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Luis Martín Santos and The Contemporary Spanish Novel

This document summarizes an article about Spanish novelist Luis Martín Santos and his novel Tiempo de silencio. It discusses how the literary movements of objetivismo and realismo social were declining in popularity, seen as too restrictive in their themes and styles. Martín Santos' novel broke from these trends with its intellectual depth and attempt to synthesize various approaches. The document outlines Martín Santos' theories about different stages of the Spanish novel and his criticisms of objetivismo and realismo social for relying too heavily on stereotypes rather than creating realistic characters. Martín Santos advocated for a "realismo dialectico" approach.
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100% found this document useful (1 vote)
213 views8 pages

Luis Martín Santos and The Contemporary Spanish Novel

This document summarizes an article about Spanish novelist Luis Martín Santos and his novel Tiempo de silencio. It discusses how the literary movements of objetivismo and realismo social were declining in popularity, seen as too restrictive in their themes and styles. Martín Santos' novel broke from these trends with its intellectual depth and attempt to synthesize various approaches. The document outlines Martín Santos' theories about different stages of the Spanish novel and his criticisms of objetivismo and realismo social for relying too heavily on stereotypes rather than creating realistic characters. Martín Santos advocated for a "realismo dialectico" approach.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Luis Martn Santos and the Contemporary Spanish Novel

Author(s): Janet Winecoff Daz


Source: Hispania, Vol. 51, No. 2 (May, 1968), pp. 232-238
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
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LUIS MARTIN SANTOS AND
THE CONTEMPORARY SPANISH NOVEL

JANET WINECOFF DIAZ


University of North Carolina

T HE roughly contemporaneous andSantos (1924-1964), who attempted to


not completely independent move- combine, synthesize and go beyond the
ments of objetivismo' and realismo social,2 various current novelistic patterns.
which replaced tremendismo in the early J. Corrales Egea, himself a novelist and
to mid-fifties as the reigning vogue amongone of the critics originally most favorable
Spanish novelists, have begun to wane.to objetivismo and the novela social, re-
For approximately the last three years, flects on their limitations and considers the
these schools have been showing less need for a change in "?Crisis de la nueva
vigor, and their works-all cut to much literatura?" (Insula, no. 223, junio, 1965).
the same pattern-have found fewer pub-"Me parece significativo a este respecto
lishers. Even so extreme an exponent ofel silencio en que se han sumido algunos
these currents as Juan Goytisolo is reported de los autores mejor dotados, de mayor
to be working on "una larga novela depromesa de la nueva promoci6n" (p. 10).
tipo tradicional."3 Examples are Sanchez Ferlosio, Jesuis Fer-
One reason for the decline is the failure
nindez Santos, Eugenio de Nora, and
of objetivismo and the novela social withCela's failure to continue the trilogy "Los
the public-their lack of appeal to thecaminos inciertos," initiated with La col-
relatively small reading public in Spain mena. Corrales Egea's analysis of the
and inability to reach the large masses ofcauses of the crisis serves to underline the
econdmicamente ddbiles whose cause theyimportance of Tiempo de silencio and the
championed and whom they hoped toexperiment in "realismo dialectico" by
rouse to social action. Another reason is Martin Santos:
inherent in the nature of the movements
La mayor parte de las veces el autor no tras-
themselves: their restriction of creativity, ciende la mera exposici6n de hechos, la presenta-
limitation and repetition of themes, largely ci6n de realidades sociales, sin insertar ni 6stas
ni aqu6llos dentro de un dinamismo historico
stereotyped characters, gray or depressing que los explique y que les d6 un sentido. Se
environments, and a certain superficiality. habia escogido un sistema de narraci6n pura-
Adherence to these vogues was never mente "objetivo," sin dial6ctica. La novela, apar-
tada del arte formalista o esteticista, pero sus-
total, despite their immense influence over traida al mismo tiempo a la dialectica de las
the younger writers; the best novelists, realidades, se qued6 constrefiida dentro de un
marco excesivamente estrecho: al presente actual.
such as Miguel Delibes and Ana Maria Y naturalmente, extraordinariamente efimero (p.
Matute, while affected by the prevailing 10).
climate of protest, maintained their inde- Martin Santos' relationship to the pre-
pendence, adapting only such elements as vailing novelistic currents is made more
suited their purposes and personalities. explicit by Ricardo Domenech ("Luis
Opposing narrative currents such as the Martin Santos," Insula, no. 208, marzo,
psychological novel found talented culti- 1964):
vators in Elena Quiroga, Gonzalo Torrente
Creo sinceramente que por su s61lida cultura, por
Ballester and Elena Soriano, and a few su talento y por su decidida vocaci6n literaria,
efforts were made to find new directions.
Martin Santos podria haber Ilevado a cabo una
profunda renovaci6n en la novelistica espafiola.
The most notable of these is Tiempo deRenovaci6n, como es sabido, muy necesaria en
silencio (Barcelona, 1962) of Luis Martin
estos momentos.

