SPANISH LITERATURE

Literature of Spain written in Castilian, the major language of Spain, from about the 11th century ad to the present time. For works written in the other languages of Spain and works written in Castilian in countries other than Spain itself, see BASQUE LANGUAGE,; CATALAN LITERATURE,; LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE,.

MIDDLE AGES

Medieval Spanish literature deals primarily with Christian themes but is also marked by the rich Islamic and Jewish cultures that flourished in the Spain of that period.

11th and 12th Centuries.

The earliest extant literary works in the Castilian language are short lyric poems known as jarchas, which date from the fifth decade of the 11th century and were attached to the texts of early Arabic or Hebrew poems written in Spain. The next earliest are epics composed by the juglares, the Spanish minstrels who sang in village squares and castle halls during the Middle Ages. The principal subjects of these epics were the struggles waged by the rulers of the various Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, such as Castile, against the Moors who had conquered most of the peninsula early in the 8th century, and the rivalries among Castilian and other Christian noblemen of the peninsula during that period. Spanish epic poetry reflected Germanic, Arabic, and especially French influences, but it differed from its models in that it dealt with recent historical events rather than with mythical or remote subjects. The choice of such subjects manifested the taste for concrete representation of reality in art which eventually became characteristic of Spanish literature. The earliest extant example of the art of the juglares is the anonymous epic Poema del Cid (Poem of the Cid, c. 1140), which tells of the adversities and triumphs of the Castilian leader known as El Cid. This work, a subtle masterpiece of narrative art exalting the virtues of courage, loyalty, and equanimity, is especially notable for the vividness with which the characters are drawn.

13th and 14th Centuries.

In the 13th century learned authors began to recast the lives of the saints, edifying legends, and more ancient stories, all of which were then current in Latin, into poems in Castilian. This poetic activity, known in Spanish literature as mester de clerecía, took place primarily in the monasteries and was characterized by a strict observance of metrical rules, which had been ignored in the art of the juglares. The best poet of the mester de clerecía was Gonzalo de Berceo (1180?–1246?), who recast pious stories into poems, giving them new fervor and freshness.

As a result of the efforts of King Alfonso X, Castile was one of the first European states to develop a literature in prose. A host of jurists, historians, translators, and specialists of various kinds worked under his supervision in a formidable attempt to compile the knowledge of their time. They drew from Islamic, Jewish, and Christian sources, the court of Castile having been at the time a meeting place for scholars of all three faiths. These collective endeavors stimulated a flow of Oriental culture into western Europe. Castilian prose, fashioned under Alfonso X into a useful means of expression, reached artistic maturity in the writings of Alfonso's nephew Don Juan Manuel (1282–1349?), who produced the collection of tales El conde Lucanor (Count Lucanor, 1328–35).

The poetry of Juan Ruiz (1283?–1351?), archpriest of Hita, ranks among the highest achievements in Spanish literature. His ideals and stylistic devices were primarily those of the Middle Ages, but he expressed his individuality to an extent more characteristic of Renaissance writers than those of the Middle Ages. His Libro de buen amor (1330, expanded 1343; Book of Good Love, 1968) is a collection of poems written in the form of a satirical autobiography and contains examples of almost every poetic form and theme of the Middle Ages. Like his contemporary the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, he observes real life with a crafty sense of humor.

15th Century.

During the 15th century, Spanish literary production increased enormously. The outstanding poets of this period are Íñigo López de Mendoza, commonly known as the Marqués de Santillana; Juan de Mena (1411–56); and above all Jorge Manrique (1440?–79), who in his Coplas a la muerte de du padre (Stanzas on the Death of His Father), an elegy, gave perfect expression to the Christian acceptance of death. At this time stories from the epic poems were combined in romanceros, collections of short balladlike pieces that were sung with instrumental accompaniment. Contemporary events also were dealt with as the romancero assumed its final form after successive changes by various juglares.

