Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish
essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
ist,
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...
,
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...
,
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
,
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
,
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...
of
Greek and
Classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
, and later
rector at the
University of Salamanca.
His major philosophical essay was ''The Tragic Sense of Life'' (1912), and his most famous novel was ''
Abel Sánchez: The History of a Passion'' (1917), a modern exploration of the
Cain and Abel
In the biblical Book of Genesis, Cain ''Qayīn'', in pausa ''Qāyīn''; gr, Κάϊν ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl / Qāyīn and Abel ''Heḇel'', in pausa ''Hāḇel''; gr, Ἅβελ ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl ...
story.
Biography
Miguel de Unamuno was born in
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
, a port city of the
Basque Country,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
, the son of Félix de Unamuno and Salomé Jugo. As a young man, he was interested in the
Basque language, which he could speak, and competed for a teaching position in the ''Instituto de Bilbao'' against
Sabino Arana
Sabino Policarpo Arana Goiri (in Spanish), Sabin Polikarpo Arana Goiri (in Basque), or Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin (self-styled) (26 January 1865 – 25 November 1903), was a Basque writer and the founder of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) ...
. The contest was finally won by the Basque scholar
Resurrección María de Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue (5 August 1864 – 9 November 1951) was an influential Basque priest, musician, poet, writer, sailor and academic.Etxegoien, J. ''Orhipean, Gure Herria ezagutzen'' Xamar: 1996 He made several major contributions t ...
.
Unamuno worked in all major
genres: the
essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
, the
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
,
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...
, and
theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...
, and, as a
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
, contributed greatly to dissolving the boundaries between genres. There is some debate as to whether Unamuno was in fact a member of the
Generation of '98, an ''ex post facto'' literary group of Spanish
intellectual
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator o ...
s and
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
s that was the creation of
José Martínez Ruiz (Azorín)—a group that includes, besides Azorín,
Antonio Machado
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), known as Antonio Machado, was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation ...
,
Ramón Pérez de Ayala
Ramón Pérez de Ayala y Fernández del Portal (9 August 1880, in Oviedo – 5 August 1962, in Madrid) was a Spanish writer. He was the Spanish ambassador to England in London (1931-1936) and voluntarily exiled himself to Argentina via F ...
,
Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja y Nessi (28 December 1872 – 30 October 1956) was a Spanish writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family. His brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephe ...
,
Ramón del Valle-Inclán
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña (in Vilanova de Arousa, Galicia, Spain, 28 October 1866 – Santiago de Compostela, 5 January 1936) was a Spanish dramatist, novelist and member of the Spanish Generation of 98. He is considered p ...
,
Ramiro de Maeztu, and
Ángel Ganivet, among others.
Unamuno would have preferred to be a philosophy professor, but was unable to get an academic appointment; philosophy in Spain was somewhat politicized. Instead he became a
Greek professor.
In 1901 Unamuno gave his well-known conference on the scientific and literary inviability of the Basque. According to
Azurmendi, Unamuno went against the Basque language once his political views changed as a result of his reflection on Spain.
In addition to his writing, Unamuno played an important role in the intellectual life of Spain. He served as rector of the
University of Salamanca for two periods: from 1900 to 1924 and 1930 to 1936, during a time of great social and political upheaval. During the 1910s and 1920s, he became one of the most passionate advocates of Spanish
social liberalism
Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
. Unamuno linked his liberalism with his hometown of Bilbao, which, through its commerce and connection with the civilized world, Unamuno believed had developed an individualism and independent outlook in stark contrast to the narrow-mindedness of
Carlist
Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – o ...
traditionalism. When in 1912
José Canalejas was assassinated by an anarchist, he blamed it on the fact that Spain lacked a "true liberal democratic party" and in 1914 denounced the
Spanish nobility for their alleged
philistinism. Along with many other Spanish writers and intellectuals, such as
Benito Pérez Galdós
Benito Pérez Galdós (May 10, 1843 – January 4, 1920) was a Spanish realist novelist. He was the leading literary figure in 19th-century Spain, and some scholars consider him second only to Miguel de Cervantes in stature as a Spanish no ...
