Review of: Gullón, Germán. La novela moderna en España ( 1885-1902); los albores de la modernidad. Madrid, Taurus, 1992, 217 pp

Summerhill, Stephen J.

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RESEÑAS tucky let far too many errata slip by to deserve equal praise, al-though the book is handsomely formatted.) One admires as well Johnson's unwavering focus on the way philosophical issues and debates (in)formed the work of these writers, many of whom -especially in the Generation of 1914- are not conventionally identified with the philosophical novel. The same clarity of purpose must have guided her research, to judge from the impressive variety of sources she employs to trace, in a most readable way, the development of the writers' ideas. Throughout Crossfire, Johnson's skills as a literary critic are evident in her discussion of elements of form and literary techniques that serve in the individual novels to refract and comment on the ideas presented. It is this perspicuous analysis which, in the end, makes Crossfire far more than a «simple» history of philosophical currents and polemics in Spanish fiction of the first third of the twentieth century. University of Florida GERALDINE CLEARY NICHOLS Gullón, Germán. La novela moderna en España ( 1885-1902); los albores de la modernidad. Madrid, Taurus, 1992, 217 pp. This is the first in a projected series of four volumes on the evolution of the modem novel in Spain. Essentially, it is a student manual or guidebook whose purpose is to provide a summary of fin de siglo narrative through an analysis of severa! key works. Starting with an initial chapter on the idea of the modern in literature, Gullón describes what he considers the founding or beginning phase of the modero Spanish novel, a process he pre-sents in three moments or stages. First, there was a so called dawn-ing or precursor phase in the mid-1880s; then carne a second mo-ment of affirmation during the 1890s; and finally there was a breakthrough or triumph during the «miracle year» of 1902, which is where the volume ends. The argument is developed almost exclusively through a detailed analysis of eight representative works: Fortunata y Jacinta (1887) and La Regenta (1885) for the moment of inception; Paz en la guerra (1897) and Los trabajos del infatigable creador Pío Cid (1898) for the 1890s; and for 1902, the four classical novels so often identified with modernismo and - 109 ESPAÑA CONTEMPORÁNEA noventayocho: Camino de perfección, Sonata de otoño, Amor y pedagogía, and La voluntad. The opening chapter on modern literature is perhaps the weakest part of the book because it is so elementary. Gullón suggests that toward the end of the nineteenth century, science and technology increased the availability of leisure time and thereby permitted people to explore and deepen their individuality. As a result, referential narrative was slowly replaced by a new subjective writing that was sensitive to interior time (la durée), fragmentation, and an interest in puntillism and the imprecise. The modem novel was thus much more subjectivistic than that which preceded it while at the same time possessing a greater sensitivity to language and form. The problem is not that such ideas are incorrect, but that they are so obvious as to be trivial. Ultimately, they are too vague for understanding the specific situation of Spain, where a major issue was the difficulty or slowness with which social modemity took hold. Thus, it is important to recognize the degree to which writers remained deeply attracted to traditional understandings even as they also began to discover modemity. For example, we would fail to comprehend figures such as Clarin, Ganivet, Unamuno, or Valle-Inclán if we overlooked the persistent conflict in their work be-tween a desire for change and a perceived need to maintain a sense of the past. This conflict can go a long way toward helping us un-derstand the fragility of the subject as developed in their work. They were caught between tradition and change, which is to say, a strong but unsatisfactory past and a desirable but uncertain mo-demity. Unfortunately, Gullón seems completely unaware of the problem and fails to show the nuances it creates. On the other hand, one of his strengths is to begin the account of modem narrative with Galdós and Clarin, both of whom are often considered merely as realists or naturalists and therefore not yet a part of the modem novel. To Gullón, Galdós represents the threshold of modernity, a writer whose sensitivity to the newly emergent urban consciousness of the late nineteenth century led to an exploration of the subject as autonomous and independent, an idea fully evident in Fortunata y Jacinta. The critic thinks this is no less present in La Regenta, with the added benefit that Alas goes much further than Galdós in developing a narrative form that is authentically modem, especially in his use of indirect free style. In - 110-RESEÑAS the end, one