Satirical and historical writing flourished during the 15th century. The Spanish monarchs Ferdinand V and Isabella I, during their joint reign (1474–1504), promoted the study of the humanities. The most noted scholar at the time was the grammarian and lexicographer Antonio de Nebrija or Lebrija (1444?–1522), pen name of Elio Antonio Martínez de Jarava, who was the author of Gramática sobre la lengua Castellana (Grammar of the Castilian Language, 1492). In this period also, the most celebrated and imitated Spanish novel of chivalry, Amadis of Gaul (1508), was given its present form. As a result of its influence many novels of chivalry in a similar style were published during the 16th century.

The Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea (Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea, 1499), written by Fernando de Rojas (c. 1465–1541) and far more popularly known by the title La Celestina, is the second most important work in the total body of Spanish literature; first, of course, is the story of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (see below). La Celestina is a novel in dialogue combining elements of both narrative and drama. The literary sources of this work, which exerted considerable influence upon the development of literature in Spain, are Latin and medieval, but it expresses a concept of life diverging deeply from the religious spirit of the Middle Ages. Set against a background of realistically drawn underworld life in an unnamed Spanish city during the Renaissance, the story concerns two noble lovers, Calisto and Melibea, who resort to the services of a bawd named Celestina to further their love. The lives of these three characters become entangled inextricably and all three are brought to disaster. Never before had Spanish literature presented the tragedy of life with such insight into human nature and such mastery of the means of expression. The artistic maturity and diversity of style attained by the author of La Celestina were invaluable models for the authors of the Golden Age of Spanish literature, which began not long after the publication of this pioneering work.

RENAISSANCE AND GOLDEN AGE

In the reign (1516–56) of King Charles I, Spain won control of much of Europe and established its colonial empire in the New World. In this period Spanish writers followed the philosophical and artistic trends of the Renaissance. The paramount influence in the realm of ideas was that of the Dutch scholar and humanist Desiderius Erasmus. The works of some of his Spanish disciples, including the philosopher Juan Luis Vives (1492–1540) and the theologian Juan de Valdés (c. 1500–41), were read widely and translated throughout Europe. The same is true also of works by their contemporary, the Franciscan monk, didactic writer, and historiographer Antonio de Guevara. During this period many humanistic dialogues were written, mainly by the followers of Erasmus, and there was much historical writing. The most important historians of the Spanish Renaissance and Golden Age were Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (1503–75) and the Jesuit Juan de Mariana (1536–1623?).

Poetic Themes and Styles.

Pastoral poetry, a type of verse dealing with the life and manners of fictional shepherds, or in which the speakers assume the characters of shepherds, was another type of writing that flourished during the Renaissance and Golden Age. The themes and the moods of pastoral poetry, together with such Italian meters and verse forms as the sonnet, ottava rima, canzone, tercet, and blank verse, were first employed extensively in Spain by the poets Juan Boscán Almogáver (1493–1542) and Garcilaso de la Vega (1503?–36). Garcilaso was not only an innovator in the use of Italian meters and pastoral subjects but also a superb poet who conveyed authentic emotions in verses of classical serenity.

In Spanish literature, more than in that of most other countries, innovations seldom wholly supplant established traditions. Thus, the old and new poetic manners coexisted during the 16th century; a number of works were written in each manner. Religious life in Spain became more intense about the middle of the 16th century, partly as a consequence of the concern felt by Spanish Catholics over the Protestant Reformation. The new style of poetry was adapted to express spiritual attitudes far removed from those of pastoral poetry. The first important writer of verse in this genre was the religious poet, scholar, and Augustinian monk Luis Ponce de León (1527–91), known as Fray Luis de León, in whose poems Christian devotion is blended with the cult of beauty, the love of nature, and the quest for classical serenity characteristic of the Renaissance. Fray Luis's contemporary, the Carmelite monk Juan de Yepes y Álvarez, known as St. John of the Cross, composed what many critics consider the most intense and luminous poems written in the Spanish language. In these poems he attempted to express, in terms of human love, the ineffable mystical experience of the union of the human soul with God. Another important poet during this period was Fernando de Herrera (1534–97), who wrote in the baroque style that became characteristic of the following era in Spanish literature.