232

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Luis MARTIN SANTOS AND THE CONTEMPORARY SPANISH NOVEL 233

La aparici6n de Tiempo de silencio, hace dos tiated, generic, the proletariat of any coun-
aifos, venia a romper ya con una cierta mono-
tonia naturalista. Tiempo de silencio no se pare- try, but possible only in a specific temporal
cia en nada a cuantas novelas habian surgido en situation and concrete historical circum-
Espafia desde 1954, afio en que se public6 Los stances, existing not as individuals but as
bravos, el primer titulo significativo de la nueva
novela realista . . . Tiempo de silencio estaba a representatives of the masses. Martin San-
la altura de las mejores. En relaci6n con ellas, tos apparently would include objetivismo
mostraba algunas deficiencias en cuanto a su and the novela social in realismo subur-
estructura novelesca propiamente dicha. Pero
sobre todas ellas, y compartiendo su mismo bano which, he notes, is influenced by
espiritu critico frente a la realidad espafiola, historical determinism and has definite
tenia la ventaja de su mayor densidad intelectual.
(p. 4) didactic motives. "Las aventuras son ejem-
plos praicticos de una teoria social pre-exis-
For Domenech, Tiempo de silencio is "un
tente . . . El escritor no crea; se limita a
intento-serio, riguroso-de superaci6n y de
sintesis ... de encontrar el camino de una exponer, en un lenguaje pedestre asequible
a la masa. El resultado es una literatura
nueva novela, una novela a la altura de
pobre en el peor sentido de la palabra."5
nuestro tiempo." Although he had not set
down his literary ideas in writing, Martin Realismo pueblerino and realismo subur-
Santos had explained (in conversations bano alike are criticized for not creating
and lectures) a rather elaborate theory reality but copying it, reproducing it ex-
which he offered in opposition to objeti- ternally. Martin Santos was intelligent and
vismo and the novela social: caustic in his objections to the use of
ese "realismo dialectico," tal como lo entendiastereotypes in these two approaches to the
Martin Santos-es claro que la frase transcrita novel:
no es mAs que una leve pista de una teoria muy
amplia y rigurosa-constituia una aventura este- Si los primeros han podido ilegar al esper-
pento, los segundos han caido en la pluscuam-
tica que, por el momento, s6lo 61 podria haber perfecci6n. Si los primeros barajan caricaturas,
Ilevado a cabo . . habia construido .... una
teoria muy rigurosa, elaborada a partir de un los segundos exhiben fotografias retocadas ...
La sociedad capitalista sufre contradicciones como
conocimiento profundo de la literatura y el arte tambien las sufre . .. la sociedad socialista . . .
-con todas sus implicaciones sociales, historicas,
politicas, economicas, psicol6gicas, filos6ficas, etc. los realistas suburbanos tal vez hayan Ilevado
demasiado lejos ciertos atisbos de teoria literaria
-de una seriedad ejemplar.4
marxista, al atribuir en exclusiva a un tipo de
These literary theories are reconstructed sociedad unas contradicciones que hay que empe-
zar buscando en el individuo.... Dicho en otros
by Aquilino Duque in Indice (June, terminos, el campo de batalla entre el bien y el
1964). Martin Santos distinguished three mal no es ya el alma del hombre, sino el medio
fundamental stages of evolution for thesocial. El hombre no es un ser de una pieza:
bueno, si es proletariado, malo si es burgu6s.
Spanish novel in the twentieth century: Esta dialectica . . . no es muy recomendable
(1) "el realismo del '98"; (2) "neopicarescabajo la etiqueta del realismo. Un hombre que
o realismo pueblerino"; (3) "realismo su- no sufre dudas y contradicciones intimas no esti
vivo por dentro .. .6
burbano." The second category, in part,
and the third, in particular, would seem Martin Santos attempted a practical
(from definitions of their characteristics) solution of these problems in Tiempo de
to belong to the postwar period. Martin silencio, applying his critical criteria to
Santos criticized both for presenting "una his own work, striving to create reality
realidad observada desde fuera," making an rather than copy it, to present it not only
exception in the case of Cela's La familia externally but also internally ("desde den-
de Pascual Duarte, "realidad vista desdetro"), and to avoid stereotypes and over-
dentro." In the neopicaresque vein, charac- simplification. At the same time he made
ters are differentiated, unique, intemporal, an effort to rehabilitate the language used
"privativos de Espafia" whether in theby contemporary Spanish novelists and to
seventeenth century or the present, while incorporate the discoveries of Joyce and
those of realismo suburbano are undifferen- Proust (which he believed had had no

