Visor de obras.

The advent of World War II caused the disruption of Russian interest in the translation of and commentary upon the works of Galdós. As we noted in our study «El interés soviético por los Episodios y novelas de Galdós (1935-40)» (Actas del primer congreso internacional de estudios galdosianos [Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 1977], pp. 144-51), the translation and publication in 1940 of Juan Martín, el empecinado (Khuan Martín, el empesinado), with its emphasis on guerrilla warfare in the Iberian Peninsula against a foreign invader, closed a period of intense Soviet interest which paralleled closely the events of the Spanish Civil War.¹⁸³

Only in the 1950s did interest in Galdós' works manifest itself again, and then very slowly. The favorites of the Spanish Civil War period began reappearing, first of all in Spanish editions for Soviet foreign language students: Cádiz in 1951, Doña Perfecta in 1952 and 1964,¹⁸⁴ and Zaragoza in 1953. Typically these editions contained a prologue in Russian, but the entire Galdosian text, as well as the critical notes (so helpful to foreign-language students) were in Spanish.¹⁸⁵

The first Galdosian novel to appear in translation after World War II was that perennial Russian favorite, Doña Perfecta (Donya Perfekta), in 1956, followed by a handsome volume containing the four Torquemada novels (Povyesti. Torkvemada [sic] na kostre. Torkvemada na kreste. Torkvemada v chistilische. Torkvemada i svyatoi Pyotr) in 1958.¹⁸⁶ Interest lagged in the 1960s, with only an illustrated edition of Trafalgar (Trafalgar) appearing in 1961. However, the 1970s saw a complete reissue of the remaining nine Episodios Nacionales of the First Series: La corte de Carlos IV (Dvor Karla IV) and Zaragoza (Saragosa) in 1970; El 19 de marzo y el dos de mayo (19 marta i 2 maya), Bailén (Bailen), and Napoleón en Chamartín (Napoleon v Chamartinye) in 1972; Gerona (Kherona) and Cádiz (Kadis) in 1973; Juan Martín, el empecinado (Khuan Martin, el empesinado), and La batalla de los Arapiles (Srazhenye pri Arapilyakh) in 1975. In addition, and most importantly, Galdós's El amigo Manso (Mily Manso) made its debut in Russian in 1971.¹⁸⁷

Considering the long Russian interest in Doña Perfecta and the Episodios, only the publication of the Torquemada series and El amigo Manso in the above list attracts one's attention as being surprisingly new. What is there, we may ask, about these two novels that would interest the Soviet government and the Soviet reader?

One obvious clue in seen in the three sketches preceding the Torquemada series. In the first (opposite the title page) a number of Spanish-appearing people (including a high-society lady, a priest, a nun, and a bourgeois) are exalting a banner raised on high showings the fat belly (and legs) of a rich capitalist. In the second sketch (on an introductory page), one sees a man in Russian-type (definitely not Spanish) peasant garb bowing to a fat gentleman in Western-style clothing, and the third sketch (immediately below) shows the fat gentleman being roasted at the stake in Hell. Capitalistic greed (personified by Torquemada), one might infer from the sketches, has had its day (both in Spain and Russia) of exploiting the less fortunate, but ultimately it can be overthrown (as occurred in Russia) and punished. And it is important to remember that probably no other Galdosian work portrays the growth of capitalism in nineteenth-century Spain (an important and often repeated concern of Soviet commentators throughout the years in their introductions to Galdós's novels) as does the Torquemada series. Thus the Torquemada quaternion is a very understandable choice for translation into Russian.

And what about El amigo Manso? Here one is inclined to think of more specific historical events. By the time El amigo Manso has appeared (1971), the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Kennedy-Khrushchev confrontation concerning Soviet missiles in Cuba had become history. Cuba was now definitely in the Socialist camp and military ally of the Soviet Union. Many Cuban leaders had visited the Soviet Union and many Cubans (later including Fidel Castro's son) were studying there. Cuban cultural organizations toured the country and Soviet radio, television, theatrical productions, newspapers, and magazines had a great deal to communicate to Soviet citizens about Cuba and its people. Thus a novel showing colorful Cuban types and, more importantly, the corruption in Spanish political life and society which had led to the betrayal of vital interests of Cuba in the period just prior to the Spanish-American War was certainly au courant.

