Valle-Inclan: The Captain's Daughter and the Dead Man's Finery (Paperback)

Ramon del Valle-Inclan is one of Spain s greatest dramatists. His particular legacy is the esperpento, a satirical mode combining tragedy and farce and characterised by its use of the grotesque. The Dead Man s Finery (1926) and The Captain s Daughter (1927) are two short esperpentos that satirise the military, which for Valle-Inclan encapsulated the worst and most retrogressive qualities of the Spanish nation. In The Dead Man s Finery, Johnny Bluster is a decommissioned veteran of the Spanish American War who steals a dead man s clothes in order to woo a prostitute. A parody of the Don Juan legend, the play takes the problematic, protean and devilish Don Juan and sets his outrageous behaviour in a very particular social and historical context. The Captain s Daughter is the most historically and politically oriented of Valle-Inclain s works for the theatre. A man is killed and the accident of his death sets off a chain of events in which exploitation and self-interest are the orchestrating forces, concluding in a military coup that topples the government. An overt satire of the rise to power of General Primo de Rivera in 1923, the play dispenses with the individual protagonist and portrays a society in crisis. Notorious for his recondite use of language, Valle-Inclain emphasises the popular idiom without ever falling into picturesque realism. Rather than recreate accurate modes of speech he creates a mode of expression that highlights incongruity and contrast, emphasising the puppet-like quality of his characters. Translated here for the first time into English, the plays are accompanied by a critical introduction and notes to guide the reader or director of these plays. Notorious for his recondite use of language, in these plays Valle-Inclan emphasises the popular idiom without ever falling into picturesque realism; rather than recreate accurate modes of speech he creates a mode of expression that brings together all the play's characters, regardless of their status or place in society. The emphasis on incongruity and contrast creates a peculiarly sarcastic tone that permeates the dialogue. The plays are accompanied by a critical introduction and notes to guide the reader or director of these plays, both fine examples of Valle-Inclan's expressionistic and experimental theatre."

General

Imprint:	Aris & Phillips
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Series:	Aris & Phillips Hispanic Classics
Release date:	September 2013
First published:	August 2013
Translators:	Laura Lonsdale
Dimensions:	210 x 161 x 11mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	160
ISBN-13:	978-1-908343-24-6
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > From 1900 Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Plays & playwrights > General Promotions
LSN:	1-908343-24-9
Barcode:	9781908343246

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