Baroque poetry, which is characterized by a proliferation of the metaphors and other rhetorical devices of the Renaissance, reached its culmination in the 17th century. The best examples are the elaborate, contorted works of the poet Luis de Góngora y Argote. From his name is derived the term Gongorism, which is often used to designate the style characteristic of baroque Spanish poetry. Góngora has frequently been attacked by critics because of the obscurity and artificiality of much of his poetry, but he is generally acknowledged today as one of the supreme masters of Spanish lyric poetry. Also of great importance in the history of Spanish literature is the poet, prose writer, and satirist Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Villegas, whose best works are notable for their great depth of feeling and amazing wit.

Religious Prose.

Several important mystic and ascetic writers produced notable works of prose during the last two-thirds of the 16th century. Among them were the Dominican monk and prelate Luis de Granada (1504–88), whose writings manifest both asceticism and a deep feeling for nature, and especially the famous Carmelite nun and mystical writer St. Teresa of Ávila, who created a new symbology to express her mystical experiences. In her treatises she achieves the spontaneity and freshness of colloquial speech. The most important theologian of the Golden Age was the Jesuit Scholastic philosopher Francisco Suárez, whose works were written in Latin.

New Fictional Forms.

About 1550, several new forms of fiction appeared. These included the pastoral novel, the Moorish novel, and the picaresque novel.

The pastoral novel, a vehicle for idyllic tales about idealized shepherds, is a genre that had flourished earlier in Italy and Portugal. The most outstanding example in Spanish of the pastoral novel is La Diana (The Diana, 1559?) by the Portuguese poet and novelist Jorge de Montemayor (1520?–61).

The Moorish novel was a Spanish invention that blended literary trends of previous centuries with those of the 16th century, accomplishing this by presenting chivalric tales of the wars against the Moors in the form of a novel. It had as its first example the short anonymous work El Abencerraje (The Abencerraje, 1598).

Both pastoral and Moorish novels present idealized images of human nature. In contrast, the anonymous novel Lazarillo de Tormes (Lazarillo of Tormes, 1554) presents a pessimistic picture of society, as observed through the eyes of a boy who serves under several different masters. This novel was the prototype of the picaresque novel that became popular at the beginning of the 17th century. Guzmán de Alfarache, (1599–1604; Rogue or Life of Guzmán of Alfarache, 1924), by Mateo Alemán, and Historia de la vida del Buscón (1626; The Life and Adventures of Buscon, 1657), by Quevedo, are the most outstanding examples of the picaresque genre. The genre enjoyed tremendous success in Spain as well as in other countries and subsequently became a significant influence on the European novel of the 18th century.

Authors of picaresque fiction present a somber view of humanity, no less distorted in its way than the idealized visions of bucolic or chivalric literature. In contrast to such warped pictures of human nature, the works of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, particularly the novel El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–15; The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-Errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha, 1612–20), present a complete image of humankind in both its greatness and weakness. Cervantes began Don Quixote possibly with the simple intention of writing an amusing story and disparaging the fad for books of chivalry, which were the escapist literature of the time. From its very first pages, however, the book presents a story that is multidimensional to a degree never before achieved in a modern European work of fiction. Mad and wise, grotesque and admirable, Don Quixote appears to the reader as a human being entirely convincing in his complex nature and in the shifts induced in his behavior by the clash between the world of his dreams and surrounding reality. Equally convincing and complex is the character of Don Quixote's squire, Sancho Panza. The down-to-earth outlook of the squire contrasts with and moderates the illusions of his master at the same time that Sancho comically shares them. The book presents a well-rounded picture of Spanish society and displays an amazing range of themes, characters, ideas, and techniques.