Because the introductions to the Torquemada novels (1958) and El amigo Manso (1971) reflect progressive stages of liberalization during the Khrushchev-Brezhnev era (a time of general cultural thaw after the rigidity of the Stalin period), we shall focus our attention on El amigo Manso in order to show how far criticism concerning Galdós by Russian commentators has evolved since the 1930s. However, first a few necessary words concerning Z. Plavskin's introduction to the Torquemada series.

Soviet commentators in the 1930s stressed how Galdós exposed feudal and religious intransigence (Doña Perfecta) and, more importantly, how he reflected the struggle of the Spanish masses against foreign invaders (Zaragoza and Cádiz), thus serving as an inspiration in the furious combat against the German and Italian supporters of Franco. Now, in 1958, however, the principal political thrust of Plavskin's commentary is that Galdós is, from 1881 onward, a critic of the bourgeoisie. This emphasis is most important, for according to   —111→   the Soviet view of Spanish history, the bourgeoisie became frightened by the emergence of the proletariat and consequently betrayed the working class by making common cause with reactionary elements, thus destroying the First Spanish Republic (1873-74) and restoring the Bourbon monarchy. Using another Communist idea for history and literature, Plavskin notes that Galdós' novels after 1880 do show the influence of Zolaesque naturalism. He says, however, that this should be understood as having been caused more by the pernicious influence of capitalism than by Zola's and Galdós' interest in depicting pathological deviations from the norm, showing the influence of heredity, or presenting the «biological struggle which explains the evolution of society» (p. 10).

Plavskin's introduction to the Torquemada series also has some completely nonpolitical insights into Galdós' artistry. However, more interesting in this respect is the twelve-page introduction by N. Snetkova to the 1971 translation of El amigo Manso. This is as sophisticated, wide-ranging, and up-to-date an introduction as one is likely to find anywhere for a translated edition of a Galdosian novel. Only an occasional turn of phrase or specific interpretation of an historical event leads one to perceive that the commentator is Marxistoriented.

In her very first paragraph, Snetkova compares Galdós to Dickens, Balzac, and Zola. Thus one sees that Soviet commentary has evolved a long way since the Stalin era when it was customary to spend the first one-third of the study quoting the «brilliant» articles which Karl Marx has written about Spanish history.¹⁸⁸ In fact, it is no longer necessary to have any citations at all referring to the works of Marx, Engels, or Lenin.¹⁸⁹

Moreover, in 1971, it is now no longer necessary to establish for the reader the leftist credentials of Don Benito.¹⁹⁰ Indeed, throughout the introduction the emphasis is literary and not political. One has the feeling that Snetkova's main aim is to provide the kind of information which will make the reading of El amigo Manso a more meaningful and pleasurable experience. This same idea seems to be reflected in the attractive, multicolored art work on the cover and on the introductory pages which presents fashionably dressed ladies and gentlemen of nineteenth-century Spanish high society. On the title page itself one sees a top hat and gloves -an emphatic evolution from the sinister, conspiratorial, black-and-white illustrations accompanying the 1935, Stalin-era edition of Doña Perfecta.

Snetkova sketches for the reader of El amigo Manso the salient points of Galdós' life up to the writing of the novel (1882). She does provide the necessary background of historical events but does so with a light, nonpolitical touch (in contrast with most previous Soviet commentators). Snetkova mentions Galdós' naturalism and, unlike Plavskin in 1958, does not find its cause in capitalism. Humor and irony, she says, are the pleasant ingredients which soften Galdós' naturalism and give his works an affinity with the Quijote and the picaresque novels (p. 9).

Unlike some Soviet commentators of the 1930s, who were so busy with ideological and historical considerations that they never got around to discussing the novel itself,¹⁹¹ Snetkova outlines the plot of El amigo Manso and speaks at length about the principal characters. She mentions a few techniques   —112→   of craftsmanship in passing and the closest she comes to finding fault with Galdós is a statement that the interrelationship between the characters is «not very complicated and not very original» (p. 9).

Concerning Cuba, Snetkova notes that in the decade preceding the disaster of 1898, Galdós is already showing an example of the intolerable position of the island's vital interests vis-à-vis la madre patria. The Convention of Zanjón (ending the Cuban revolt of 1868-78) provided that, in return for remaining a colony, Cuba could send representatives to the Spanish Cortes. «Thus one sees demonstrated that the Cubans had poured out their blood for ten consecutive years so that people of José María [Manso]'s type represented their interests in the parliament» (p. 12). José María had, of course, left Spain poverty-stricken and had returned from Cuba a rich man. His performance in the Restoration Spanish parliament, Snetkova points out, cannot even be considered a comedy - «it is a farce» (p. 12).

