The poetics of abstraction: Antonio Obregón's Efectos navales (1931) and the Spanish surrealist novel

McCulloch, J. (2007) The poetics of abstraction: Antonio Obregón's Efectos navales (1931) and the Spanish surrealist novel. Neophilologus, 92(3), pp. 443-455. (doi: 10.1007/s11061-007-9062-z)

Abstract

Spanish narrative fiction of the 1920s and 1930s is still an area which has suffered from critical neglect. Numerous authors of the time who were engaging with avant-garde experimentation produced works which were only read by a minority, and seldom re-edited. Antonio Obregón is one of these authors, who heavily influenced by surrealism wrote two novels Efectos navales (1931) and Hermes en la vía pública (1934), in addition to a collection of poetry. In this article I examine Efectos navales, and attempt to come to a greater understanding of how it fits within the paradigmatic framework of the modernist novel, arguing that it relies on surrealism as a way of breaking with 19th century realism and naturalism.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Modernism; Spanish literature; Avant-garde; Surrealism; Antonio Obregón; Experimental literature
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McCulloch, Dr John
• Authors: McCulloch, J.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PQ Romance literatures; P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0080 Criticism
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > Hispanic Studies
• Journal Name: Neophilologus
• ISSN: 0028-2677