Spanish Literature Post-Civil War: Trends and Authors
Society and Culture in Post-War Spain
Franco’s regime had significant consequences that conditioned cultural activity in Spain. The early postwar years were marked by a break with previous trends, exile, and rigid censorship.
Since the late 1950s and 1960s, important changes occurred. Internal migration from rural areas to cities, mass emigration of Spaniards, and increased tourism fostered economic development and modernization. These shifts gave rise to critical cultural activities.
Since the seventies, Spanish society experienced significant changes that have had repercussions in culture.
Literature Since 1939
During the 1940s, writers found new literary paths amidst the distress and anguish of the postwar era. Literary creation during this time was marked by existentialist themes.
The 1950s saw the emergence of social realism.
Throughout the sixties and seventies, there was a tendency towards seeking new forms of expression and experimentation with language.
In the last years of the twentieth century, the narrative genre achieved exceptional growth.
The Novel of Exile
The memory of Spain and the consequences of the Civil War were frequent topics for writers who experienced exile.
- Ramón J. Sender (1901-1982) wrote a series of novels published under the general title of Cronica del alba.
- Chacel-Rosa (1898-1994) has significant titles such as Memorias de Leticia Valle (1946) or Distrito de maravillas (1976).
- Max Aub (1903-1972) blended tradition and avant-garde.
- Francisco Ayala (1906) was also a notable figure.
Existential Novel: The Forties
Anxiety and uprooting were the dominant themes in the literature of this significant decade.
- La Familia de Pascual Duarte (1942) by Camilo José Cela reflects a world of violence and misery.
- Nada (1945) by Carmen Laforet is another key work.
The Fifties: Social Realism
Critical realism, or social realism, is represented by the so-called middle generation, integrated by authors such as Ignacio Aldecoa, Carmen Martín Gaite, Jesús Hernández Santos, Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, Ana María Matute, Juan Goytisolo, Juan José García Hortelano, and Manuel Bonald.
Spanish society became the narrative theme, and the collective protagonist moved the individual hero.
Notable works include La Colmena by Camilo José Cela and El Jarama by Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio.
Experimental Narrative: The Sixties
Novelists felt the need to seek new formulas or approaches, providing more complexity and greater attention to literary language.
- The influence of great foreign novelists, particularly the discovery of the American novel, was significant.
Authors of Experimental Narrative
- The decade opened with a significant title: Tiempo de silencio (1962) by Luis Martín-Santos.
- Other key works include Cinco horas con Mario by Miguel Delibes, San Camilo, 1936 (1936-1969) by Camilo José Cela, and Saga/Fuga de JB (1972) by Gonzalo Torrente Ballester.
- Juan Goytisolo published Señas de identidad in 1966. New novelists emerged, including Juan Benet and Juan Marsé.
Experimental Narrative Techniques
- Increased importance was given to the interior monologue.
- Changes in viewpoint were common.
- The narrator was allowed ironic interventions.
- The division into chapters was sometimes replaced by white space.