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234 JANET WINECOFF DiAZ

influence in Spain aside from tracesfigure


A singular in theamong contemporary
prose works of Salinas and Cernuda).
Spanish novelists, not His
only for his theories
goals may be summarized and asinnovations
the bringing
but for his profession and
up-to-date of style and characterization.
culture, Martin Santos Inwas a surgeon and
his own case, Martin Santos confessed
psychiatrist, director the
of the manicomio in
stylistic influence of JoyceSan
and Cervantes,7
Sebastian, professor of psychiatry at
the latter a self-evident one
thefor readers
university of won the chair in
(having
Tiempo de silencio, whereinoposiciones while confined to jail), and
the mock-epic
tone is maintained with considerable ironic
maintained a large private psychiatric prac-
tice. These activities left him only two
effect in numerous episodes.
Tiempo de silencio is notdays a week for
a book for writing,
the but before his
masses, but "un libro aicido, novel cruel,
appeared, hijo
he had de
published Dilthey,
la inteligencia ciustica. EsJaspers un libro culto"'
y la comprensi6n del enfermo men-
(Duque, op. cit.). Spanish critics tal (Madrid, 1955, 300 pp.), works on
generally
paid little attention to the novel
Sartre's when
existential it
psychoanalysis and on
appeared, although some psychiatric intellectuals and
theory, and numerous strictly
professional writers appreciated professional
itsarticles. Posthumously Liber-
signifi-
cance. Published in France and Holland in tad, temporalidad y transferencia en el
1964, it was an immediate success and met psicoandlisis existencial was published in
an excellent critical reception. When it Barcelona (1964). He described these
was published in English the same year,works as "libros de psiquiatria muy car-
The New York Times Book Review noted gados de filosofia," and Martin Santos
himself was considered "un pensador ex-
that "the bravura and lyricism of the prose
cepcional, de fuerte originalidad, en cons-
. . the casual deftness of the symbols and
most of all the brilliant concluding mono- tante evoluci6n."12 This introduction to
logue leave no doubt that the author was the personality of Martin Santos is funda-
not content with a realistic novel."8 Martin
mental for the understanding of Tiempo
Santos "sometia el realismo a un trata- de silencio, as is a further word of explana-
miento de altura y profundidad . . . par- tion of "realismo dialectico."
tiendo de un estilo en el que se entre-Knowing that the objetivistas and neo-
cruzaban influencias legitimas y herencias
realists abjured all esthetic goals, psycho-
prestigiosas, novedades Uitiles y tradiciones
logical analysis and interpretation, one can
imprescindibles." see the opposing objectivist-neo-realist and
Although Martin Santos had published esthetic-psychological currents as the thesis
only one novel at the time of his death in and antithesis of the "dialectical" process
an automobile accident, Tiempo de silencio in the novel, the elements to be synthe-
is not the work of a novice. He had earlier sized. Martin Santos was particularly well
completed four other novels'0 and from qualified for the job: his profession
1962 until his death worked on yet an- equipped him for the psychological analy-
other, still more ambitious. That none of sis; he shared the critical and social aims of
these have been seen by the public may the neo-realists, and as a surgeon and man
bear more than a casual relationship to the of science presumably could be as "objec-
fact that Martin Santos was arrested and tive" as any representative of objetivismo.
imprisoned three times for political reasons,At the same time, he was fully aware of
spent more than four years confined to the the esthetic limitations of these movements
city of San Sebastian "en prisi6n atenua- and possessed the necessary literary and
da,"" and that Tiempo de silencio wasartistic culture to have formulated his own
published in Spain only after the cuttingesthetic criteria.
of four chapters. Observing the objetivista tabus against

