'Intra-historia' in Miguel de Unamuno's novels: A continual presence
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Description
Through the concept of intra-historia, Unamuno formulates a philosophy of history that allows for an acknowledgement of historical facts, while asserting that there also exists a deeper truth that better expresses the complicated course of Spanish history. Historia, the more obvious presence of recorded events and ideas, will therefore be supported by an intra-historia, a determining force whose existence is perceived through the eternal traditions of the essentially ahistorical pueblo. As developed throughout Unamuno's writings, the dichotomy of historia/intra-historia is applied to individuals as well as to societies. It reflects the opposition of a strident personal consciousness to an obscure lack of self-awareness, and the forging of a painful temporal identity, a self-creation, to the soothing acceptance of eternal peace It is our belief that although the major statements about intra-historia are found in don Miguel's early works, the idea is nevertheless an integral part of the majority of his later novels. After analyzing the essays of En torno al casticismo (1895), this study therefore proceeds to evaluate the presence of intra-historia in three of Unamuno's novels, each indicative of one of his three major periods: Paz en la guerra (1897), Niebla (1914), and San Manuel Bueno, martir (1930). We also briefly treat other novels of each period, showing how the themes and symbolism consistently associated with intra-historia appear in these works as well In En torno al casticismo and Paz en la guerra, intra-historia is more a metaphor--a poetic way of approaching life--than a well-defined philosophical or historical concept. By accepting, rather than confronting, the controlling passage of time, Unamuno creates a series of physical-world images that reflect the eternal truths of nature and incorporate these truths into the daily lives of the people residing within this natural world In the novels of his middle period, as exemplified by Niebla, intra-historia becomes a flexible, yet persistent backdrop against which characters' personal dramas are played out. Since the comforting world of nature has disappeared, intra-historia is seen principally through 'natural' female characters who serve as a counterpoint to the highly individualized passions experienced by males Although intra-historia reemerges as an important textual element in San Manuel Bueno, martir, its role is essentially that of an 'other' used by don Manuel for the solidification of his personal historia. The lack of vitality of the pueblo, as well as the ambivalent role played by an intra-historic female character, attest to the pervasive presence of conscious, individual personalities, even in the midst of intra-historic continuity