Nivela
Encyclopedia
Nivola is a term created by Miguel de Unamuno
to refer to his works that contrasted with the realism prevalent in Spanish novels during the early 20th century. Since his works were not fully novels, or "novelas" in Spanish, Unamuno invented a nonsense word, "nivolas," to describe them.
With this term, the writer was trying to express his rejection of the dominant principles of realism as expressed in novels: the psychological characterization of the characters, the realistic environments, and the third person omniscient narrator.
He expresses this in his prologue to Niebla:
ORIGINAL
IN TRANSLATION
Niebla is the story of Augusto Pérez
, a single man, philosophic and melancholy, that dedicates his time to long walks and reflection with his dog Orfeo. Augusto falls in love with Eugenia, and idealizes her in a similar way to Don Quijote's idealization of Dulcinea. He dedicates himself to winning her love. The most famous passage of the novel occurs towards the end, when the principal character decides to confront the real author, Miguel de Unamuno
, to ask for advice about his destiny. The encounter degenerates into a confrontation in which the author decides to kill his character, which leads to the character's death a few pages later.
, Love and Pedagogy and Aunt Tula. Arguably a nivola, San Manuel Bueno, Mártir
contains greater psychological development and narrative description than the other works, and is generally considered Unamuno's masterpiece.
Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright and philosopher.-Biography:...
to refer to his works that contrasted with the realism prevalent in Spanish novels during the early 20th century. Since his works were not fully novels, or "novelas" in Spanish, Unamuno invented a nonsense word, "nivolas," to describe them.
Origin of the term: Niebla
The term nivola appears for the first time as a subtitle for Unamuno's book NieblaNiebla (novel)
Mist is a nivola written by Miguel de Unamuno and published in 1914.-Plot summary:The plot revolves around the character of Augusto, a wealthy, intellectual and introverted young man. He falls in love with a girl as she walks past him on the street, called Eugenia, and sets about trying to court...
With this term, the writer was trying to express his rejection of the dominant principles of realism as expressed in novels: the psychological characterization of the characters, the realistic environments, and the third person omniscient narrator.
He expresses this in his prologue to Niebla:
ORIGINAL
IN TRANSLATION
Niebla is the story of Augusto Pérez
Augusto Perez
Augusto J. "Goose" Perez is a Spanish American wheelchair curler. He was the 2008 USA Curling Male Athlete of the Year and was on the bronze medal team at the 2008 wheelchair curling world championships. He graduated from Le Moyne College. In addition to curling he is also competed in kayak and...
, a single man, philosophic and melancholy, that dedicates his time to long walks and reflection with his dog Orfeo. Augusto falls in love with Eugenia, and idealizes her in a similar way to Don Quijote's idealization of Dulcinea. He dedicates himself to winning her love. The most famous passage of the novel occurs towards the end, when the principal character decides to confront the real author, Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright and philosopher.-Biography:...
, to ask for advice about his destiny. The encounter degenerates into a confrontation in which the author decides to kill his character, which leads to the character's death a few pages later.
Characteristics of the nivolas
A nivola is characterized by the following characteristics:- Predominance of ideas over form: Just like in his poetry and plays, the Unamuno's nivolas give priority to content over form. In fact, novels like Amor y pedagogía approach the genre of thesis novel or novela de tesis, cultivated by Benito Pérez GaldósBenito Pérez GaldósBenito Pérez Galdós was a Spanish realist novelist. Considered second only to Cervantes in stature, he was the leading Spanish realist novelist....
or Blasco Ibáñez, among others.
- Scarce psychological development of the characters: the characters of thelos nivolas many times are characterized by on single personal quality, which some see as making them seem a little flat, in contrast to the multifaceted characters of realist novels. The characters of Niebla, Amor y Pedagogía or Abel Sánchez are incarnations of an idea or a passion, which impedes them from relating with the world in a normal way.
- Scarce realism in the environment: Except for his first novelPeace in the War, and perhaps his last, San Manuel Bueno, mártirSan Manuel Bueno, MártirSan Manuel Bueno, mártir is a novella by Miguel de Unamuno . It experiments with changes of narrator as well as minimalism of action and of description, and as such has been described as a nivola, a literary genre invented by Unamuno to describe his work...
, Unamuno's novels hardly describe the place or time in which they develop. In this form, they accent their abstract nature.
- Rapid writing process: in contrast to the slow and progressive writing of realist novels, Unamuno's nivolas, according to him, came out of a pressured birth, without a long period of preparation, documentation, and planning.
Other works
Beyond Niebla, the following works can be classified as nivolas: Abel SánchezAbel Sánchez
Abel Sánchez: The History of a Passion is a 1917 novel by Miguel de Unamuno. Abel Sanchez is a re-telling of the story of Cain and Abel set in modern times, which uses the parable to explore themes of envy.-References:...
, Love and Pedagogy and Aunt Tula. Arguably a nivola, San Manuel Bueno, Mártir
San Manuel Bueno, Mártir
San Manuel Bueno, mártir is a novella by Miguel de Unamuno . It experiments with changes of narrator as well as minimalism of action and of description, and as such has been described as a nivola, a literary genre invented by Unamuno to describe his work...
contains greater psychological development and narrative description than the other works, and is generally considered Unamuno's masterpiece.
Further reading
- Ayala, Francisco: La Novela: Galdós y Unamuno, Seix Barral, BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, 1974 - Elizalde, Ignacio: Miguel de Unamuno y su novelística, Zarauz, Caja de Ahorros Provincial de Guipuzcoa, 1983
- Moncy, Agnes: La Creación del personaje en Miguel de Unamuno, La Isla de los Ratones, SantanderSantander, CantabriaThe port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
, 1963