (e.g., estar a punto de + infinitive, ir a + infinitive).
  • The inchoative aspectual periphrasis: indicates an action that begins (e.g., empezar a + infinitive).
  • The durative aspectual periphrasis: indicates an action in progress (e.g., estar + gerund).
  • The terminative aspectual periphrasis: indicates a completed action (e.g., dejar de + infinitive, acabar de + infinitive).
  • The resumptive aspectual periphrasis: resumes an interrupted action (e.g., seguir + gerund).
  • The completive aspectual periphrasis: indicates the exact point of termination of an action (e.g., acabar de + infinitive, terminar de + infinitive).
  • The resultative aspectual periphrasis: considers the action as a result (e.g., llevar + participle).
  • The habitual aspectual periphrasis: indicates an action repeated several times (e.g., soler + infinitive).
  • The iterative aspectual periphrasis: indicates an action repeated (e.g., volver a + infinitive).
  • The retrospective durative aspectual periphrasis: indicates an action that began in the past and continues into the present (e.g., llevar + gerund, venir + gerund).
  • The prospective durative aspectual periphrasis: indicates an action starting in the present and extending into the future (e.g., ir + gerund).

Modal Periphrases

Modal periphrases express the speaker’s attitude towards the action. They include:

  • Modal Periphrases of Obligation (e.g., haber de + infinitive, deber + infinitive, tener que + infinitive).
  • Modal Periphrases of Possibility (e.g., poder + infinitive, deber de + infinitive).