80- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
What was Realism?
The later 19thcentury saw Spain swap Romanticism
for something grittier.Realismoduly tried to portray life
as it was. Larger than life characters and plots were
substituted for realistic scenarios, accurate language and
detailed portraits of real places. Writers began poring over
the particulars of human behaviour and society, peeling
away the layers of their characters and their worlds.
The Spanish model of Realism lagged a little behind the
French and British versions, developing a style of its own
that initially took fewer chances with moral and social
codes. Whatever the approach, Realism proved ideal
territory for literature’s favourite new vehicle, the novel.Three big Spanish Realists and their books
Benito Pérez Galdós. Many regard Galdós as second
only to Cervantes in the pantheon of Spanish novelists.
He was certainly top of the Realist tree, writing two great
bodies of literature, theEpisodios nacionales, a series of
novels that prised open Spanish history, and theNovelas
españolas contemporáneas, books that delved into
contemporary society and garnered Galdós a reputation
as the national conscience of late 19thcentury Spain.
Few have matched the author’s rendering of psyche,
particularly his exploration of the mental, spiritual and
sexual quirks of the urban middle class. His best novels
includeFortunata y Jacinta(1886-87), about a smug
Madrileño married to Jacinta but bedding down with the
lower class Fortunata, often compared to the writing of
Dickens andTolstoy, andTorquemada(1889-95), a series
of murky, satirical novels about a stingy pawnbroker who
climbs the class ladder.Doña Perfecta(1876), about a
young liberal squashed by the religious bigotry of a
provincial town, is another classic. Galdós’ novels remain
hugely popular in Spain.Realist mastermind
Benito Pérez Galdós
had a brief love affair
with Naturalist supremo
Emilia Pardo Bazán.