, he was an outspoken supporter of the
Allied cause during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
despite Spain's official neutrality. Unamuno viewed the war as a crusade not just against the
Imperial Family of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, but against the monarchy in Spain, and intensified his attacks upon King
Alfonso XIII.
Unamuno was removed from his two university chairs by the dictator General
Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1924, over the protests of other Spanish
intellectuals
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or ...
. As a result of his vociferous criticisms of Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, he lived in exile until 1930, first banished to
Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNE ...
, one of the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...
; his house there is now a museum, as is his house in Salamanca. From Fuerteventura he escaped to France, as related in his book ''De Fuerteventura a Paris''. After a year in Paris, Unamuno established himself in
Hendaye, a border town in the
French Basque Country, as close to Spain as he could get while remaining in France. Unamuno returned to Spain after the fall of General Primo de Rivera's dictatorship in 1930 and took up his rectorship again. It is said in Salamanca that the day he returned to the university, Unamuno began his lecture by saying, as
Fray Luis de León had done after four years of imprisonment by the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
, "As we were saying yesterday..." (Decíamos ayer...).
Also after the fall of Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, Spain embarked on its
Second Republic. He was a candidate on the Republican/Socialist ticket and was elected, after which he led a large demonstration in the Plaza Mayor in which he raised the Republic's flag and declared its victory.
He always was a moderate and refused all political and anticlerical extremism. In a speech delivered on 28 November 1932, at the
Madrid Ateneo, Unamuno protested against
Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Re ...
's extremist anti-clerical policies: "Even
the Inquisition was limited by certain legal guarantees. But now we have something worse: a police force which is grounded only on a general sense of panic and on the invention of non-existent dangers to cover up this over-stepping of the law."
Unamuno's dislike for
Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Re ...
's ruling went so far as to tell a reporter who published his statement in ''El Adelanto'' in June 1936 that President
Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Re ...
"should commit suicide as a patriotic act". The Republican government had a serious problem with this statement, and on 22 August 1936, they decreed that Unamuno should once again be removed from his position as rector of the university. Moreover, the government removed his name from streets and replaced it with the name of
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
.
Having begun his literary career as an internationalist, Unamuno gradually became convinced of the universal values of
Spanish culture
The culture of ''Spain'' is based on a variety of historical influences, primarily based on the culture of ancient Rome, Spain being a prominent part of the Greco-Roman world for centuries, the very name of Spain comes from the name that the ...
, feeling that Spain's essential qualities would be destroyed if influenced too much by outside forces. Thus he initially welcomed Franco's revolt as necessary to rescue Spain from the
Red Terror
The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in ...
by forces loyal to the
Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...
. When a journalist questioned how he could side with the military and "abandon a Republic that
ehelped create," Unamuno responded, it "is not a fight against the liberal Republic, but a fight for civilization. What Madrid represents now is not socialism or democracy, or even communism."
However, the tactics employed by the Nationalist faction in the struggle against their republican opponents caused Unamuno to also turn against Franco. Unamuno said that the military revolt would lead to the victory of "a brand of Catholicism that is not Christian and of a paranoid
militarism
Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
bred in the colonial campaigns," referring in the latter case to the 1921 war with
Abd el-Krim in
Spanish Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
.
In 1936 Unamuno had a public argument with Nationalist general
Millán Astray at the university in which he denounced both Astray—with whom he had had verbal battles in the 1920s—and elements of the Nationalist faction. Shortly afterwards, Unamuno was removed for a second time as the rector of the University of Salamanca. A few days later he confided to
Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis ( el, ; 2 March ( OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years.
Kazantzakis's n ...
:
On 21 November, he wrote to the Italian philosopher
Lorenzo Giusso that "The barbarism is unanimous. It is a regime of terror on both sides." In one of his final letters, dated 13 December, Unamuno, in terms that were to be widely quoted, condemned the
White Terror being committed by Franco's forces:
Broken-hearted, Unamuno was placed under house arrest by
Franco, until his death.
