Surrealism and the prose fiction of José Martínez Ruiz (Azorín)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityThis dissertation is a critical study of surrealist tendencies and manifestations in the prose fiction of José Martínez Ruiz (AzorÍn). Using as primary source materials the Spanish author's novels, short stories and literary criticism and representative French works, conclusions have been derived both from a projection of Azorin 1s prose fiction against French surrealist texts and from an analysis of the Spaniard's surrealist and non-surrealist production. Showing his adherence to the authentic school, Azorín distinctly enunciated surrealist principles in his 1928-29 literary contributions. He made new interpretations of some principles and hence his conspicuous additions in the areas of surrealist techniques, surrealist imagery, surrealist characterology, and surrealist language. These findings, greatly enhanced by an overall relationship linking together the early and later works, place Azorin firmly in the surrealist tradition. [TRUNCATED