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Reflections on Society in Francisco Ayala's Cazador en el alba
Cross-Cultural Studies
2012,
29(), pp.133-152
DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2012.29..133
Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
Research Area : Literature
DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2012.29..133
Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
Research Area : Literature
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Franciso Ayala´s narrative work was published in the collection "Nova novorum" (1926-1929) of Revista de Occidente, founded by José Ortega y Gasset. The author of Cazador en el alba was well aware of the avant-garde aesthetics and hence he put into practice an artistic rupture of the traditional narrative forms of Realism. The work consists of two short stories: "Cazador en el alba" and "Erika ante el invierno". The use of metaphor, Francisco Ayala´s preferred literary device (which Ortega y Gasset already emphasized in The Dehumanization of Art), reveals the influence of Ramón Gómez de la Serna´s Aphorisms. Through a metaphoric language, "Cazador en el alba" describes the life of Antonio, a soldier and peasant, who visits Madrid and confronts the urban reality of the metropolis. "Erika ante el invierno" portrays with a singular depth the solitude of a woman living in another metropolis, Berlin. The author confessed that he wrote both short stories influenced by the European avant-garde and its use of poetic imagery and metaphor, common practice at that time. However, the main purpose of this article is to reflect upon the society of the first decades of the 20th Century: the city, the people and their lives, the societal changes, as well as the innovative perspective of the new art.
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