The influence of Don Quixote extended far into the following centuries. Each subsequent period in European culture gave its own interpretation of the story and found in it a model for new types of fiction. The 12 novelettes making up the Novelas ejemplares (1613; Exemplarie Novells, 1638), also by Cervantes, are powerful, minor literary works, and his imaginative romance Persiles y Sigismunda (1617; The Travels of Persiles and Sigismunda, 1619) is one of the masterpieces of Spanish baroque prose.

Nonfiction.

Nonfiction works similar to essays were an important development in 17th-century Spanish literature. Some of the most notable works of this type are the Empresas (1640; The Royal Politician, 1700) by Diego Saavedra y Fajardo (1584–1648), which discusses the character of the ideal Christian ruler; the satirical Los sueños (1627; Visions or Hels Kingdome Strangely Displaied, 1640), by Quevedo, a series of phantasmagorias intended to scourge the vices of society; and the allegorical novel El criticón (1651–57; The Critick, 1681), by Baltasar Gracián (1601–58), which presents a pessimistic interpretation of all human experience except intellectual endeavor. All these works are written in the style that is known as conceptismo, in which the author's ideas are compressed into extremely concise sentences.

A figure of great importance in the history of Spanish literature is Quevedo, whose brilliant writings deal with the political, economic, and social ills of Spain. Political works such as Política de dios (1635; The True Character of a King and of a Tyrant, 1715) and La vida de Marco Bruto (The Life of Marcus Brutus, 1644) represent only one aspect of his prose, which also includes ascetic, philosophical, and burlesque works. Obsessed with the grandeur of the past and the decadence of the present, Quevedo expressed disillusionment, grotesqueness, and violence. His poetry is rich and varied, ranging from amorous to political and satirical. He wrote successfully in both the classical and popular veins.

Drama.

In the Spanish Golden Age, drama was chronologically the last literary genre to reach full development. Among the best early dramas are the lyrical plays written in the first decades of the 16th century by the founder of the Portuguese drama, the poet and dramatist Gil Vicente, a number of whose works were written in Spanish. The comical sketches of Lope de Rueda (1510?–65) and of Cervantes are also noteworthy among the dramatic works of this early period. A number of plays were written in imitation of the Italian comedies of the Renaissance. In addition, the dramatist and poet Juan de la Cueva de Garoza, who used Spanish medieval subjects as well as themes from classical antiquity, wrote classical tragedies. Another important playwright of the Golden Age was Guillén de Castro y Bellvís. His best-known play is Las mocedades del Cid (1618; The Youthful Deeds of the Cid, 1969).

No writer represents the genius of Spain better than the dramatic poet Lope Félix de Vega Carpio, usually called Lope de Vega, or simply Lope. All of his works, including his poems, his prose fiction, and especially his numerous dramas, are permeated with the charm and directness of popular art, although he was a man of letters greatly admired for his superbly varied literary technique.

The Spanish comedia, defined and perfected by Lope de Vega, is a three-act play in which comedy and tragedy are blended. It is written in verse in a variety of metrical patterns and does not follow classical rules of dramatic construction. Dynamic and poetic, rather than psychological or philosophical, this type of drama was intended to please all social classes, including both the learned and the unlearned. Although Lope's plays have an extreme diversity of themes and backgrounds, most involve historical subject matter derived principally from the old romanceros, rural settings, and conflicts involving the assertion of personal dignity. About 500 of Lope's plays are extant, but he wrote many more. Among his most outstanding plays are Fuenteovejuna (1612–14?; trans. 1961), Peribáñez y el Comendador de Ocaña (1614–16?; Peribáñez, 1961), and El caballero de Olmedo (1620–25; The Knight of Olmedo, 1961).

