Leopoldo Alas and Naturalism in the Spanish Novel, 1881-1892

The present essay was prompted by awareness of the need for a study of Spanish naturalism based on the critical and creative works of those writers who flourished in Spain during the years of Emile Zola\u27s greatest popularity, 1880-1892. Leopoldo Alas, Clarín, was chosen as the central figure primarily because of the importance, still not sufficiently recognized, of La Regenta. The principal problems to be considered are the influences of Zola and his school in Spain, the differences between French and Spanish naturalism, and the relation of Spanish naturalism to traditional realism. It was found that the material could best be treated in four major divisions: Spanish criticism of French naturalism, the theory of Spanish naturalism, the naturalistic novels of Alas\u27s contemporaries--Galdós, Pardo Bazán, Pereda, Palacio Valdés--, and the short stories and novels of Alas. In the final chapter the conclusions deduced from the preceding chapters will be summarized in order that a tentative definition of Spanish naturalism may be advanced