Confrontation with Millán Astray
On 12 October 1936, the Spanish Civil War had been underway for just under three months; the celebration of
Discovery of America
The prehistory of the Americas (North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean) begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an ice age. These groups are generally believed to have been isolated from the peopl ...
had brought together a politically diverse crowd at the
University of Salamanca, including Enrique Pla y Deniel, the Archbishop of Salamanca, and
Carmen Polo Martínez-Valdés, the wife of Franco,
Africanist General
José Millán Astray
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...
and Unamuno himself.
Unamuno had supported Franco's uprising because he believed it necessary to bring order to the anarchy created by the Popular Front, and that day he was representing General Franco in the event. By then the Republican Government had removed Unamuno from his perpetual rectory at the Salamanca University and the rebel government had restored him.
There are different versions of what occurred.
The Portillo/Thomas version
According to the British historian
Hugh Thomas in his ''
magnum opus'' ''The Spanish Civil War'' (1961), the evening began with an impassioned speech by the
Falangist writer
José María Pemán
José María Pemán y Pemartín (8 May 1897 in Cadiz – 19 July 1981, Ibid.) was a Spanish journalist, poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, and monarchist intellectual.
Biography
Originally a student of law, he entered the literary world with ...
. After this, Professor Francisco Maldonado decried
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
and the
Basque Country as "cancers on the body of the nation," adding that "
Fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...
, the healer of Spain, will know how to exterminate them, cutting into the live flesh, like a determined surgeon free from false sentimentalism."
From somewhere in the auditorium, someone cried out the
Spanish Legion
For centuries, Spain recruited foreign soldiers to its army, forming the Foreign Regiments () - such as the Regiment of Hibernia (formed in 1709 from Irishmen who fled their own country in the wake of the Flight of the Earls and the pen ...
's motto "''¡Viva la Muerte!''"
ong live death! As was his habit, Millán Astray, the founder and first commander of the Spanish Legion, responded with "''¡España!''"
pain! the crowd replied with "''¡Una!''"
ne! He repeated "''¡España!''"; the crowd then replied "''¡Grande!''"
reat! A third time, Millán Astray shouted "''¡España!''"; the crowd responded "''Libre!''"
ree!This—Spain, one, great, and free—was a common Falangist cheer and would become a francoist motto thereafter. Later, a group of uniformed Falangists entered,
saluting
A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...
the portrait of Franco that hung on the wall.
Unamuno, who was presiding over the meeting, rose up slowly and addressed the crowd:
Unamuno gestured to the Archbishop of Salamanca,
Millán Astray responded: "Death to intelligence! Long live death!" provoking applause from the Falangists. Pemán, in an effort to calm the crowd, exclaimed "No! Long live intelligence! Death to the bad intellectuals!"
Unamuno continued: "This is the temple of intelligence, and I am its high priest. You are profaning its sacred domain. You will win ''
enceréis', because you have enough brute force. But you will not convince ''
ero no convenceréis'. In order to convince it is necessary to persuade, and to persuade you will need something that you lack: reason and right in the struggle. I see it is useless to ask you to think of Spain. I have spoken." Millán Astray, controlling himself, shouted "Take the lady's arm!" Unamuno took Carmen Polo by the arm and left under her protection.
The Severiano Delgado version
In 2018, the details of Unamuno's speech were disputed by the historian Severiano Delgado, who argued that the account in a 1941 article by
Luis Gabriel Portillo (who was not present at Salamanca) in the British magazine ''
Horizon
The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...
'' may not have been an accurate representation of events.
Severiano Delgado, a historian and librarian at the University of Salamanca, asserts that Unamuno's words were put in his mouth by Luis Portillo, in 1941, possibly with some help from
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...
, in a piece in the literary magazine Horizon, entitled Unamuno's Last Lecture. Portillo had not witnessed the event.
Severiano Delgado's book, titled "Archeology of a Myth: The act of October 12, 1936 in the auditorium of the University of Salamanca," shows how the propaganda myth arose regarding the confrontation that took place that day between Miguel de Unamuno and the general Millán Astray.
Delgado agrees that a "very fierce and violent verbal confrontation" between Unamuno and Millán Astray definitely occurred, which led to Unamuno being removed from his rectorship, but he thinks that the famous speech attributed to Unamuno was invented and written by Luis Portillo."
