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Gonzalo Torrente Ballester

ゴンサロ・トレンテ・バジェステル

Gonzalo Torrente Ballester

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1910-06-13 （Serantes, Ferrol, Galicia, Spain）
Died
1999-01-27 （Salamanca, Spain） age 88
Nationality
Spanish
Languages
Spanish, Galician
Religion
Roman Catholic
Residence History
Ferrol (birthplace) → Santiago de Compostela (university) → Oviedo (university / early career) → Madrid (literary career) → Albany, New York (1966–1973, academic post) → Salamanca (1975–1999, later life)

Career

Occupations
writer, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, university professor, critic
Active Years
1943-1999
Affiliations
Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy), University at Albany, State University of New York (Distinguished Professor), University of Santiago de Compostela (academic post)
Memberships
Real Academia Española (Seat E)
Influenced By
Generation of '36, Traditions of modern Spanish literature (historicism, social themes)
Influenced
Subsequent generations of Spanish-language writers

Education

University of Santiago de Compostela
Period: 1920s–1930s（在籍年不詳）
Country: Spain
Attended; specific degree and years not consistently documented in source.
University of Oviedo
Period: 1930年代（在籍年不詳）
Country: Spain
Early literary activity took place while in Oviedo; specific academic details vary by source.

Awards

Cervantes Prize
1985
Organization: Spanish government / Cervantes Prize committee
Result: winner
Premio Planeta
1988
Work: Filomeno, a mi pesar
Organization: Planeta publishing
Result: winner
Fundación Juan March Novel Prize
1957
Work: Los gozos y las sombras (El Señor llega)
Organization: Fundación Juan March
Result: winner
Critics' Prize
1972
Work: La saga/fuga de J. B.
Organization: Critics' organizations
Result: winner
City of Barcelona Prize
1972
Work: La saga/fuga de J. B.
Organization: City of Barcelona
Result: winner
National Literature Prize
1980
Work: La isla de los jacintos cortados
Organization: Spanish government
Result: winner
Prince of Asturias Award for Literature (shared)
1982
Organization: Prince of Asturias Foundation
Result: winner (shared)

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Los gozos y las sombras (trilogy)

1957 Novel (series / trilogy)

A trilogy exploring power, family, revenge and the darker side of provincial society. Beginning with El Señor llega (1957), it is set in a fictional town in northwest Spain and depicts clashes of personal relations and history.

powerfamilyrevengeprovincial society
Adaptations
  • [TV (miniseries)] Los gozos y las sombras (TV series) (1982)
Translations

Don Juan

1963 Novel

A work based on the legendary figure Don Juan, reinterpreting the traditional subject with modern and literary techniques.

legendidentitymorality

La saga/fuga de J. B.

1972 Novel (experimental)

A long novel with metafictional elements and experimental narration. It probes boundaries of language and storytelling and won the Critics' Prize and City of Barcelona Prize.

metafictionnarrative experimentationpower and history

La isla de los jacintos cortados

1980 Novel

A work addressing memory and loss, and the relation between the individual and history. Recipient of the National Literature Prize.

memoryhistoryloss

Filomeno, a mi pesar

1988 Novel

One of his later long novels combining humor, irony and personal reminiscence. It won the Planeta Prize.

remembrancehumorirony

The King Amaz'd (Crónica del rey pasmado)

1989 Novel (historical fiction)

A satirical historical novel later adapted to film known in English as The Dumbfounded King.

satireabsurdity of powerhistory
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Dumbfounded King (1991)
Translations
  • The King Amaz'd

Bibliography

  • Javier Mariño (1943)
  • El golpe de estado de Guadalupe Limón (1946)
  • Ifigenia (1950)
  • Los gozos y las sombras (1957–1962)
  • Don Juan (1963)
  • Off-Side (1968)
  • La saga/fuga de J. B. (1972)
  • Fragmentos de Apocalipsis (1977)
  • La isla de los jacintos cortados (1980)
  • Dafne y ensueños (1982)
  • Quizá nos lleve el viento al infinito (1984)
  • La princesa durmiente va a la escuela (1985)
  • La rosa de los vientos (1985)
  • Yo no soy yo, evidentemente (1987)
  • Filomeno, a mi pesar (1988)
  • Crónica del rey pasmado (1989)
  • Las islas extraordinarias (1991)
  • La muerte del decano (1992)
  • La novela de Pepe Ansúrez (1994)
  • La boda de Chon Recalde (1995)
  • Los años indecisos (1997)
  • Doménica (1999)

Adaptations

  • Los gozos y las sombras (1982 TV series)
  • Crónica del rey pasmado → The Dumbfounded King (1991 film)

Translations of Works

  • Crónica del rey pasmado → The King Amaz'd (English translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
blend of realism and historical narrativemetafictional techniquesironic, satirical tone
Recurring Motifs
memory and lost pastdynamics of provincial communitiesconflict of power and moralityGalician landscape and culture

Legacy

Gonzalo Torrente Ballester is regarded as an important figure in 20th-century Spanish literature. Active across genres and winner of major awards including the Cervantes Prize, a foundation was established after his death to preserve, study and promote his work.

Academic Societies

  • Real Academia Española

Archives

  • Fundación Gonzalo Torrente Ballester (foundation archives)
  • National Library of Spain (holds related materials)

In Popular Culture

  • TV series Los gozos y las sombras (1982)
  • Film The Dumbfounded King (adaptation of Crónica del rey pasmado, 1991)

Quotes

  • “Yo no soy yo, evidentemente (I am not myself, evidently)”
    Source: Title / work of same name (1987)

Trivia

  • Joined the Falange in his youth but distanced himself politically in later years.
  • Took up Seat E of the Real Academia Española in 1977.
  • Awarded the Cervantes Prize in 1985.
  • The Fundación Gonzalo Torrente Ballester was established after his death in 1999.