Certain aspects of the comedia were improved by such gifted followers of Lope de Vega as Tirso de Molina (pen name of Fray Gabriel Téllez), whose El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra (1630; The Trickster of Seville and His Guest of Stone, 1959) is the first formal literary work in which the Spanish legendary hero Don Juan appears as a character; and Juan Ruiz de Alarcón y Mendoza, who gave a moral content to his urbane comedies of manners.

The theater of the Golden Age culminates in the works of Pedro Calderón de la Barca, the great dramatic poet of the baroque period. His plays have complicated, symmetrical structures and a degree of coherence lacking in the works of Lope de Vega. In the best-known masterpiece of the Spanish theater, a philosophical comedia called La vida es sueño (1635; Life Is a Dream, 1925), Calderón shows what is ephemeral in existence and, at the same time, demonstrates the divine origin of life. His El alcalde de Zalamea (1642; The Mayor of Zalamea, 1906) is the perfect example of a rural drama centering around a conflict of honor. Calderón is also the undisputed master of one of the most interesting creations of the Golden Age, the auto sacramental, which is a form of religious drama based on the use of allegory. Among the writers influenced directly by Calderón, the only notable dramatists are Francisco de Rojas-Zorrilla (1607–48) and Agustín Moreto y Cabaña (1618?–69).

FROM 1700 TO THE PRESENT

Spain declined politically and economically in the 17th century; toward the end of the century it suddenly began to decline in artistic creativity as well. The decline continued throughout the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14) and the reigns (1700–59) of the first Bourbon monarchs in Spain. The only Spanish writer of genuine merit in the first half of the 18th century was the Benedictine monk, critic, and scholar Benito Jerónimo Feijoo y Montenegro (1676–1764). A champion of freedom, reason, and scientific knowledge, he wrote essays in an unremitting struggle against the ignorance and narrow-mindedness of his contemporaries.

Neoclassicism.

During the reign (1759–88) of the enlightened Spanish monarch Charles III, French influence in Spain led to the adoption of neoclassical forms of art and a new outlook on life. These trends, never wholly accepted by the people, were introduced into Spanish dramatic literature by Nicolás Fernández de Moratín (1737–80) and were continued by his son Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760–1828), notably in El sí de las niñas (When the Girls Say Yes, 1805). On the other hand, the dramatist Ramón de la Cruz (1731–94) followed the Spanish tradition in his one-act comedies on popular subjects.

The Spanish neoclassicists generally demonstrated a very limited understanding of the art of the Golden Age; their lyric poetry reflected both foreign influences and those of certain Spanish Renaissance poets, especially Ponce de León, and they used traditional Spanish metrical forms.

The most durable contributions to literature during this period are found in the poetic works of Nicolás Fernández de Moratín and his son Leandro, Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744–1811), and Juan Meléndez Valdés. José de Cadalso y Vázquez (1741–82) was notable both for his poetry and dramatic works and for his essays, such as those included in Cartas Marruecas (Moroccan Letters, 1793), which present a critical view of Spanish society. Polemical writings centering around the merits of Spanish tradition and culture are also characteristic of the period.

The invasion of Spain (1808) by Napoleon and the absolutist regime (1814–33) of Ferdinand VII inhibited literary activity during the first three decades of the 19th century. The best poets of the period, such as Manuel José Quintana, expressed romantic attitudes in works of classical form.

Romanticism.

Although the Spanish Golden Age had served as an inspiration and a model to romantic authors of other countries, Spain did not produce notably significant romantic writers until the 1830s. Romanticism was introduced successfully into Spanish drama by Ángel de Saavedra, duque of Rivas (1791–1865), in Don Alvaro o la fuerza del sino (Don Alvaro or the Force of Destiny, 1835). Among the followers of the duke was the poet and dramatist José Zorrilla y Moral, who also shares with Rivas the distinction of having revived the use of legendary and historical subject matter in brilliant narrative poems. The romantic spirit of revolt is represented by the revolutionist and poet José de Espronceda, whom a number of critics consider the best Spanish poet of the period. It is generally thought, however, that the works of Espronceda are surpassed by those of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, who composed probably the most delicate romantic poems in the Spanish language.