Delgado says that:
Unamuno took the floor, not to confront Millán Astray, but to answer a previous speech by Professor of Literature Francisco Maldonado who had identified Catalonia and the Basque Country with the "''antiespaña''" (Antispain). Unamuno himself was Basque and was revolted with Francisco Maldonado's speech, but when addressing the audience, Unamuno used the example of what had happened with
José Rizal
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national h ...
(a Filipino nationalist and polymath during the tail end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines, executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after the Philippine Revolution). Millán Astray had fought in the Philippines and it was the reference to José Rizal that annoyed Millán Astray, who shouted "The traitoring intellectuals die".
As proof that the incident was nothing more than a crossroads of hard words, the photograph reproduced on the cover of his book shows Millán Astray and Miguel de Unamuno calmly saying goodbye in the presence of Bishop Plà, with no tension between them. The photo was discovered in 2018 in the National Library and was part of the chronicle of the act that the newspaper "The Advancement of Salamanca" published the following day, 13 October 1936.
According to Delgado, Portillo's account of the speech became famous when a then very young British historian Hugh Thomas, aged 30, came across it in a Horizon anthology while researching his seminal book, ''The Spanish Civil War'', and mistakenly took it as a primary source.
Death
Unamuno died on 31 December 1936
during house arrest imposed by the military forces that occupied
Salamanca at the time. He died as a result of the inhalation of gases from a brazier during a one hour long interview with a visitor. A recent theory cites a 2020 book by and to suggest that he may have been murdered by Bartolomé Aragón, the last person to have visited him, based on the fact that he falsely claimed to be a former student of his, was a fascist militant (and
requeté
The Requeté () was a Carlist organization, at times with paramilitary units, that operated between the mid-1900s and the early 1970s, though exact dates are not clear.
The Requeté formula differed over the decades, and according to its chan ...
) with opposed political ideas to Unamuno and had collaborated with
Nationals propaganda before. In fact, the Rabaté couple never defended this theory, since they have no new evidence to supports it. These circumstances are however well known since the time of the events in 1936, and Aragón and Unamuno had indeed a previous intellectual relationship. Additional telltale findings were: the lack of autopsy (despite having been mandatory, as the cause of death was determined to be a sudden death due to a
intracranial bleeding
Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), also known as intracranial bleed, is bleeding within the skull. Subtypes are intracerebral bleeds ( intraventricular bleeds and intraparenchymal bleeds), subarachnoid bleeds, epidural bleeds, and subdural bleed ...
), two screams from Unamuno heard by his maid during the Aragón visit and discrepancies in the time of death registered by the coroner and the authorities.
Literary career and works
Fiction
* ''Paz en la guerra'' (''Peace in War'') (1897) – a novel that explores the relationship of self and world through familiarity with death. It is based on his experiences as a child during the Carlist siege of Bilbao in the
Third Carlist War.
* ''Amor y pedagogía'' (''Love and Pedagogy'') (1902) – a novel uniting comedy and tragedy in an absurd parody of
positivist sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
.
* ''El espejo de la muerte'' (''The Mirror of Death'') (1913) – a collection of stories.
* ''
Niebla'' (''Mist'') (1914) – one of Unamuno's key works, which he called a ''
nivola'' to distinguish it from the supposedly fixed form of the novel (''novela'' in Spanish).
* ''Vida de Don Quijote y Sancho'' (usually translated into English as ''Our Lord Don Quixote'') (1914) – another key work of Unamuno, often perceived as one of the earliest works applying existential elements to ''
Don Quixote
is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...
''. The book, on Unamuno's own admission, is of mixed genre with elements of personal essay, philosophy, and fiction. Unamuno felt that
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best kno ...
had not told the story of Don Quijote very well, cluttering it with unrelated tales. Unamuno intended this work to present Cervantes' story the way it should have been written. He felt that as a ''quijotista'' (a fan or student of Don Quixote) he was superior to Cervantes. The work is primarily of interest to those studying Unamuno, not Cervantes.
* ''
Abel Sánchez'' (1917) – a novel that uses the story of
Cain
Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He ...
and
Abel to explore envy.
* ''Tulio Montalbán'' (1920) – a short novel on the threat of a man's public image undoing his true personality, a problem familiar to the famous Unamuno.
