A novel in Spain is an ancient and truly democratic literary genre, rooted in folklore. Therefore, it absorbs folk wisdom, cheerful mischief, and practical judgment. The novelistic tradition is still alive in Spain; evidence of this is the collections published annually and individual stories in newspapers and magazines. There are also numerous competitions and prizes for the best work in this genre. As a rule, novelists do not make an emphasis on the plot that leads to an unexpected denouement. They do not tend to moralize but only testify and narrate without edification so that the reader can draw his or her own conclusion. A Spanish novel written in the framework of social realism of the mid-twentieth century – given the harsh historical conditions – seems to be a significant theme to discuss. Ignacio Aldecoa is among the most notable writers in the genre, and this paper will investigate the mentioned Spanish novel referencing his Santa Ojala de Acero y Seguir de Pobres.
It is essential to state that Aldecoa’s primary peculiarity as a social realist is his attitude to reality – to the totalitarian regime, which adversely affects all aspects of Spanish life. Frankism was unable to solve the most important social and economic problems (van Luijk 99). It turned out to be powerless to suppress the desire of the masses for freedom and self-awareness, as well as to deprive them of the right to think independently. Aldecoa – so as many other social realists – could not take the consequences of the regime and aspired to depict them without deceit.
Given the above mentioned, citizenship, a keen sense of modernity, and attention to pressing social problems, which distinguishes the progressive Spanish writer, occur in his works. Moreover, there is a rebellion against officialism, humanism, and democracy, as well as a critical attitude to all the institutions of bourgeois society. To a certain extent, such a position determines the themes of his novels. Aldecoa is interested in the situation of peasants, the life of workers and inhabitants of urban suburbs, and small officials. For instance, in Santa Ojala de Acero, Aldecoa depicts a severe working routine of ones who are laboring at the locomotive called Ojala. They are forced to face hard and unbright life, “The previous words had the same monotony in all seasons. They didn’t say anything and they said everything” (Aldecoa “Santa” 17). Aldecoa also appeals to the past, and – above all – to the events of the civil war.
Then, one of the central themes in Aldecoa’s novels is Spanish village. The peasant issue is traditional for Spain; the works of many artists of the past are devoted to it. Since the mid-1950s, the village has attracted the attention of Spanish writers. For them, the fate of this village is the fate of the most backward, suffering, and still very large part of the society. Aldecoa tends to describe and emphasize the differences between employed and unemployed in a significant manner. “To those who live in misery … he shows tenderness and compassion” (Slater iv). The village problem appears before the reader in various aspects.
Seguir de Pobres shows workers, small people who aim to obtain casual and seasonal earnings – those who are rejected by society. The existence of these people is dull and full of petty everyday worries, which cannot be avoided. “Upon seeing the five unemployed, lost in thought, the children approach them at a distance of respect and prudence” (Aldecoa “Seguir” 71). Even children who do not fully realize the severe conditions feel compassion for them. They are tired of this life with a constant lack of money, exhausting work, and eternal dependence on those in power. The latter might be a policeman, padre, and everyone who has risen even one step higher in the ranks. The mentioned novel is permeated with a feeling of dysfunction, disorder, and brewing catastrophe.
Aldecoa wants to manifest the main conflicts of the capitalist world – the contradiction between the individual and society, the alienation of humans, the indifference of society to people. He shows the tendency to the transformation of the individual into a certain standard freed from thoughts and emotions. In Seguir de Pobres, Aldecoa shows such an attitude through the man in power who claims, “They have offered me human material at seven pesetas to do the whole campaign, but they are Andalusian… “Lazy people”” (“Seguir” 72). After this expression, this man makes a gesture of contempt with his lips.
It should be mentioned that both Santa Ojala de Acero and Seguir de Pobres have many common peculiarities. Their narration contains a lot of dialogues of the characters whose language seems to be poor, and speech tends to be intermittent, with short sentences. These characters have a strong feeling of collectivity as they are united by the common hard work and harsh circumstances. When Higinio’s friends do not want him to leave as it is only a quarter to eleven, he replies, “For me late. Tomorrow I have a service too. Until Thursday I don’t rest” (Aldecoa “Santa” 25). This reveals how much work an ordinary human in Spain of the period has, as well as what sacrifices he or she should make.
The desire to understand the past without bias and prejudice is not only a desire to establish the truth contrary to official propaganda. Aldecoa and many Spanish social realists want to artistically comprehend the course of events in their homeland over the period (Herzberger 153). Their novels seem to be very relevant and national – they depict plenty of issues and demonstrate the specific perception of reality. It is visible from Aldecoa’s social realism and its structure of images and the thinking of characters, which is provided via detailed everyday routine. The problems of getting rid of the suppression’s shackles and enhancing national ideas are inevitably integrated into Aldecoa’s narration. This makes his novels actual as one should never forget the lessons of the past depicted through the lives of ordinary people while asserting his or her fundamental freedoms.
To conclude, the fate of Spanish people is depicted in the novels of Aldecoa, whose work organically merges tragedy and farce, sublime and routine. Santa Ojala de Acero and Seguir de Pobres are novels that seem to prove the latter statement. Aldecoa’s narration, no matter what he addresses, is protesting against the savagery and senselessness of being in Franco-Spain. The deep penetration into the essence of the phenomena of the Spanish reality, as well as the humanism of the author, attract readers to these novels. Getting acquainted with them, the audience is convinced that Spanish literary mastery is significant and does not break ties with folk sources.
Works Cited
Aldecoa, Ignacio. Santa Olaja de Acero. 1968, UNIBA, Web.
Seguir de Pobres. 1968, UNIBA, Web.
Herzberger, David. “Social Realism and the Contingencies of History in the Contemporary Spanish Novel.” Hispanic Review, vol. 59, no. 2, 1991, pp. 153–173.
Slater, Cheryl Whitworth. Ignacio Aldecoa’s View of Reality. 1971. LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses, PhD dissertation.
van Luijk, Julia. “Ignacio Aldecoa’s El fulgor y la sangre.” Memory and Trauma in the Postwar Spanish Novel: Revisiting the Past, edited by Sarah Leggott and Ross Woods, Bucknell University Press, 2014, 99–115.