The best romantic prose is to be found in the writings of the costumbristas, authors who described familiar types of people and popular customs with a new feeling for the picturesque. This type of prose is infused with a sharp satirical note in the periodical articles of Mariano José de Larra (1809–37), who also wrote several dramas and a novel. Although his works do not rank among the most notable ones written by Spanish romantic authors, Larra was nevertheless one of the most interesting of those writers because of the high degree of introspection and self-torment expressed in his work.

Realism.

The second half of the 19th century was the era of realistic fiction in Spain, as it was in other countries. Spanish realism reached its peak in the works of Benito Pérez Galdós, who ranks among the great novelists of Europe. In a series of 46 historical romances entitled Episodios nacionales (National Episodes, 1873–79 and 1897–1912), Pérez Galdós interpreted Spanish contemporary history in fictional form. In addition, he wrote thesis novels, that is, novels dealing with religious, social, or political problems. His principal thesis, the evil of religious intolerance, is expounded most powerfully in his novel Doña Perfecta (1876; trans. 1880), but his masterpieces are a series of realistic novels portraying Madrid society, notably Fortunata y Jacinta (Fortunata and Jacinta, 1886–87).

Other novelists depicted life in the different regions of Spain: José María de Pereda (1833– 1906) portrayed life in the area of Santander; the politician Pedro Antonio de Alarcón and the statesman, poet, and scholar Juan Valera y Alcalá Galiano (1824–1905) both dealt with life in Andalusia; and Countess Emilia Pardo Bazán treated life in Galicia. Pardo Bazán and the novelist Clarín (pseudonym of Leopoldo Alas y Ureña) accepted the techniques of naturalism. Valera, on the other hand, differed from the realists in his partiality for beauty rather than for strict accuracy. Two other novelists of this period who achieved international renown were Armando Palacio Valdés (1853–1948) and Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. A contemporary of the realistic novelists was the critic and historian of Spanish literature Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo (1856–1912).

The Generation of 1898.

In the last decade of the 19th century Spain entered a period of unusual, creative activity. The group of writers known as The Generation of 1898—which includes such diverse figures as the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo, the Galician writer Ramón del Valle Inclán (1870–1936), the poet Antonio Machado y Ruíz, the essayist Azorín, pen name of José Martínez Ruíz, the Spanish Basque novelist Pio Baroja y Nessi, and the dramatist and critic Jacinto Benavente y Martínez—accomplished a profound transformation of Spanish literary techniques and style. In their poetic work they were influenced by the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío (pseudonym of Félix Rubén García-Sarmiento), leader of the movement known as modernism, which was characterized by great originality of images, rhythms, and rhymes.

Although the members of The Generation of 1898 had very different styles, they had in common a questioning and critical attitude, an awareness of the need for liberalization and modernization in Spain, and a deep insight and feeling for what is peculiarly Spanish. The writings of Unamuno, particularly his forceful essays and poems, express a philosophy that has similarities to existentialism. The works of Valle Inclán express the artistic attitude known as aestheticism, that is, the love of art and beauty for their own sakes. The landscape, history, people, and spirit of Castile are given their most authentic expression in modern times in the poems of Machado and in the essays of Azorín. Pio Baroja, author of the 20-volume series of novels Memorias de un hombre de acción (Memories of a Man of Action, 1913–31), is the greatest novelist of Spain after Pérez Galdós. Benavente, author of Los intereses creados (1907; Bonds of Interest, 1917), won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1922 and was the most distinguished Spanish dramatist of his time.

Contemporary Authors.

In the 20th century the trend in Spanish letters begun by The Generation of 1898 abated temporarily during the Spanish civil war (1936–39), as many intellectuals were silenced or went into exile, but recovered strength after World War II.