* ''Tres novelas ejemplares y un prólogo'' (''Three Exemplary Novels and a Prologue'') (1920) – a much-studied work with a famous prologue. The title deliberately recalls the famous ''Novelas ejemplares'' of
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best kno ...
.
* ''La tía Tula'' (''Aunt Tula'') (1921) – his final large-scale novel, a work about maternity, a theme that he had already examined in ''Amor y pedagogía'' and ''Dos madres''.
* ''Teresa'' (1924) – a narrative work that contains romantic poetry, achieving an ideal through the re-creation of the beloved.
* ''Cómo se hace una novela'' (''How to Make a Novel'') (1927) – the autopsy of an Unamuno novel.
* ''Don Sandalio, jugador de ajedrez'' (''Don Sandalio, Chess Player'') (1930).
* ''
San Manuel Bueno, mártir'' (''Saint Emmanuel the Good, Martyr'') (1930) – a brief novella that synthesizes virtually all of Unamuno's thought. The novella centres on a heroic priest who has lost his faith in immortality, yet says nothing of his doubts to his parishioners, not wanting to disturb their faith, which he recognizes is a necessary support for their lives.
Philosophy
Unamuno's philosophy was not systematic but rather a negation of all systems and an affirmation of faith "in itself." He developed intellectually under the influence of
rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy' ...
and
positivism
Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...
, but during his youth he wrote articles that clearly show his sympathy for
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...
and his great concern for the situation in which he found Spain at the time. An important concept for Unamuno was ''intrahistoria''. He thought that history could best be understood by looking at the small histories of anonymous people, rather than by focusing on major events such as wars and political pacts. Some authors relativize the importance of ''intrahistoria'' in his thinking. Those authors say that more than a clear concept is an ambiguous metaphor. The term first appears in the essay ''En torno al casticismo'' (1895), but Unamuno leaves it soon.
In the late nineteenth century Unamuno suffered a religious crisis and left the positivist philosophy. Then, in the early twentieth century, he developed his own thinking influenced by
existentialism
Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and val ...
. Life was tragic, according to Unamuno, because of the knowledge that we are to die. He explains much of human activity as an attempt to survive, in some form, after our death. Unamuno summarized his personal creed thus: "My religion is to seek for truth in life and for life in truth, even knowing that I shall not find them while I live." He said, "Among men of flesh and bone there have been typical examples of those who possess this tragic sense of life. I recall now
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...
,
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
,
Pascal
Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name
* Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
** Blaise Pascal, Frenc ...
,
Rousseau, ''
René
René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus.
René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminin ...
'', ''Obermann'',
Thomson,
Leopardi,
Vigny,
Lenau
Nikolaus Lenau was the pen name of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau (13 August 1802 – 22 August 1850), a German-language Austrian poet.
Biography
He was born at Csatád (Schadat), Kingdom of Hungary, now Lenauheim, Banat, then p ...
,
Kleist Kleist, or von Kleist, is a surname.
von Kleist:
* August von Kleist (1818–1890), Prussian Major General
* Conrad von Kleist (1839-1900), German politician (German Conservative Party), member of Reichstag
*Ewald Georg von Kleist (ca. 1700–1748) ...
,
Amiel,
Quental,
Kierkegaard—men burdened with wisdom rather than with knowledge." He provides a stimulating discussion of the differences between faith and reason in his most famous work: ''Del sentimiento trágico de la vida'' (''The Tragic Sense of Life'', 1912).
A historically influential paperfolder from childhood to his last, difficult days, in several works Unamuno ironically expressed philosophical views of
Platonism
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at l ...
,
scholasticism
Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translat ...
,
positivism
Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...
, and the "
science vs religion" issue in terms of "
origami" figures, notably the traditional Spanish ''
pajarita''. Since he was also a linguist (professor of Greek), he coined the word "cocotología" ("cocotology") to describe the art of paper folding. After the conclusion of ''Amor y pedagogía'' (''Love and Pedagogy'', 1902), he included in the volume, attributing it to one of the characters, "Notes for a Treatise on Cocotology" ("Apuntes para un tratado de cocotología").
