Existentialist Trends in the Modern Spanish Novel

the nineteenth century, and the enlightenment that of the eighteenth, so our age may be said to be existentialist, because the most original and profound thinkers of our time have shared, at times unconsciously, the problems and attitudes which may be assembled under this heading. It is primarily a European movement, although it has long been the dominant philosophy in Latin America, and in the United States its influence has been growing and deepening, as is testified by the many works of criticism and analysis published recently in this country.' Existentialism has its deepest roots in Germany, France and Spain: in Germany, Heidegger and Jaspers working on the foundation laid by the Dane Kierkegaard; in France Sartre and the Catholic Marcel, among others; in Spain especially Unamuno, with a host of others who were influenced, directly or indirectly, by this philosophy. It is the recurrence of certain themes that suggests a common ideological basis o the part of these writers. These common motifs or focal points of contact may be summed up as follows: (1) Existence precedes essence, the wish to return to the living, breathing person, the hombre de came y hueso of Unamuno, to the subjective and concrete, away from the objective and abstract of traditional philosophy. The existentialist abandons the attempt to describe the world in abstract terms, which, he believes, is impossible; he tries to describe the situation of man in the world; man who makes his own essence, day by day, living it. (2) Despair. Kierkegaard and after him Unamuno, spoke of the struggle between reason and life which produces despair, a condition necessary for the final leap to religious faith. In Sartre and the agnostic or atheistic existentialists, despair would be the condition for discovering a new life and morality (According to Samuel Beckett: Life begins on the other side of despair.). (3) Nothingness, the nada. Nothingness exists all around man; in order to perform any action, he must cross it. In Heidegger nothingness is a threatening abyss which causes dread or anguish in man. (4) Freedom. is completely free, and he must create his own future, his own essence, by crossing nothingness. Man is condemned to be free, and he carries on his shoulders the weight of the entire world. (Sartre). (5) Choice. Because man is free, he must choose continually. (6) Responsibility. His freedom and the constant exercise of choice make