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Luis MARTIN SANTOS AND THE CONTEMPORARY SPANISH NOVEL 235

direct author intervention, comment or Illinois, affording the opportunity for in-
interpretation, Martin Santos invented the direct, ironic commentary on the physical
mono'logo dialictico which allows him to and economic conditions under which re-
penetrate deeply into individual psychology search must be done in Spain, as well as
without himself intervening in the first- a smile at American "laboratories trasli-
person narration. His solution combines cidos de paredes brillantes de vidrio, con
interior monologue with the objective aire acondicionado ex profeso para la
narration of exterior action so as to convey mejor vida ratonil" (Tiempo de silencio,
the impression of the character's simul- p. 7). The nature of Pedro's profession
taneous awareness of his own subjectivity
serves to justify one of the stylistic peculi-
and of external events. Martin Santos arities of the novel, a liberal use of medical
and scientific terminology, usually em-
described this technique as "una amalgama-
ci6n violenta enriquecedora de contenido
ployed tongue-in-cheek. When the last of
por una necesidad de expresi6n simultainea,
his mice dies, Pedro visits a shanty slum on
pero respetando estrictamente las leyes the
de outskirts of Madrid where he is told
la sintaxis castellana que-afortunadamente
that mice stolen from the laboratory by a
para mi-son flexibles."' dismissed employee have been coaxed into
The characterization, in first person,multiplying
is between the breasts of the
thief's
done from within the consciousness of the daughters. The description of his
arrival at the shanty town exemplifies the
several characters, whose monologues re-
veal their internal weaknesses and contra- frequent mock-epic tone:
dictions, their self-deception or vacillation,iAlli estaban las chabolas! Sobre un pequefio
monticulo en que concluia la carretera derruida,
but interpretation and organization Amador
of se habia alzado-como muchos siglos
these data are left to the reader. Most antes Moises sobre un monte mais alto-y sefia-
expository detail is conveyed by these same lalaba con ademin solemne y con el estallido de
sonrisa de sus belfos gloriosos el vallizuelo
monologues ("realidad desde dentro") escondido entre dos montafiias altivas, una de
while action is presented indirectly via the escombrera y cascote, de ya vieja y expoliada
consciousness of one of the characters or basura ciudadana la otra (de la que la busca de
los indigenas colindantes habia extraido toda
narrated briefly and rapidly in third person. sustancia aprovechable valiosa o nutritiva) en el
The plot is of less importance than style, que florecian, pegados los unos a los otros, los
soberbios alcazares de la miseria (p. 40).
characterization, and the ironic commen-
By metaphor, irony and contrast, Martin
tary on various aspects of Spanish life.
Santos suggests that the chabolas are a
The principal narrator, protagonist and social cancer (a subtle but sustained alle-
central consciousness of the novel is Pedro, gorical parallel to which he returns several
a young doctor whose last name is never times). His understated list of their physi-
mentioned. A possible mask of the author, cal, economic and moral ills makes even
he shares with him the medical profession, more caustic comments such as this:
a similar age, and (though under different "iPero, que hermoso a despecho de estos
circumstances) an unfortunate acquaint- contrastes ficilmente corregibles el con-
ance with the inside of Spanish jails. On junto de este poligono habitable! iDe qud
one occasion he expounds some literary maravilloso modo alli quedaba patente la
theories similar to those of Martin Santos.
capacidad para la improvisaci6n y la origi-
Pedro has also been interpreted as a sym- nal fuerza constructiva del hombre ibero!"
bol of Spain, or the virility of Spain, "the (p. 41)
lost man, the man whom they prevented The visit to the chabolas initiates the
from doing what he was called to do."14
intrigue which involves the young doctor
Pedro is doing cancer research in Ma- in an illegal abortion wherein the patient
drid, with cancerous mice imported from dies, followed by his panic and flight from