Along with ''The Tragic Sense of Life'', Unamuno's long-form essay ''La agonía del cristianismo'' (''The Agony of Christianity'', 1931) and his novella ''
San Manuel Bueno, mártir'' (''Saint Emmanuel the Good, Martyr'', 1930) were all included on the ''
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbid ...
''.
After his youthful sympathy for socialism ended, Unamuno gravitated towards
liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...
. Unamuno's conception of liberalism, elaborated in essays such as ''La esencia del liberalismo'' in 1909, was one that sought to reconcile a great respect for individual freedom with a more interventionist state, bringing him to a position closer to
social liberalism
Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
. In writing about the Church in 1932 during the second Spanish Republic, Unamuno urged the clergy to end their attacks on liberalism and instead embrace it as a way of rejuvenating the faith.
Unamuno was probably the best Spanish connoisseur of Portuguese culture, literature, and history of his time. He believed it was as important for a Spaniard to become familiar with the great names of Portuguese literature as with those of Catalan literature. He believed that Iberian countries should come together through the exchange of manifestations of the spirit but he was openly against any type of
Iberian Federalism.
In the final analysis Unamuno's significance is that he was one of a number of notable interwar intellectuals, along with
Julien Benda
Julien Benda (26 December 1867 – 7 June 1956) was a French philosopher and novelist, known as an essayist and cultural critic. He is best known for his short book, ''La Trahison des Clercs'' from 1927 (''The Treason of the Intellectuals'' or '' ...
,
Karl Jaspers
Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspe ...
,
Johan Huizinga, and
José Ortega y Gasset
José Ortega y Gasset (; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century, while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. His philosoph ...
, who resisted the intrusion of ideology into Western intellectual life.
Poetry
For Unamuno, the art of poetry was a way of expressing spiritual problems. His themes were the same in his poetry as in his other fiction: spiritual anguish, the pain provoked by the silence of God, time and death.
Unamuno was always attracted to traditional meters and, though his early poems did not rhyme, he subsequently turned to rhyme in his later works.
Among his outstanding works of poetry are:
* ''Poesías'' (''Poems'') (1907) – his first collection of poetry, in which he outlined the themes that would dominate his poetics: religious conflict, Spain, and domestic life
* ''Rosario de sonetos líricos'' (''Rosary of Lyric Sonnets'') (1911)
* ''El Cristo de Velázquez'' (''The Christ of Velázquez'') (1920) – a religious work, divided into four parts, where Unamuno analyzes the figure of Christ from different perspectives: as a symbol of sacrifice and redemption, as a reflection on his Biblical names (Christ the myth, Christ the man on the cross, Christ, God, Christ the Eucharist), as poetic meaning, as painted by
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...
, etc.
* ''Andanzas y visiones españolas'' (1922) – something of a travel book, in which Unamuno expresses profound emotion and experiments with landscape both evocative and realistic (a theme typical of his generation of writers)
* ''Rimas de dentro'' (''Rhymes from Within'') (1923)
* ''Rimas de un poeta desconocido'' (''Rhymes from an Unknown Poet'') (1924)
* ''De Fuerteventura a París'' (''From Fuerteventura to Paris'') (1925)
* ''Romancero del destierro'' (''Ballads of Exile'') (1928)
* ''Cancionero'' (''Songbook'') (1953, published posthumously)
Drama
Unamuno's dramatic production presents a philosophical progression.
Questions such as individual spirituality, faith as a "vital lie", and the problem of a double personality were at the center of ''La esfinge'' (''The Sphinx'') (1898), and ''La verdad'' (''Truth''), (1899).
In 1934, he wrote ''El hermano Juan o El mundo es teatro'' (''Brother Juan or The World is a Theatre'').
Unamuno's theatre is schematic; he did away with artifice and focused only on the conflicts and passions that affect the characters. This austerity was influenced by
classical Greek theatre. What mattered to him was the presentation of the drama going on inside of the characters, because he understood the novel as a way of gaining knowledge about life.
By symbolizing passion and creating a theatre austere both in word and presentation, Unamuno's theatre opened the way for the renaissance of Spanish theatre undertaken by
Ramón del Valle-Inclán
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña (in Vilanova de Arousa, Galicia, Spain, 28 October 1866 – Santiago de Compostela, 5 January 1936) was a Spanish dramatist, novelist and member of the Spanish Generation of 98. He is considered p ...