would have wished for a more profound discussion of subjectivity in La Regenta, but ultimately, it is a virtue of the book that both Galdós and Clarín are given their rightful place as founders of the modem novel in Spain. Another strength of the work is to avoid most of the old clichés about modernismo and the Generation of 1898, neither of which receive more than passing mention in the volume. In Gullón's view, the issue is how fin de siglo writers pursued the theme of subjectivity while attempting to find a narrative form adequate to it. In the 1890s, both Unamuno and Ganivet undertook this quest with increasing intensity, thereby moving decisively toward a break with realism. Paz en la gue"a deploys Unamuno's existential view of the self-as-becoming while also exploring narrative forms that express the idea of living in the flow or fluir of the present. For his part, Ganivet develops an unreliable narrator while stripping away the layers covering the self so as to reach a point where the subject breaks down altogether. In this context, Gullón is correct to stress the importance of Pío Cid, which has not received the at-tention it deserves. lts inclusion in this volume will hopefully con-tribute to a better appreciation of its importance. The so called «miracle year» of 1902 has been discussed on many occasions and Gullón provides a current overview without saying much that is new. Baroja's Camino de perfección shows a new emphasis on fragmented emplotment, multiperspectivism, and a trait that was common throughout the period, the so called paisaje del alma or description of the extemal world as an extension of the self. Sonata de otoño shows Valle-Inclán's pursuit of refined sensations, decadence, aestheticism, and the thematic link between erotic love and death. In Amor y pedagogía, Unamuno loosens up narrative emplotment by moving toward a whole new emphasis on interior monologue, dialogue, and a tragicomically ambiguous victory of love over reason. And finally, in La voluntad, Azorín fragments experience by creating a decentered world where subjectivity evaporates midst a sustained questioning of the value of progress. All four works are significant for the variety of their approaches to the issue of subjectivity and the formal break with earlier modes of narration. Experts in fin de siglo narrative will not find much that is new here. Sorne will wish for more thorough discussions of works like La Regenta or La voluntad, and others will lament the absence of - 111 -ESPAÑA CONTEMPORÁNEA this or that text they think should have been included (I would have liked to see sorne discussion of El amigo Manso or Misericordia, for example.) Still, the volume offers a basic orienta-tion into the beginnings of modern narrative in Spain while mov-ing beyond modernismo, the Generation of 1898, and other old fashioned notions. The Ohio State University STEPHEN J. SUMMERHILL Ángeles Ezama Gil. El cuento de la prensa y otros cuentos: Aproximación al estudio del relato breve entre 1890 y 1900. Zaragoza, Universidad de Zaragoza, 1992, 252 pp. Ezama Gil ofrece un panorama de conjunto del relato breve finisecular, según era difundido a través de la prensa «periódica» -tanto diarios como revistas- en la última década del siglo, y fija sus rasgos constitutivos. Procede a una caracterización formal del relato en base a la obra de siete autores: Manuel Bueno, Joaquín Dicenta, Fernanflor, Silverio Lanza, Jacinto Octavio Picón, Salvador Rueda y Eduardo Zamacois. El libro, una tesis doctoral, es un análisis laborioso dirigido a clasificar y demarcar un corpus de ficción que apenas ha recibido atención crítica. Sin embargo, el afán inventaria! asfixia la posibi-lidad de desarrollar el comentario crítico sobre los problemas que el género plantea y que se empiezan a perfilar en los dos primeros capítulos. El libro se divide en siete capítulos, rematados con unas con-clusiones y una bibliografía. Los dos primeros, «El cuento (1890-1900): Medios de difusión» y «El cuento periodístico: La determi-nación del medio sobre el género» ofrecen una informativa intro-ducción al desarrollo de la prensa periódica en estos años y a la vinculación que el relato mantiene con ella. Se plantea el influjo decisivo que las circunstancias de este medio difusor ejercen sobre el relato breve en cuanto a su configuración como género indepen-diente y a la consolidación del término «cuento». Su convivencia con formas periodísticas resulta en «una quiebra de los límites entre realidad y ficción» (p. 43) que el capítulo segundo examina en su aspecto más formal, pero sin intentar definir términos pro-blemáticos, como «veracidad», «la realidad de lo narrado», «la rea-112 -

Gullón, Germán: La novela moderna en España (1885-1902); los albores de la modernidad

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Gullón, Germán: La novela moderna en España (1885-1902); los albores de la modernidad

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