Snetkova finishes her introduction to El amigo Manso by pointing out that Galdós continued to be a politically and socially committed writer, trying to help his country, even after the 1898 disaster. His main place in literary history, Snetkova concludes, is that of a precursor to the Generation of '98.

Further evidence that Spanish literature for its own sake (and not primarily for ideological purposes) has indeed been made available to Soviet readers since the end of the Stalin era may be seen in the fact that the works of Galdós' contemporaries have also been translated into Russian and other languages of the Soviet Union. (Juan Valera's Juanita la larga appeared in Russian in 1961, as did Blasco Ibáñez's El sol de los muertos in 1965, and his Sangre y arena in 1967. Leopoldo Alas's Adiós, cordera was published in Russian in 1956 and his Rivales appeared in the Azerbaijani language in 1967, as did Palacio Valdés's Los puritanos. Blasco's Sangre y arena came out in Latvian in 1966, and then his La barraca appeared in Ukranian in 1967. During this same year, Valera's Pepita Jiménez saw the light of day in Armenian and then appeared in Lithuanian in 1970.¹⁹² Most recently, in 1976, Alarcón's El sombrero de tres picos, Valera's Pepita Jiménez, and Blasco's Sangre y arena have appeared in one volume with Galdós's Doña Perfecta, with a sixteen-page introduction by Z. Plavskin entitled «Spanish Realistic Prose of the Nineteenth-Century» (Ispanskaya realisticheskaya proza XIX veka).¹⁹³

Contrary to Soviet practice during the 1935-40 period, none of the translations of Galdós' works appearing since World War II have been reviewed in the Soviet Union. This is probably explained by the fact that the novels and Episodios being translated no longer parallel important political and military events concerning which the Soviet government wishes to comment. Moreover, the more up-to-date novels of Juan Goytisolo, criticizing social conditions in Franco's post-Civil War Spain, captured the attention of translators, government publishing houses, and reviewers.¹⁹⁴

Nevertheless, since World War II, at least four scholarly articles concerning Galdós have been published: V. V. Chistyakova, «The Anticlerical Dramas of Galdós» (Antiklerikalnye dramy Galdosa), in 1958; E. M. Chernushenko, «Peculiarities of Portraiture and Speech Characteristics in the Early Creativity of Galdós. First Series of the Episodios Nacionales» (Osobyennosti portretnoi i rechevoi kharakteristiki v rannem tvorchestve Galdosa. Pervaya   —113→   seria natsionalnykh epizodov), in 1959; V. V. Chistyakova, «The Historical Dramas of Galdós» (Istoricheskiye dramy Galdosa), in 1960; and L. N. Stepanova, «The Language of Galdós and the Norm of Spanish Literary Language» (Yazyk Galdosa i norma ispanskovo liyeraturnovo yazyka), in 1971.¹⁹⁵

Don Benito's picture appears in the Kratkaya Lityeraturnaya Entsiklopyedia (Short Literary Encyclopedia)¹⁹⁶ as well as in the Bolshaya Sovyetskya Entsiklopyedia (Great Soviet Encyclopedia).¹⁹⁷ The former designates Galdós (a left-wing monarchist in his youth, then a republican, and finally a socialist) as the «most outstanding representative of critical realism in Spain», while the latter gives prominence to his Doña Perfecta (first Russian translation, 1882) with its «criticism of reactionary landowners, clergy, medieval mores, and Catholic fanaticism». More surprising is its designation of Marianela (Russian translation, 1888) as «the first work of Spanish literature to portray the life of the workers». Both encyclopedias claim the influence of Tolstoy and other (unnamed) Russian authors on the creativity of Galdós.¹⁹⁸

It is also significant to note that Galdós' works have begun to be translated into important minority languages of the Soviet Union. Latvian readers have been able to enjoy Cádiz in their own language since 1961, while Doña Perfecta appeared in Lithuanian in 1957, and then also in the Georgian and Ukranian languages (in the same volume with Zaragoza) in 1971 and 1978, respectively. Most encouraging is the fact that La desheredada (not seen in Russian since Czarist times) was translated directly from a Spanish edition (1967) into Estonian in 1979.¹⁹⁹

