Spanish Post-War Literature: Novel and Theater in the 1940s
The Cultural Impact of the Spanish Civil War
The dramatic consequences of the Civil War were felt not only in the social, political, economic, and human spheres, but also, and very intensely, in the field of culture. With the end of the war, the best writers went into exile, mainly to Latin America, but they kept in touch with the writers who remained in Spain, and their books circulated widely, despite censorship.
Spanish Novel of the 1940s: Social Realism and Exile
The social theme is present throughout 20th-century Spanish literature. After the war, a group of young writers (who took Baroja as a model and teacher) began a literary production dominated by social interests. The themes of these novels and their characters, often uprooted, revealed social unrest. Although censorship did not allow direct critique, the literature painted a gloomy picture with shades of gray. The novel of the 1940s was not entirely “social,” but often transposed social unrest into the personal sphere.
Key Works and Authors of Post-War Fiction
Two dates mark the start of this new genre:
- 1942: The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela.
- 1945: Nada by Carmen Laforet.
Camilo José Cela: Experimentation and Social Realism
The Family of Pascual Duarte by Cela presents a sour vision of miserable and brutal realities and initiates the flow of tremendous social realism, representing the hardest aspects of life. However, The Hive is perhaps Cela’s best work. It highlights a characteristic of his entire career as a novelist: his constant desire to experiment with new narrative forms and structures, often using a collective protagonist, as seen in his earlier work, Rest Home.
Carmen Laforet and the Nadal Prize
Nada by Carmen Laforet (winner of the first Nadal Prize in 1944), though less stark, presents the life of a student who comes to Barcelona and lives in a shabby environment of failed hopes. For the first time after the war, a plot focusing on the contemporary reality of everyday life appears in the novel.
Miguel Delibes: Rural Life and Bourgeois Critique
Besides Cela and Carmen Laforet, we must appreciate the novels of Miguel Delibes. His first novels, The Shadow of the Cypress Is Long and It’s Still Daytime, show an inexperienced narrator following traditional realism. However, after Diary of a Migrant and The Red Leaf, Delibes wrote one of his major works, The Rats. In this work, a desolate picture of the life of a Castilian village, the action is non-existent and the plot development is minimal. Without a clear protagonist, the work is structured around a plurality of characters.
Delibes’s next major work, Five Hours with Mario, is another great novel. It is mostly the long soliloquy of a woman speaking in her imagination with her deceased husband the night she watches over his corpse. The work is a powerful portrait of the mediocrity and conventionality of bourgeois life during the first twenty years of the dictatorship.
Spanish Theater in the 1940s: Censorship and Renewal
The dramatic consequences of the Civil War were felt not only in the social, political, economic, and human spheres, but also, and very intensely, in the field of culture.
Of all literary genres, theater was the most disadvantaged, subject to commercial and ideological constraints. This situation persisted after the war, primarily due to ideological constraints that hindered renewal. Censorship especially marked the theater, affecting not only the text but also the representation.
Theatrical Trends of the Decade
High Comedy and Traditional Values
In the 1940s, a type of high comedy developed, following the style of Benavente. This sector included names like José María Pemán, Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena, Edgar Neville, and Benavente himself (until his death). This genre is characterized by the predominance of drawing-room comedies or thesis dramas, which offered gentle criticism of customs while defending traditional values. It also emphasized concern for the “well-made play,” featuring carefully crafted dialogue and scenic structures.
Comic Theater and the Precursors of the Absurd
On the other hand, comic theater developed, representing one of the most interesting facets of the period. Notable figures include:
- Jardiel Poncela: Known for works like A Husband Returns and Eloise Is Under an Almond Tree.
- Miguel Mihura: Known for Maribel and the Strange Family.
Both are considered precursors to the Theater of the Absurd. Of the two, Mihura achieved the most success, particularly with his work Three Top Hats, written in 1932 but not staged until 1952. His works are based on his conception of life: the clash between the individual and society, leading to radical discontent with a world of conventions that grip humanity and prevent happiness.