,
Azorín, and
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
.
In popular culture
* A sculpture of Unamuno's head by
Victorio Macho was installed in the City Hall of Bilbao, Spain. It was withdrawn in 1936 when Unamuno showed temporary support for the
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
side. During the Spanish Civil War, it was thrown into
the estuary. It was later recovered. In 1984 the head was installed in Plaza Unamuno near his birthplace. In 1999, it was again thrown into the estuary after a political meeting of . It was substituted by a copy in 2000 after the original was located in the water. The original was installed in the mayor's office.
* In 2021, United States based jazz pianist and compose
Dave Mederpublished an album of original music inspired by Unamuno's life and writing, entitled
Unamuno Songs and Stories'.
*In the 2015 documentary ', directed by Manuel Menchón, Unamuno is played by
José Luis Gómez and his 1924 exile in Fuerteventura due to his critics to Primo de Rivera is depicted.
[Unamuno, una muerte manipulada. El documental ‘Palabras para un fin del mundo’ cuestiona el relato oficial sobre el fallecimiento del escritor y el papel que jugó el falangista que le visitó en su casa](_blank)
El País, 23 de octubre de 2020
* The 2019 film ''
While at War
''While at War'' ( es, Mientras dure la guerra, links=no) is a 2019 Spanish-Argentine historical drama film directed by Alejandro Amenábar. Set in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, the plot tracks the plight of philosopher and writer Miguel ...
'' shows Unamuno (played by
Karra Elejalde
Carlos Elejalde Garay (born 10 October 1960) better known as Karra Elejalde, is a Spanish actor and occasional filmmaker.
Biography
Carlos Elejalde Garay was born on 10 October 1960 in Vitoria-Gasteiz. He developed his early acting career on i ...
) between 18 July 1936 and his death.
* In the TV series ''
Star Trek: Picard'', the pilot Chris Rios has a book copy of ''The Tragic Sense of Life'' on the ship's dashboard.
* The climax of the fiction (and meta-fiction) 'The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis' (Editorial Caminho, Lisboa, Portugal, 1984; English translation, HarcourtISBN 978-0-15-199735-0, 1991) by José Saramago features a report of the famous Salamanca argument with Milan d'Astray, but seen from a Portuguese perspective.
See also
*
Thinking about the immortality of the crab
*
Rafael Moreno Aranzadi – his nephew, footballer also known as ''Pichichi''
References
Further reading
*
Álvarez, José Luis. 1966: "Unamuno ala Jammes?", ''
Jakin'', 21: 81–84.
*
Azurmendi, Joxe. 2006: "Unamuno" in ''Espainiaren arimaz'', Donostia: Elkar.
*
Azurmendi, Joxe. 2012: ''Bakea gudan. Unamuno, historia eta karlismoa'', Tafalla, Txalaparta.
* Azurmendi, Joxe. 2012: "Unamunoren atarian" in Alaitz Aizpuru (koord.), ''Euskal Herriko pentsamenduaren gida'', Bilbo, UEU.
*
* Candelaria, Michael, ''The Revolt of Unreason. Miguel de Unamuno and Antonio Caso on the Crisis of Modernity.'' Edited and with a foreword by Stella Villarmea. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi, 2012.
*
*Pérez, Rolando. “Karl Jaspers and Miguel de Unamuno on Reason in an Age of Irrationality.” Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts. Vol. 15. No. 2. PDF: pp. 32-39. https://existenz.us/volumes/Vol.15-2Perez.html
*
*
* Sean Farrell Moran, "The Disease of Human Consciousness," in Oakland Journal, 12, 2007, 103–10
*
*
External links
Biography, images and curiosities of Unamuno*
*
*
*
Video: Joxe Azurmendi on UnamunoDossier on Unamuno''Jakin'' magazine
Dios te está soñando La narración como Imitatio Dei en Miguel de Unamuno por Costica Bradatan*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unamuno, Miguel De
1864 births
1936 deaths
19th-century essayists
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