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236 JANET WINECOFF DiAZ
dividual. Inand
the police, concealment in a brothel addition to the innumerable
arrest, subsequent dismissal of charges, and
technical, medical and psychiatric terms,
it contains
finally his dismissal from his research many erudite and self-consci-
posi-
tion at the Institute. This seriesously polysyllabic words, occasional classi-
of personal
disasters is climaxed with the murder of his
cal or mythological allusions, and a good
many
fianc6e by a vengeful bully from theneologisms.
slum. These are often an-
Her death is not an unmixed tragedy,
glicisms, with some gallicisms: "midelu6sti-
however, since Pedro had been maneu-
cas mozas" (p. 7); "taylorismo-bedoismo"
vered into the engagement and (p. 130);
was not"te Ilevan al parti" (p. 160);
entirely happy about it. The end "chovinista"
of the (p. 75); "ansisuatil" (p. 66);
novel finds him en route to a"es tan poco entreprenant" (p. 146).
provincial
town to begin a general medical Others are logical extensions of existing
practice,
unable to continue the research he loves words: "simbiotizindose" (p. 66); "mutuo
but unable to protest. The concluding apoyo antigravitatorio" (p. 76); "aceroin-
monologue explains the title. Pedro recalls oxidada mesa" (94); "Balenciagamente
that the Turks used to castrate their slaves vestida" (p. 120); "las relaciones extrapen-
on the beaches of Anatolia and that sailors sionarias" (p. 198); "amor matrimoniable"
passing miles away could hear their pro-(p. 205) etc. Unusually long sentences
tests and laments. But he lives in the "timeand paragraphs abound, sometimes de-
of silence" when it is comfortable to be a liberately archaic and reminiscent of Latin
eunuch, especially a spiritual eunuch: constructions. Also characteristic of Mar-
"Estaris asi un tiempo esperando en silen-tin Santos are prolonged or sustained meta-
cio, sin hablar mal de nadie. Todo consiste
phors. For example, the one of equating
en estar callado. No diciendo nunca nada cocktail party guests with birds, is sus-
de eso. Todo el mundo, poco a poco, verbatained for nearly seven pages (pp. 123-30).
como eres de bondadoso, de limpio, de The tone of irony and satire is maintained
sabio. ... Estoy desesperado de no estar
throughout, and various episodes parody
desesperado" (p. 221). the Quijote, La familia de Pascual Duarte,
Not essential to the plot but very muchand Joyce's Ulysses. Martin Santos mer-
a part of the message of the book are mem- cilessly burlesques a lecture by a noted
orable sketches of the panorama of Madridphilosopher (who expounds as his own
society, from the delinquent sub-proletariatthe perspectivism of Ortega) and the
methods and mentality of police interro-
of the chabolas and brothels, through the
shabby genteel world of Pedro's lower gators, presenting both according to the
strictest objetivista technique, and limiting
middle-class boarding house, to the aristoc-
racy and dilettantes of literature and art, them almost entirely to dialogue (or the
and the bohemian "estudiante aficionado character's perception thereof). The au-
a la filosofia pero escasamente adicto al thor refrains from comment, but none is
agua ya desde antes de la boga eixstencial"necessary: the philosopher's and inspector's
(p. 119). Martin Santos satirizes all levels,self-presentations, via their speeches, are
but manages to convey effectively the basicdevastating.
social injustice implicit in these extremes Duque (op. cit.) observes these elements
and contrasts. He succeeds better in avoid- in Tiempo de silencio: "el neologismo in-
ing stereotypes and oversimplification instintivo e intuitivo; el arcaismo lReno de
his lower and middle-class characters, per- sorna; la vivisecci6n implacable con pa-
haps, than in the aristocracy, where certain labras encomiaisticas y ademanes ben6volos;
aspects are exaggerated to extremes ofla alegoria barroca; el figur6n pomposo; el
caricature.
quebrantamiento de los lugares comunes
The language is very personal and in- de la expresi6n y la situaci6n, renovando