Among the works of early 20th-century writers, sensitivity and absolute purity of form characterize the poetry of Juan Ramón Jiménez, a well-known lyric poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1956. The essayist and philosopher José Ortega y Gasset, a master of Spanish prose, is internationally renowned as a major interpreter of the spirit of his time. Other notable prose writers of this period are the novelist, poet, and critic Ramón Pérez de Ayala (1880–1962); the novelist and essayist Gabriel Miró (1879–1930); the novelist, dramatist, critic, and aphorist Ramón Gómez de la Serna (1891–1963), who was the leading exponent of literary expressionism in Spain; the critic and essayist Eugenio d'Ors (1882–1954); the essayists Salvador de Madariaga y Rojo and Gregorio Marañón (1887–1960); and the scholar and critic Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968).

Poetry.

A brilliant generation of poets, known as The Generation of 1927, flourished during the late 1920s and the 1930s. The greatest and most universally known of these poets was Federico García Lorca, who expressed the popular spirit of Spain in his dramas and lyric poems. Other notable poets of this generation include Jorge Guillén (1893–1984), Rafael Alberti, and Vicente Aleixandre y Merlo. Guillén was known for his collected poetry (Cánticos), first published in 1928 and expanded in editions of 1936, 1945, and 1950, and Clamor (3 vol., 1963), verse with political and social themes. Opposed to Franco, Guillén went into exile in 1939, and his verse reflects his growing pessimism. Aleixandre, who won the Nobel Prize in 1977, exerted considerable influence on other Spanish poets. His verse, beginning with Ámbito (Environment, 1928), is largely sensuous and surrealist in imagery. Antología total (1975) is the most recent complete collection of his work. To a group sometimes referred to as The Generation of 1936 belong Germán Bleiberg (1915– ), Carmen Conde (1907– ), Luis Felipe Vivanco (1907–75), Juan Panero (1909–75), Leopoldo Panero (1909–62), Luis Rosales Camacho (1910–92), Dionisio Ridruejo (1910–75), and especially Miguel Hernández (1910–42), who achieved the greatest recognition with the publication of El rayo que no cesa (The Relentless Lightning, 1936). The Generation of 1936 is characterized by their expression of religious faith.

Nine poets dominate the generation succeeding that of 1936; they are Rafael Morales (1919– ), Vicente Gaos (1919– ), Carlos Bousoño (1923– ), Blas de Otero (1916– ), Gabriel Celaya (pen name of Rafael Múgica; 1911–91), Victoriano Crémer (1908– ), José Hierro (1922– ), Eugenio de Nora (1923– ), and José Maria Valverde (1926– ). Hierro is representative of the antiaestheticism, social commitment, and concern for Spain that characterize the group as a whole. Other characteristics of the group include: (1) subjective poetry of the individual in conflict with the external world, as in the early poetry of Blas de Otero; (2) a realistic attitude, neither tragic nor frenzied, but serenely and religiously intimate, as in the work of Valverde and the later poetry of Blas de Otero; and (3) objective tendencies and social poetry, as in the writings of Gabriel Celaya, Victoriano Crémer, and Eugenio de Nora.

Lorenzo Gomís (1924– ), in his collection Poesía 1950–1975 (1978), ranges from personal, local concerns to verse of a lofty vision.

The novel.

The novel is the most flourishing genre in contemporary Spanish literature. The novels of Juan Antonio de Zunzunegui (1901– ), two of whose best works are La ulcera (The Ulcer, 1948) and La quiebra (Bankrupt, 1957), are characterized by strong picaresque tendencies. Max Aub (1903–72), whose works include La verdadera historia de la muerte de Francisco Franco (The True History of the Death of Francisco Franco, 1960), often wrote about the Spanish civil war. One of the best novels by Francisco Ayala (1906– ), critic and sociologist as well as novelist, is Muertes de perro (1958; Death as a Way of Life, 1964), which presents a nightmarish view of humankind. The novels La familia de Pascual Duarte (1942; The Family of Pascual Duarte, 1946), by Camilo José Cela, and Nada (1944; trans. 1958), by Carmen Laforet (1921– ), are among the best-known works written in a new type of realism known as tremendismo, which features the antihero and an insistence on the ugly, harsh aspects of life. Cela, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1989, has written widely varying types of novels and is also known for his travel books. La colmena (1951; The Hive, 1953) is considered by some to be his best novel.