It is to be hoped that this trend will continue, and along with it, the tendency of other Socialist countries of Eastern Europe to bring out their own editions of Galdós' Episodios and novelas contemporáneas (translating often from the Russian-language version) after the work has been chosen and published by the Soviet government.²⁰⁰

The University of Kansas. Lawrence, Kansas

• I. Works of Galdós in Russian published in the Soviet Union (1940-80):
  • Juan Martín, el empecinado (Khuan Martín, el empesinado), intro. by F. V. Kelin (Moskva: Goslitizdat, 1940).
  • Doña Perfecta (Donya Perfekta), intro. by N. Gabinski (Moskva: Goslitizdat, 1956).
  • Torquemada en la hoguera, Torquemada en la cruz, Torquemada en el purgatorio, Torquemada y San Pedro (Povyesti: Torkvemada [sic] na kostre, Torkvemada na kreste, Torkvemada v chistilishche, Torkvemada i svyatoi Pyotr), intro. by Z. Plavskin (Moskva: Goslitizdat, 1958).
  • Trafalgar (Trafalgar), intro. by F. Kelin (Moskva: «Khudozh. Lit.», 1961).
  • La corte de Carlos IV, Zaragoza (Dvor Karla IV, Saragosa), intro. by D. P. Pritsker (Moskva: «Khudozh. Lit.», 1970).
  • El amigo Manso (Mily Manso), intro. by N. Snetkova (Moskva: «Khudozh. Lit.», 1971).
  • El 19 de marzo y el 2 de mayo, Bailén, Napoleón en Chamartín (19 marta i 2 maya, Bailen, Napoleon v Chamartinye), (Moskva: «Khudozh. Lit.», 1972).
  • Gerona, Cádiz (Kherona, Kadis), intro. by D. P. Pritsker (Moskva: «Khudozh. Lit.», 1973).
  • Juan Martín, el empecinado (Khuan Martín, el empesinado), intro. by D. P. Pritsker (Moskva: «Khudozh. Lit.», 1975).
  • Doña Perfecta (Doyna Perfekta) in same volume with Alarcón, El sombrero de tres picos; Valera, Pepita Jiménez; and Blasco Ibáñez, Sangre y arena; intro. by Z. Plavskin.
• II. Works of Galdós in Non-Russian Languages of the Soviet Union:
  • Latvian: Cádiz (Riga: Latgoisdat, 1961).
  • Lithuanian: Doña Perfecta (Vilnius: Goslitizdat, 1961).
  • —115→
    
  • Georgian: Doña Perfecta, Zaragoza (Tbilisi: Merani, 1971).
  • Ukranian: Doña Perfecta, Zaragoza (Kiev: Dnipro, 1978).
  • Estonian: La desheredada (Tallinn: Eesti raamat, 1979).
• III. Works of Galdós published in Spanish in the Soviet Union:
  • Cádiz (Moscú: Ediciones en Lenguas Extranjeras, 1951).
  • Doña Perfecta (Moscú: Ediciones en Lenguas Extranjeras, 1952).
  • Zaragoza (Moscú: Ediciones en Lenguas Extranjeras, 1953).
  • Doña Perfecta (Moscú: «Enseñanza Superior», 1964).
• IV. Articles in the Russian Language concerning Galdós:
  • V. V. Chistyakova, «The Anticlerical Dramas of Galdós» (Antiklerikalnye dramy Galdosa), Uchenye zapiski gos. nauchno-issled. In-ta. teatra i musyki, I (1958), 429-34.
  • E. M. Chernushenko, «Peculiarities of Portraiture and Speech Characteristics in the Early Creativity of Galdós. First Series of the Episodios Nacionales» (Osobyennosti portretnoi i rechevoi kharakteristiki v rannem tvorchestve Galdosa. Pervaya seria natsionalnykh epizodov), Uchenye zapiski leningradskovo pedagogicheskovo in-ta. im. A. I. Gertsena, 211 (1959), 169-85.
  • V. V. Chistyakova, «The Historical Dramas of Galdós» (Istoricheskiye dramy Galdosa), Zapiski o teatre (Leningrad-Moskva, 1960), pp. 306-27.
  • L. N. Stepanova, «The Language of Galdós and the Norm of Spanish Literary Language» (Yazyk Galdosa i norma ispanskovo literaturnovo yazyka), Vestnik Moskovskovo Univyersityeta. Seria 10. Filologia, 5 (1971), 46-55.