Myth and History in the Contemporary Spanish Novel

This book provides detailed textual analysis of six important Spanish novelists whose works were written since the Spanish Civil War.

Since the Civil War, Spanish novelists have produced a noteworthy body of fiction. Jo Labanyi provides detailed textual analysis of six of the most important novels of the period and raises important general issues about the ways in which fiction, as a form of mythicfication, relates to the real world.Since the Civil War, Spanish novelists have produced a noteworthy body of fiction. In this book, Jo Labanyi provides detailed textual analysis of six of the most important novels to have been written during this period: Martin-Santos' Tiempo de silencio, Benet's Volverás a Región, Marsé's Si te dicen que caí, Cela's San Camilo, 1936, Juan Goytisolo's Reivindicación del conde don Julián, and Torrente Ballester's La saga/fuga de J.B. The focus on myth as a response to history is intended as a corrective to archetypal myth criticism, and stresses the variety of ways in which Spanish novelists have resorted to myth, and the need to relate their use of it to the historical context of Francoist ideology. The book also raises important general issues about the ways in which fiction, as a form of mythification, relates to the real world.