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Ramon Jose Sender Graces was born on 3rd February 1901. He was a
prolific writer, who published a vast quantity of novels, stories,
plays, essays, poetry and articles throughout his life. He wrote
Requiem por un campesino espanol during one week in 1952, with the
intention that it be part of a collection of short stories. That
book never materialised, but Sender's novella was published by
Aquelarre in Mexico in 1953 under the title Mosen Millan . The
title was changed in 1960 by New York publisher Las Americas to
something that could be meaningfully translated into English. The
political message conveyed within the book meant that it was not
published in Spain until 1974. Requiem for a Spanish Peasant
relates the thoughts and memories of Mosen Millan, the parish
priest, as he sits in the vestry of the church in a nameless
Aragonese village, preparing to conduct a Reqiuem Mass to celebrate
the life of a young peasant, Paco el del Molino, killed by the
Nationalist army a year earlier, at the outbreak of the Spanish
Civil War. As he waits, his thoughts are interrupted by the
occasional comings and goings of an altar boy, who hums to himself
an anonymous ballad. This ballad, along with Millan's thoughts and
the voice of an omniscient narrator, creates three strands of
narration for the reader to follow.
Emilia Pardo Bazan was born in the Galician town of A Coruna into a
noble family who nurtured her lifelong thirst for knowledge. She is
undoubtedly the most controversial, influential and prolific
Spanish female writer of the nineteenth century, publishing a vast
number of essays, social commentaries, articles, reviews, poems,
plays, novels, novellas and short stories. Her third novel, La
Tribuna, heralds a new age in Spanish literature, a naturalist work
of fiction that examines the situation of contemporary women
workers. The author's preparation for the novel involved reading
and consulting contemporary pamphlets and newspapers, as well as
spending two months in a Galician tobacco factory observing and
listening to conversations. This method, common in English writers
like Dickens and frequently adopted in France by the masters of
Realism, was almost unprecedented in Spain. Set against a
background of turmoil and civil unrest, La Tribuna reflects the
author's interest in the position of women in Spanish society. The
working-class heroine, Amparo, develops from a shapeless,
apolitical street urchin into a masterpiece of femininity, a
charismatic orator who becomes a 'tribune' of the people. At the
same time, however, she allows herself to be seduced by a
prosperous middle-class youth whose promises prove to be just as
empty as the revolutionary slogans in which she believes so
fervently.
Benito Perez Galdos (1843-1920) was a prolific Spanish realist
novelist, who through a lack of good translations is virtually
unknown outside Spain, though he has been compared as second only
to Cervantes in Spanish literature and whose work is considered to
give the deepest, truest, most comprehensive realities of Spain.
Dona Perfecta (1876) was Galdos' first novel delving into the
social world of middle-class Spain in the 19th century; a young
liberal arrives in an imaginary cathedral city, with the intention
of marrying his cousin. However the church interferes and obstructs
the marriage, leading to a tragic clash between the traditional,
provincial outlook and modern, liberal outlook of Madrid. Graham
Whittaker's edition with Spanish text, English translation and
substantial introduction aims to make this important novel widely
available in English and the introduction and notes provide a
comprehensive overview of the novel and Galdos' work. Spanish text
with facing-page translation, commentary and notes.
Emilia Pardo Bazan, the most prolific and influential Spanish
female writer of the nineteenth century, was a very controversial
figure, vilified for her embracement of naturalism and her robust
feminist stance. When Insolacion was published in 1889 it provoked
a litany of negative comments and personal insults. This subtle,
psychological novel, drawing on many aspects of its author's
personal life, deals with the relationship between Asis, a
respectable Galician widow, and Pacheco, a feckless womaniser from
Andalucia. Although they scarcely know each other, Asis accepts
Pacheco's invitation to visit the San Isidro Fair, where a heady
cocktail of sun, alcohol and revelry causes her to behave in an
uncharacteristic manner. Insolacion explores the conflict between
Asis's self-recrimination and concern for the 'que diran' and her
nascent sexuality. Finally, despite her determination to banish
Pacheco from her mind and her intention to go back to Galicia, the
couple sleep together and decide to marry. The perceived
promiscuity of this work of fiction scandalised the reading public
as well as many leading critics. Pereda considered Asis's behaviour
reprehensible and Clarin dismissed the novel as a pseudo-erotic
boutade. Nowadays, Insolacion is recognised as an important novel.
Emilia Pardo Bazan, the most prolific and influential Spanish
female writer of the nineteenth century, was a very controversial
figure, vilified for her embracement of naturalism and her robust
feminist stance. When Insolacion was published in 1889 it provoked
a litany of negative comments and personal insults. This subtle,
psychological novel, drawing on many aspects of its author's
personal life, deals with the relationship between Asis, a
respectable Galician widow, and Pacheco, a feckless womaniser from
Andalucia. Although they scarcely know each other, Asis accepts
Pacheco's invitation to visit the San Isidro Fair, where a heady
cocktail of sun, alcohol and revelry causes her to behave in an
uncharacteristic manner. Insolacion explores the conflict between
Asis's self-recrimination and concern for the 'que diran' and her
nascent sexuality. Finally, despite her determination to banish
Pacheco from her mind and her intention to go back to Galicia, the
couple sleep together and decide to marry. The perceived
promiscuity of this work of fiction scandalised the reading public
as well as many leading critics. Pereda considered Asis's behaviour
reprehensible and Clarin dismissed the novel as a pseudo-erotic
boutade. Nowadays, Insolacion is recognised as an important novel.
Benito Perez Galdos (1843-1920) was a prolific Spanish realist
novelist, who through a lack of good translations is virtually
unknown outside Spain, though he has been compared as second only
to Cervantes in Spanish literature and whose work is considered to
give the deepest, truest, most comprehensive realities of Spain.
Dona Perfecta (1876) was Galdos' first novel delving into the
social world of middle-class Spain in the 19th century; a young
liberal arrives in an imaginary cathedral city, with the intention
of marrying his cousin. However the church interferes and obstructs
the marriage, leading to a tragic clash between the traditional,
provincial outlook and modern, liberal outlook of Madrid. Graham
Whittaker's edition with Spanish text, English translation and
substantial introduction aims to make this important novel widely
available in English and the introduction and notes provide a
comprehensive overview of the novel and Galdos' work. Spanish text
with facing-page translation, commentary and notes.
Emilia Pardo Bazan was born in the Galician town of A Coruna into a
noble family who nurtured her lifelong thirst for knowledge. She is
undoubtedly the most controversial, influential and prolific
Spanish female writer of the nineteenth century, publishing a vast
number of essays, social commentaries, articles, reviews, poems,
plays, novels, novellas and short stories. Her third novel, La
Tribuna, heralds a new age in Spanish literature, a naturalist work
of fiction that examines the situation of contemporary women
workers. The author's preparation for the novel involved reading
and consulting contemporary pamphlets and newspapers, as well as
spending two months in a Galician tobacco factory observing and
listening to conversations. This method, common in English writers
like Dickens and frequently adopted in France by the masters of
Realism, was almost unprecedented in Spain. Set against a
background of turmoil and civil unrest, La Tribuna reflects the
author's interest in the position of women in Spanish society. The
working-class heroine, Amparo, develops from a shapeless,
apolitical street urchin into a masterpiece of femininity, a
charismatic orator who becomes a 'tribune' of the people. At the
same time, however, she allows herself to be seduced by a
prosperous middle-class youth whose promises prove to be just as
empty as the revolutionary slogans in which she believes so
fervently.
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