Luis Martin‐Santos and Juan Goytisolo: Irony and Satire in the Contemporary Spanish Novel

Abstract

The two perhaps most innovative and influential novels in post‐Civil War Spain are essentially comic in tone. They must be seen in the context of the novels of the ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, but in order to really understand their radical import it is necessary to examine the nature of irony and satire and to discover precisely how these two artists employ them in their critical visions of 20th‐century Spanish culture. Tiempo de silencio is predominantly ironic, maintaining a subtle tension between the novel's tragic and pathetic subject matter and the comic effects of narrative language. This comic irony has its roots in Cervantes, but Martín‐Santos' satirical parodies on conventional literary styles clearly anticipate Goytisolo's more aggressive and concentrated attack on language itself. Unique to Conde Julián, however, is the sense of actual destruction that is achieved through its style ‐ an effect that has been associated with the magical powers of satirical poetry since the birth of comedy in ancient Greek phallic rituals. The comic response in art is always complex, and nowhere is the complexity more evident than in these two novels of post‐War Spain.