A more traditional type of realism is represented by the work of such authors as Ignacio Agustí (1913– ) and José María Gironella (1917–76), author of Los cipreses creen en Dios (1953; The Cypresses Believe in God, 1955), a saga of family conflicts that symbolize the political dissensions in Spain that led to the civil war. Miguel Delibes (1920– ) has written travel books and realistic novels, noteworthy among which are La sombra del siprés es alargada (The Cypress' Shadow Is Long, 1947) and Cinco horas con Mario (Five Hours with Mario, 1966). Ana Maria Matute (1925– ), one of whose most insistent themes is children and who often writes with exaggerated realism despite her lyrical touches, is known for such works as Los niños tontos (The Retarded Children, 1956) and Primera memoria (First Memory, 1959). El jarama (1955; The One Day of the Week, 1962) is an objective novel of highly original style by Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio (1927– ). The novels of Juan Goytisolo (1931– ) deal with existential problems and protest against a certain emptiness of contemporary Spanish society. Among his best-known works are Juegos de manos (1952; The Young Assassins, 1959) and Duelo en el paraíso (1955; Children of Chaos, 1958). The novels of Ramón Sender (1902–82), considered the most important Spanish novelist of his generation, include Mr. Witt en el cantón (1935; Mr. Witt Among the Rebels, 1937), Crónica del alba (Chronicle of the Dawn, 1942), and Requiem por un campesino Español (Requiem for a Spanish Peasant, 1962). Sender, who became a U.S. citizen in 1946, also wrote a firsthand account of a Spanish civil war counterespionage agent entitled El superviviente (The Survivor, 1978).

Francisco Umbral (1935– ) achieved initial success with his regional novel Las ninfas (The Nymphs, 1976), then transferred the hero of that work to the café world of Madrid in La noche que llegue al Café Gijón (The Night That I Arrived at the Café Gijón, 1977). The resulting work is half reminiscence, half social history of the 1960s.

Drama and essay.

Apart from the dark, symbolic tragedies of García Lorca, the modern drama in Spain has not been as rich as the other genres. Among the other important contemporary dramatists are Alejandre Casona (pseudonym of Alejandro Rodriguez Alvarez; 1903–65), whose theater of fantasy is best represented by Los árboles mueren de pie (Trees Die at the Root, 1949), and Antonio Buero Vallejo (1916–2000), noted for realistic theater with existential overtones such as Historia de una escalera (Story of a Staircase, 1949). Mention should also be made of Alfonso Sastre (1926– ) for Escuadra hacia la muerte (1953; The Condemned Squad, 1961) and Alfonso Paso (1926–78) for Juicio contra un sinvergüenza (Sentence Against a Scoundrel, 1959).

In the field of the essay Julián Marías (1914– ), a disciple of Ortega y Gasset, made notable contributions during the post–Spanish civil war period. In literary criticism some of the most eminent writers are Américo Castro (1885–1972), Dámaso Alonso (1898–1990), and Joaquín Casalduero (1903– ). Among a host of other prominent contemporary Spanish essayists are José Gaos (1900–69), Pedro Lain Entralgo (1908– ), José Ferrater Mora (1912– ), María Zambrano (1904–91), José Luis Aranguren (1909–96), Francisco Ayala, Guillermo Díaz Plaja (1909–84), Ricardo Gullón (1908– ), and Guillermo de Torre (1900– ). M.S.C.U., MARIA SOLEDAD CARRASCO URGOITI, M.A., Lic. en Filosofía y Letras, Ph.D. & L.M., LEONARD MADES, M.A., Ph.D.