Spanish Theater: Neorealism, Social Realism, and Language

Posted on Feb 2, 2025 in Latin

Neorealist Theater

In the year of the transition, the generation of ’82, or the generation of the transition, appeared. These writers put into practice their knowledge and theatrical profession. Ignacio Amestoy referred to this generation, taking as a reference the first victory of the PSOE, but these authors had been writing since the mid-seventies. This group includes authors such as José Sanchis Sinisterra (Ay, Carmela!), José Luis Alonso de Santos (Bajarse al moro), Ignacio Amestoy (Ederra), and Fermín Cabal (Travesía). The most prominent features of these playwrights are their down-to-earth attitude, their connection to the Spanish theatrical tradition, their interest in the space of non-integrated characters (the marginalized), a breakdown of traditional morality, the use of humor and irony, and metatheater (plays dealing with theater within the theater).

Ay, Carmela!

Ay, Carmela! is a work with two main characters: Carmela, the brave and spontaneous wife, and Paulino, the innocent and cowardly husband. Paulino is the image of his wife and fellow actor, after she was shot by the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. The work is full of flashbacks, leading up to the final tragedy. In the last scene, both characters make a representation for the fascist soldiers, attended by some generals who have to go to a brigade group of prisoners who were to be executed the next day. Carmela did not want to perform the play, and during the performance, she begins to mock the work and is eventually shot in the middle of the show, before Paulino’s eyes.

The Theater of Social Realism

Antonio Buero Vallejo

Buero was the one who marked a change in Spanish theater with the premiere of Historia de una escalera. With this work, realist drama was born. These works were characterized by their scenic settings and the depth of their characters.

This author was looking for the modernity of Spanish tragedy. For him, tragedy is a critique of man within the system.

His works are realistic and symbolic, and there is a conflict between the characters who act and those who observe.

Alfonso Sastre

Alfonso Sastre was the driver of social realism in theater, an actor known for being very direct, which led to much of his work being censored. He has works such as Escuadra hacia la muerte.

Uses of “SE” in Spanish

  • Allomorph: Variant of “you” or “them.” Dio a él malas noticias (He gave him bad news).
  • Reflexive (singular): Juan se mira (Juan looks at himself).
  • Reciprocal (plural): Ellos se miran (They look at each other).
  • Ethical Dative: Se barrió todo el campo (He swept the whole field).
  • Pronominal Verb: Burlarse (To mock).
  • Impersonal: [Singular + 3rd person]. En la montaña se está tranquilo (In the mountains, one is at peace).
  • Passive Reflexive: Se necesita camarero (Waiter needed).

Functions of Language (Communicative Intent)

  • Expressive: Focuses on the sender (exclamations, questions) – personal letters, diaries.
  • Representative: Focuses on reality (declarative sentences) – reports, documents.
  • Appellative: Focuses on the receiver (imperative, vocative, affective) – advertising discourse.
  • Phatic: Focuses on the channel (figures, keywords) – conversational texts.
  • Poetic: Focuses on the message (literary) – poetry, literature, drama.
  • Metalinguistic: Focuses on the code (declarative sentences) – books.

Types of Sentences

  • Bimembre (subject/predicate)
  • Unimembre (only predicate)
  • Predicative Verb (PV): [transitive (direct object)] [intransitive (no direct object)]
  • Nominal Predicate (PN) (copulative/attribute)
  • Declarative, interrogative, dubitative, optative, desiderative, imperative

Coordinating Conjunctions

  • Copulative: y, e, ni (and, nor)
  • Distributive: ya… ya (now… now)
  • Adversative: pero, mas, sino, sin embargo (but, however)
  • Disjunctive: o, u, o bien (or)
  • Explanatory: es decir, o sea (that is, in other words)

Subordinate Clauses

  • Substantive: (this thing) – (which, yes, no link) [Direct Object, Attribute]
  • Adjective: (which, that) – (that) [Complement of the Noun]
  • Adverbial: [Adverbial Complement] – causal (because), final (in order to), consecutive (therefore), conditional (if), concessive (although), comparative (as much as)