Past and present of the Spanish folletín novel

The optimal conditions for the creation of a popular novel occurred in the 19th century. With the influence, first of all, of French literature, there was in Spain a huge production of these works, known in Spanish as ‘folletines’ or folletín novel. Its importance for the study of literature is undeniable. It is possible to detect its legacy in the best Spanish novel between 1870 and 1936, for instance in Benito Pérez Galdós or Pío Baroja. But it is also interesting to compare this folletín novel with the modern best-seller. Similar techniques and conception of what should be a novel are to find in modern bestseller Spanish writers such as Carlos Zafón, Eduardo Mendoza or Arturo Pérez-Reverte. In this article, they are compared with the famous ‘folletinistas’ of the second half of the 19th century: Manuel Fernández y González, Wenceslao Ayguals de Izco, Ramón Ortega y Frías, etc.758