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Luis MARTIN SANTOS AND THE CONTEMPORARY SPANISH NOVEL 237

las adjetivaciones, combinando de mil Q. iSigue Vd. alguna modalidad literaria?


jTiene determinadas reglas para escribir?
modos in6ditos los tipos y los paisajes."
The novel contains all this and much, A. Escribo sin haberme trazado previamente
el plan de la obra. Cada capitulo lo escribo
much more; it is difficult to do justice to de una vez en un uinico v6mito. Corrijo
the book's richness and variety of com- poco, solamente palabras sueltas.
ponents. Tiempo de silencio alone-apart Q. ?Qud fines busca al escribir?
from its significance as an experiment and
A. Modificar la realidad espafiola (tambi6n
attempt at synthesis-is sufficient to merit divertirme yo).
a place of importance for Martin Santos
among postwar Spanish novelists. Q. ?Cdmo definiria la novela?
A. El arte cuya materia prima es la existencia.
In the silence of the definitive absence
of this writer and the present unavail- Q. ?C6mo concibe la funci6n del novelista en
la sociedad?
ability of his other works, portions of Mar-
tin Santos' replies to a questionnaire15 may A. Su funci6n es la que llamo desacralizadora-
sacrogentica: Desacralizadora-destruye
help to complete the information and mediante una critica aguda de lo injusto.
orientation necessary for understanding Sacrogen6tica-al mismo tiempo colabora a
la edificacion de los nuevos mitos que
his novel, his personality and his signifi- pasan a former las Sagradas Escrituras del
cance.
mafiana.
Q. ?Cudles son sus lecturas predilectas?
Q. ?Qud obras tiene proyectadas para el
futuro?
A. Novela: Stendhal, Cervantes, T. Mann,
los anglosajones. Filosofia: Heidegger, Dil-
A. Varias obras de tipo destructivo.
they, Ortega, Spengler (de joven); hoy
en dia, sobre todo, Sartre, por su ha
Q. Cudl mayor
sido la critica mrds acertada que
proximidad a mi problemitica moral. se ha hecho de su obra (quien lo hizo, y
Q. XCudles son sus novelas preferidas? qud era la sustancia de lo dicho)?
A. La de Torres Murrillo en el "Diario Vasco"
A. Ulises de Joyce; D. Quijote; Rojo y Sebastian.
de San negroEntendi6 mucho mejor
de Stendhal; La bzisqueda del tiempo que otros las ...
leyes de mi sintaxis y supo
de Proust (todos los tomos); El Dr. Fausto
encontrar sus mis arcaicos fundamentos
de Mann; Pickwick de Dickens.
en la literatura latina clisica. Supo ver la
fundamental unidad dcntro de la variaci6n
Q. dQud corrientes o escuelas ve en de laestilos
produc-
de cada capitulo.
elci6n novelistica de hoy en Espahia? Y en
extranjero?
Q. Cudles son sus temas predilectos?
A. En Espafia hay una escuela realista, un
tanto pedestre y comprometida, que es la A. Aquellos temas en que se muestran las
leyes modificadoras de la existencia hu-
que da el tono. Tendrd que alcanzar un mana. Donde se advierte el condiciona-
mayor contenido y complejidad si quiere miento social, las contradicciones fecundas
escapar a una repeticion mon6tona y sin y el brillo de la libertad.
interes.
En el extranjero, la nueva novela fran-
cesa me parece esteril y preciosista. El Q. C6dmo ve la situaci6n del novelista en
realismo italiano esta dando las iltimas Espahia?
bocanadas. Creo que puede confiar en una A. Actualmente mis importante que en
renovaci6n alemana de aire intelectual, ninguna otra 6poca, por la falta de otros
romintico y si se quiere kafkiano. Los exponentes de la opini6n puiblica. El
anglosajones siguen con su flujo continuo historiador de este tiempo nuestro re-
poco revolucionario. En Estados Unidos currird a la novela para saber lo que
aun no se han liberado de Freud. habia bajo el conformismo total impuesto
a la prensa cotidiana o peri6dica.
Q. 2Qud opina Vd. sobre el efecto que el
existencialismo frances y americano (de Q. dCudles son sus sentimientos politicos?
Sartre, Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, de
Faulkner y Hemingway) ha producido en A. Democriticos y reformistas.
la novela espaihola contempordnea?
A. Por el momento, no han influido en los Q. ?Cudles son sus creencias en materia de
escritores que conocemos, aunque algunos- religidn?
quiz -los hayan lefdo. A. Nulas.

