Valle-Inclan's Use of Imagery and Figurative Vocabulary

Abstract

Metiforas y similes son parte muy esencial de este estilo, en una exacta correspondencia de sensaciones. Como mis general, y mis original, desticase el t&rmino de comparaci6n nistico y eclesiaistico comiin a la mayor parte del elemento de imagineria. Esto mismo no deja acaso de resultar algo mon6tono por demasiado repetido. Poco a poco los t6rminos de adjetivaci6n y de comparaci6n van estilizindose y estereotipindose, de tal modo que cuando luego Valle-Inclin habla de manos blancas o cara blanca, por ejemplo, esperamos ya la comparaci6n con la blancura de las hostias o la blancura del lino de los pafios litidrgicos, etc. Es notable, de todos modos, la riqueza imaginativa del lenguaje y estilo de las Sonatas.' In all fairness to Valle-Inclin, however, it should be noted that these literary comparisons alluding to mysticism and ecclesiasticism do not necessarily become monotonous when one considers his work as a whole. There may be, at times, considerable monotony in the repetition of metaphors and similes, but his ability to weave the commonplace with uncommon suggestiveness is the result of fine artistry. One is likely to agree, therefore, that ValleInclan's metaphorical technique is unsurpassed among writers of the Generation of 1898. The number of similes and metaphors in Valle-Inclin's prose fiction is higher than is generally supposed. A list that I have prepared shows a total of well over five hundred. Of these a large proportion involve the human body, while the analogies to other realms of the universe are evenly distributed throughout the author's novels, novelettes and short stories. He seems to have touched with his figures of speech many departments of human knowledge and experience: amusements, fauna, flora, geography, history, literature, mythology, nature, religion, precious stones, etc. Whereas Spanish classical verse, especially that of G6ngora and his followers, tends toward the abstract expression of ideas and feelings, Valle-Inclin, as a lyrical novelist, is conspicuous for the concreteness of his imagery. Throughout the works of this artist there are many examples of vivid comparisons that demonstrate his love of concreteness. Note the list of parts of the body mentioned such as cuello, dientes, labios, manos, mejillas, ojos, senos, tez, and so on. This preoccupation with the human body is an aspect of the concreteness of Valle-Inclin's imagery, as illustrated by the following: