Spanish Writers Research Articles

El jefe político: genre crossover and thematic originality in a restored French film

ABSTRACT In 2021, the restoration of the long-lost French film El jefe político (‘The Political Boss’, released as La Réponse du destin in France) was finally completed. Directed by André Hugon between 1924 and 1925 and based on the homonymous novel by the Spanish writer José María Carretero, alias ‘El Caballero Audaz’ (‘The Audacious Gentleman’), it is a most remarkable melodrama set against the backdrop of the turbulent political climate that prevailed in Spain in the early 1920s. Its revival has meant rescuing two subjects from oblivion: André Hugon, a French filmmaker with one of the most prolific careers who directed more than 80 films between the 1910s and 1950s; and the film itself, a stark portrait of an upstart embroiled in political corruption. The author aims to analyse El jefe político as a film in which the most representative genres of the French commercial cinema of the time come together. This analysis will demonstrate Hugon’s personal approach to these genres as well as his originality when adapting Carretero’s novel, to which he adds two striking themes: an epidemic outbreak and the socio-political struggle to introduce the eight-hour working day.

Denatured Nature

Abstract This essay places the narrative of the Spanish writer José A. Cano (b. 1954 in Madrid) within the context of contemporary Spanish ecofiction. Concerned with the state of global humanity, Cano reflects a growing postnational perspective among Spanish writers whose works critically address the challenges of the Anthropocene—in particular, the destructive effects the tenets of Western modernity (Kantian ethics, utilitarian values, human-Nature divide, logic of exploitation, dualistic and anthropocentric thought, etc.) have had on the more-than-human world. Heavily influenced by the Romanian philosopher E. M. Cioran, Cano’s novel La felicidad del Malvado (2023) offers a pessimistic outlook regarding the future of humankind. Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote provides another backdrop for this transatlantic novel, situated between the United States and Madrid, allowing Cervantine humor to balance out Cioran’s omnipresent voice of doom.

A Comment on the Solar Activity Level in 1744 by Diego de Torres Villarroel

Solar activity in recent centuries is crucial for astrophysics and geophysics, with historical sunspot records providing key insights, particularly for the 17th and 18th centuries. However, certain periods, such as around 1744, are still poorly understood. This note explores a qualitative commentary on solar activity from that time by Diego de Torres Villarroel, a notable Spanish writer. In his pamphlet on the great comet of 1744, Villarroel observed that the Sun appeared unusually clear, with fewer sunspots and faculae than usual, indicating low solar activity. These observations are consistent with the known solar minimum between cycles −1 and 0 around 1744. While Villarroel’s remarks only offer qualitative confirmation of existing knowledge, they are important for filling in gaps in historical records of solar activity and should be preserved for future research.

The Novel by Patricio de la Escosura "The Patriarch of the Valley" in the Context of the Spanish Political Discourse of the 19<sup>th</sup> Century

The article presents the results of a study dedicated to the novel by the Spanish writer P. de la Escosura "The Patriarch of the Valley", first published in 1846. The novel is analyzed in the context of the Spanish political discourse of the 1830s-1840s. In the course of the study, the 2009 edition of “The Patriarch of the Valley” was used. The historical approach to the study of political discourse was used in the work. The characters in the novel were divided into 4 groups depending on their political views: (1) right-wing Carlists (conservatives); (2) moderate Carlists; (3) moderate liberals; (4) radical liberals. A comparative analysis of the images of characters belonging to different groups has been carried out. The tendencies of displaying real historical figures in the novel are considered. An analysis of the intertext of "The Patriarch of the Valley" is made. P. de la Escosura included in his novel references to the literary works of contemporary Spanish writers who were on the same ideological positions as the author of "The Patriarch of the Valley". It is concluded that "The Patriarch of the Valley" was not an ordinary serial, but was used by the author as a tool of political propaganda.

The Relationship Between L2 Spanish Proficiency and Features of Written Lexical and Lexicogrammatical Use

Abstract Research has demonstrated that features of lexical and lexicogrammatical use are important predictors of productive second language (L2) proficiency (e.g. Kyle et al. 2018). While some features of lexical use have been studied with L2s other than English (e.g. Tracy-Ventura 2017), multivariate lexical and lexicogrammatical approaches in these L2s are rare. In this study, we extend the use of multivariate approaches to L2 Spanish writing. Our learner data included a subset of the CEDEL2 corpus (Lozano 2021), comprised of proficiency scores and 644 descriptive essays written in L2 Spanish by L1 English writers. Correlational analyses were conducted between proficiency scores and indices of lexical diversity (e.g. MTLD), mean word and bigram frequencies, and bigram strength of association (MI, delta). A final regression analysis accounted for 48.3 per cent of the variance in proficiency scores. Following previous L2 English writing research (e.g. Kyle et al. 2018; Monteiro et al. 2020), more proficient L2 Spanish writers tended to use a wider variety of lexical items, more strongly associated word combinations, and lexical items that are less frequent in corpora.

The ‘New Catholicity’ of Fascism

Abstract This article highlights the intellectual trajectory of the Spanish writer Ernesto Gimenez Caballero (1899–1988) as mediator of fascist internationalism during the 1930s. Caballero, a writer and journalists, was known in Italy thanks to important friendships with leading intellectual, diplomatic and political figures of the Fascist regime. His theory of fascist universalism, presented at the Volta Conference of 1932, identified fascism as the true, unifying principle of Europe. He regarded fascism as ‘the new Catholicity’ of Europe. Inspired by ‘the thaumaturgic genius’ of Mussolini, Caballero pointed out that the center of this new Europe was Rome, which he considered had been reborn with the glories of the ancient times after a long period of uncertainty. The article will explore the key features of Caballero’s idea and their origins within his intellectual biography, stressing the role of personal and transnational networking in the construction of his vision.

Лексико-семантические особенности создания образа протагониста в романе Б. Переса Гальдоса «Сумалакарреги»

The article analyzes the linguistic features of the novel Zumalacárregui by the Spanish writer Benito Pérez Galdos, first published in 1898. The novel opens the third series of the National episodes (Episodios Nacionales) and is dedicated to the First Carlist War in Spain (1833–1840). The protagonist is the Carlist general T. de Zumalacárregui, whose Doppelgänger is the priest José Fago. General T. de Zumalacárregui is frequently mentioned in periodical publications, in memoires and in fiction of the 19–20th centuries. The article analyzes nouns, adjectives and substantive combinations used by the writer to create the image of the protagonist. The semantic fields “war”, “politics” and “religion” are distinguished among the lexical units used in relation to the general. The image of T. de Zumalacárregui is analyzed separately in the direct speech of the characters of the novel. The most common lexemes used to describe the general are “caudillo” (“leader”), “guerrero” (“warrior”), and “héroe” (“hero”). These lexical units, commonly used with positive connotations, acquire a comic connotation in the context of the novel or serve to express a negative value judgment. The vocabulary related to the semantic field “religion” at first sight repeats the clichés of Carlist propaganda, according to which T. de Zumalacárregui appears as a “martyr” who suffered for the “Cause”. At the same time, by replacing individual lexical units, the author turns the protagonist into a parody of Christ. The vocabulary related to the semantic field “politics” is analyzed. T. de Zumalacárregui appears in the work as a supporter of “Absolutism”. It is concluded that B. Pérez Galdós, copying some clichés of Carlist propaganda, created a negative image of T. de Zumalacárregui.

La Soledad y la Alienación Psicológica en la novela "Nada" de Carmen Laforet …La tentativa de la interpretación (Un estudio analítico)

في هذا البحث نناقش الآثار السلبية من العزلة والاغتراب في المجتمع الإسباني، في مرحلة ما بعد الحرب الأهلية الإسبانية مباشرة، وهذا الوضع له تأثير سيء في الفرد والمجتمع، من خلال رواية (لا شيء) الكاتب الإسباني (كارمن لافوريت) إنها دعوة إلى الكتّاب والمفكرين إلى نجدة ودعم مجتمعهم من خلال تلك الكتابات الإبداعية، وأثر سيء من الحروب والكوارث والأزمات دمر كل جوانب الحياة (الاجتماعية والاقتصادية والسياسية والثقافية)، والتي تؤدي إلى العزلة والاغتراب والحاضر يترك على الأثر النفسي البشري. ان غاية البحث هي التعريف باثر العزلة والاغتراب في تفكك الاواصر الاجتماعية والمكانية والاسرية وضررها على المجتمع والانسان بنفس القوة , ولعل المجتمع العراقي في هذه المرحلة احوج ما يكون لمعرفة نتائج الظروف الصعبة التي بلا شك ستقود للعزلة والاغتراب , ولا سيما الطبقة المثقفة لكي تقوم بعمل جدار صد ثقافي عله ينقذ بلدنا .

José Jiménez Lozano. Un lector español de Pascal

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the presence of Pascal’s thought in the work of the Spanish writer José Jiménez Lozano (1930-2020). In fact, it could be considered that this writer is almost a kind of Pascal come alive, especially in terms of understanding and experiencing Christianity, since, for both Pascal and Jiménez Lozano, the orientation of the human soul towards God is not only a part of the essence of man but also is his most definitory anthropological constituent.

De las leyendas de Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer a los cuentos de Emilia Pardo Bazán

"The aim of this paper is to make a comparative study between Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’s legends and some of Emilia Pardo Bazán’s tales. For this purpose, a conceptualization of the terms legend, tale and legendary tale is elaborated in order to determine their similarities and differences. In order to establish the points of convergence and divergence between the stories of the Sevillian author and the author from A Coruña, we start from the articulation of the tales, their way of incorporating supernatural elements and their common influences, that is, Spanish and European legends, the tales of Edgar Allan Poe and some Spanish writers of the first half of the 19th century.Keywords: Spanish literature; unreality; modern short story; fantastic; gothic"

Features of Transmitting Russian Realities in the Translation of the Collected Works of F. M. Dostoevsky into Spanish

The article for the first time gives a detailed analysis of the translation of Russian realities in the first complete collection of works by F. M. Dostoevsky, made in the 1930s by the famous Spanish writer and literary critic Rafael Cancinos Assens. In the Spanish-speaking world, this translation is still popular and is considered as an exemplary one. This is the first direct translation of Dostoevsky’s works from Russian into Spanish. The translator has proposed his own method of transmitting Russian realities, which is considered in the article.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN THE WORK OF VICENTE BLASCO IBÁÑEZ

This paper examines the image of the First World War that the Spanish writer and journalist Vicente Blasco Ibáñez creates in his works of history and fiction. The paper deals with journalistic texts written by Blasko Ibáñez, collected in a multi-volume history of the First World War (Historia de la Guerra europea de 1914) and the novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis). We interpret the representations of the causes of war, with a special reference to the issue of "modern war" and the news it brings, we find parallels, similarities and differences between the representations in the novel and the historical work. The aim is to question the historical and cultural context in which the author pronounces certain judgments about the war, and then about the German people, with an emphasis on how pre-war Germanophilia turns into Germanophobia expressed in the analysed novel and History.

„Orbii care cântă cântece cu poveşti şi minuni” sau despre intertextualitate la Cervantes şi Homer

In this article I deal with some small fragments from the renowned novel Don Quixote by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes. I argue that significant connections can be established with the universe of the Homeric epics and, subsidiarily, with a passage from the writings of the French philosopher Blaise Pascal. These connections represent, by definition, the level of intertextuality, particularly challenging the imagination of those who approach and let themselves be conquered by the universe of the most famous errant knight. Intertextuality is a central concept in the theory of literature, without being limited to this – it is applicable to various other artistic fields: cinematography, music, architecture, sculpture, painting, etc. This concept has been proposed and developed during the second half of the 20th century, through the founding contributions of specialists and thinkers such as Julia Kristeva (1969, 1974), Gérard Genette (1982), or Michael Riffaterre (1971, 1979).

Collections of Spanish paremias of the XVI century and their influenceon the development of folklore tradition

The article examines the works of folklore scientists who laid the foundations of Spanish paremiology. The subject of the study are collections of proverbs, sayings and other small genre forms published in Spain in the XVI century. The focus of attention is the famous apophthegmata of Melchor de Santa Cruz "Floresta española de apotegmas o sentencias, sabia y graciosamente dichas, de algunos españoles" (1574), which collected about a thousand texts and covers all aspects of the life of Spanish society. Along with other famous folklore collections of the XVI century by such authors as Juan de Timoneda, Juan de Mal Lara, Pedro Mejía, the work of Melchor de Santa Cruz influenced the formation of a scientific approach in Spanish folklore studies. The article provides a comparative analysis of collections of folklore texts of this period and emphasizes their influence on the development of Spanish folklore studies of subsequent centuries. The XVI century caused in Spain the rise of national consciousness, which is accompanied by an increase in scientific interest in the Spanish language, its lexical richness and grammatical system. Following the discovery of the New World, Spain is experiencing not only the rapid development of the science of folklore, but also the flowering of linguistic thought, based on the small genres of folklore in the issue of exemplification. The combination of short form and capacious content makes this group of genres attractive to linguists, folklorists, and Spanish writers of the Golden Age.

L'Europa letteraria a través de cartas inéditas de Dario Puccini

This article deals with the analysis of the works of the Italian Hispanist Dario Puccini. For this purpose, his publications on the magazine L’Europa letteraria, founded and directed by Giancarlo Vigorelli, have been examined alongside his correspondence with the major Spanish writers at the time: Rafael Alberti, Max Aub, Vicente Aleixandre, José Agustín Goytisolo and the Italian scholar Oreste Macrì. The letters with these last two are unpublished and kept in the Contemporary Archive ‘Alessandro Bonsanti’, Gabinetto G.P. Vieusseux in Florence. Thanks to these texts, new information about the projects of Dario Puccini will emerge.

