Carlism vs. liberalism: the novels of La Guerra Carlista by Valle-Inclán

di Margarita Santos Zas
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 24 (2007), p. 33

In the historical series of La Guerra Carlista, Ramón del Valle-Inclán offers a literary translation of the last war between liberals and Carlists (1872-76), presented as the collective defence of traditional Spain. Valle-Inclán manipulates the story without betraying it, in order to render the immediacy of war from a popular perspective, that at the eyes of don Ramón illustrates the most genuine and idealist side of Carlism, represented by guerrilla, bands and the civil population helping them wholeheartedly. The contrast between liberals and Carlists, an element common to all novels of the cycle, is mainly supported by the comments of a narrator whose judgements and commentaries on characters and situations reveal his preference for Carlists.