Spanish Modernism in Context: Failed Heroism and Cross-Cultural Encounters in Pío Baroja and Joseph Conrad
Murphy, KA
Date: 9 March 2020
Journal
Bulletin of Spanish Studies
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Publisher DOI
Abstract
Over the last two decades, the recuperation of Spanish authors in the development of Modernist
fiction in a pan-European context has gained increasing momentum among scholars. Extending
the scope of these critical studies, my article presents a comparative analysis of cross-cultural
encounters and ironic journeys of development in ...
Over the last two decades, the recuperation of Spanish authors in the development of Modernist
fiction in a pan-European context has gained increasing momentum among scholars. Extending
the scope of these critical studies, my article presents a comparative analysis of cross-cultural
encounters and ironic journeys of development in Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim (1900) and Pío
Baroja’s César o nada (1910). The study addresses three key strands: the question of direct
influence; the thwarted search for self-definition set against the competing perceptions of
multiple fictional observers; and finally the failed heroism of each protagonist which, I propose,
symbolically references a scepticism towards European narratives of progress. The comparison
of two authors (one Spanish; one Polish émigré) identifies resonant parallels between their
fictional works and seeks to reframe Baroja and Conrad as literary counterparts across national
borders in turn-of-the-century Spain and Britain.
Hispanic Studies
Collections of Former Colleges
Item views 0
Full item downloads 0