Spanish literature: The Spanish Civil War to the Present

The Spanish civil war (1936–39) truncated the cultural evolution of the country. Many writers went into exile. Salinas, Guillén, Juan Larrea, and others distinguished themselves abroad. Among the novelists to emerge after the Spanish civil war were Nobel Prize winner Camilo José Cela, Carman Laforet, and José María Gironella. Salvador de Madariaga became known as a biographer and historian. In the 1950s and 60s a gradual return to political and literary normality was noticeable.

Writers whose literary reputations have been established since World War II include the novelists Max Aub, Miguel Delibes, Juan Goytisolo, Ana María Matute, Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, Luís Martín-Santos, and Gonzalo Torrente-Ballester; the poets Manuel Altoaguirre and Gerardo Diego; and the playwrights Antonia Buero Vallejo, Alejandro Casona, and Alfonso Sastre.

Reflecting Western European developments, post-Franco Spanish writing has been marked by a great deal of formal experimentation. Among the important novelists are Juan Benet, Carmen-Martín-Gaite, Eduardo Mendonza, Soledad Puértolas, Carmen Riera, Ana Maria Moix, and Juan Marsé. Dramatists include Férnando Arrabel, Antonio Gala, Fermín Cabal, and Alonso de Santos. Among the poets are Ana Rossetti, Antonio Carvajal, Guillermo Carnero, Jaime Silas, and Antonio de Villena.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• The Spanish Civil War to the Present
• Late-Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century Movements
• The Nineteenth Century and Romanticism
• The Eighteenth Century
• The Renaissance and the Golden Age of Spanish Literature
• Early Works in Castilian Spanish
• Iberian Literature before Spanish
• Bibliography

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