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238 JANET WINECOFF DiAZ

frequently uses many objetivista techniques, as


T HE DEATH OF MARTIN SANTOS deprived
these have proved an effective means of circum-
the contemporary Spanish novel
venting of one
censorship. Its ends are not objective,
of its most original andhowever,
promising ex-
as it aims to influence directly and-
ponents, one of its mostifprofound
possible-to changeand
prevailing political, social
and economic policies in Spain. Literature is
challenging thinkers. "The
conceived not as an end of
existence in itself but (in the
this book [Tiempo de silencio] and
words of the poet its
Gabriel Celaya) as "an in-
strument to transform the world." The "ob-
quality, belie its title, for Martin Santos
jective" presentation of problem situations, with-
spoke out. . . . This is hisoutfirst
personaland
comment,last has almost invariably an
underlying leftist
novel; the ironic appropriateness of ideology.
the
3Interview
title . . . needs no emphasis."'6 It bycanthe only
present writer with Goyti-
solo's friend and publisher, Carlos Barral, in Bar-
be hoped that his several unpublished
celona, November 1965.
novels will someday be made available
4Domenech, op. cit.,for
p. 4.
5Duque, op.scholars,
the benefit of the public, literary cit.
and historians of the postwar period.
6Ibid.
7From Martin Santos' response (dated 21/6/
62) to a questionnaire sent him by the present
writer.
NOTES
8Thomas Curley, "Man Lost in Madrid,"
lObjetivismo, imitating cultivatorsThe of New
the York Times Book Review, Nov. 29,
French nouveau roman (especially A. Robbe-
1964, p. 57. (Time of Silence, translated by
Grillet), attempts to give that reproduction
Georgeof
Leeson, was published in New York by
reality which might be achieved by a Harcourt,
movie Brace & World.)
camera with sound track, describing only ex-
'Duque, op. cit.
ternal actions and physical objects, detailing
10From questionnaire cited in note 7.
dialogue, and theoretically leaving interpretation
to the reader. The novelist abstains from com- " Ibid.
ment, evaluation, and direct intervention, sup- 12Jos6 Aumente, "Un libro p6stumo de Luis
pressing insofar as possible his individual per-
Martin Santos," Insula, No. 220 (marzo, 1965),
sonality. Holding that the psychological novel p. 12.
(never a particularly fruitful vein) has been 13From questionnaire cited in note 7.
mined out, and that in any case, it is impossible
to know what is happening inside another 14Curley, op. cit.
human being, the objetivistas refrain from psy- 15All questions and answers are from the
chological explorations and analysis. questionnaire cited in note 7.
2Realismo social (also called neorrealismo) 16Curley, op. cit.

INCREASE IN NATIONAL DUES FOR 1969


At the last Annual Meeting the Association voted to increase the regular
membership dues to $8.00 and student memberships to $4.00. For an explana-
tion of this action see the message from the Secretary-Treasurer on pp. 129-
30 of the March issue.

THE 1968 MEETING


The next Annual Meeting of the AATSP will take place at the Gunter Ho
San Antonio, Texas, on August 28-30 during the celebration of the Hemi
See p. 296-98 for the program.

Change of address? Please notify the Secretary-Treasurer promptly!


Use the convenient form found in the Advertising Section

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