«La poesía debe leerse en alto»: los archivos sonoros de Antonio Gala

This paper presents the figure of the Spanish writer Antonio Gala in his most unknown facet: as a poet. In doing so, we will focus on the research carried out within the “Phonodia” group of the Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia. This research consists of the description and analysis of the corpus of recorded poems by Antonio Gala, which add up to a total of eighty-four and are found in three audio publications: Testamento andaluz (1985), De viva voz (1997), and Miró a mi corazón (2014) – the last one in collaboration with the composer Rubén Jordán. With all this, not only the importance of Antonio Gala as a contemporary poet will be proven, but also the relevance of his poems in the framework of the relationship between the voice and poetry through sound files.

Non-detective space of the Spanish noir: “The Invisible Guard” by Dolores Redondo

Spanish noir is only gaining popularity among the Russian audience, although it is quite famous in other countries outside Spain. Several works, mainly by foreign authors, studied this kind of black detective, certain features of the genre. However, in the context of the non-detective novel space of the works by the Spanish writer Dolores Redondo, such studies do not exist yet. That is why a comprehensive analysis of this phenomenon in the novel «El guardián invisible», 2013 («The Invisible Guard») from «Trilogía del Baztán» (Bastan Trilogy) seems to be relevant. The purpose of the study is to describe Spanish noir through the structural and analytical characteristics of the non-detective components of the genre. The research is based on literary, cultural and artistic analysis of the novel. The analytical base is not only the original text of the novel, but also a series of interviews by the author containing her interesting revelations. As a result of the research, it can be concluded that Spanish noir has left the boundaries of the classic detective story, thus turning into a kind of “regional” or “local” black detective story. Its integral elements are the inclusion of the plot space in a specific cultural and geographical context with its inherent historical, mythological and anthropological features, as well as an organic bond of the figure of the detective with this space. Non-detective features of the Spanish noir include representation of the way of life, traditions, beliefs, and the history of the place and its inhabitants. In non-Spanish readers’ view, Spanish noir not only immerses one into the world of an exciting mystical thriller, but also serves as a powerful cognitive impulse to study an unusual, non-stereotypical Spain in its historical and cultural diversity.

Inca Religious Women in the Male Imagination

Abstract During the Spanish colonization of the Andes, enclosures housing Inca religious women became a near-universal topic for male writers, who used women's sexuality to debate Indigenous civilization, sovereignty, and morality. Eyewitness accounts emphasized enclosed women's labor, obscuring the sexual violence that the conquistadores perpetrated against them. In succeeding decades, the religious functions of women's enclosures inspired imperfect analogies that likened their occupants to Catholic nuns and vestal virgins. Spanish writers eventually incorporated Quechua terms for religious women (mamaconas) who served in temple complexes and oversaw the gendered training of chosen girls (acllas) in other enclosures. New details on women's enclosures appeared at the turn of the seventeenth century, including the first accounts of Christian men of Andean descent. The Inca Garcilaso de la Vega's 1609 chronicle synthesized Catholic, classical, and vernacular approaches, providing an authoritative source that subsequent authors consulted as they reduced Inca institutions to metaphors of gender subordination and conquest.

Écfrasis y seducción: las imágenes en la poesía de Luis Alberto de Cuenca

"The following paper analyzes the link between image and poetic writing in the Spanish writer Luis Alberto de Cuenca’s work (1950). The construction of a referential universe closely linked to the culture of the image (painting, cinema, cartoons, etc.) will be approached, firstly, from the old genre of ekphrasis that connects his poetry to a rhetorical tradition. Moreover, taking into account recent theoretical works on this notion (Spitzer 1968, Heffernan 1991a y 1991b, Claus Clüver 1997, Webb 2009, Mitchell 2009 y 2016, etc.), we will explore the semiotic implications of this encounter between image and poetry in Luis Alberto de Cuenca’s poetic corpus. Finally, our work will suggest a process of seduction (Baudrillard 1981) as an interpretive possibility of this area of Luis Alberto de Cuenca’s production. Keywords: spanish poetry; visual arts; comic; gaze; intermediality"

«Подлинная» история картины в романе Ф. Умбраля «Авиньонские барышни»

The article analyzes the alternative history of the creation of the painting, presented in the novel by the Spanish writer F. Umbral «The Young Ladies of Avignon» (1995). The presence of elements of parody and burlesque in the poetics of the work, an arbitrary combination of historical, biographical information with fiction is noted. The hero-narrator in the novel writes a «saga about the 20th century», claims to be exceptionally authentic. A special place in this «epic» is occupied by the history of the Spanish avant-garde, embodied in Pablo Picasso and his painting «The Young Ladies of Avignon». In the context of the analysis of the theme of the history of the picture, it is concluded that the hero-novelist enters into a creative confrontation with the artist, tries by novel means to overcome the flat vision and the destructive effect of cubism, to return the epic perspective and depth to the models («real Avignon young ladies»).