The Novels of Carmen Laforet: An Aesthetics of Relief

Carmen Laforet (Barcelona 1921 – Madrid 2004) was one of Spain’s most significant writers of the post-civil war period. Her debut novel Nada (1945) won the first Premio Nadal and remains her best-known work of fiction, but a primarily historical approach to reading Nada may have distorted our understanding of Laforet's writing. Wells argues that Laforet’s five major novels need to be read as a collective meditation on the subject of relief. Laforet’s novelistic output is therefore considered within a much broader framework than hitherto conceived. Wells discusses Laforet’s concern with the complexities of human psychology and the deeper philosophical issues that her novels address. Each novel constitutes an aesthetic response to different modes of psychological suffering pertinent not only to Laforet’s life but to the human condition in general.

Caragh Wells is senior lecturer in the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at the University of Bristol. Her research focuses primarily on post-war Spanish and Catalan fiction with particular emphasis on women's writing, feminist theory, psychoanalysis and the emotions.

Reviews:

‘Caragh Wells's seminal exploration of the psychological and aesthetic underpinning of Laforet’s novels is a must-read for anyone interested in such aspects of literature, Hispanic and global.’ — Lilit Žekulin Thwaites, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research March 2020 (full text online)
‘A required tome for any serious scholar or student of Carmen Laforet. It is a carefully researched and thoughtfully written study that should place Caragh Wells among the elite Laforetian scholars of the day.’ — Mark P. Del Mastro, Bulletin of Spanish Studies 97.3, March 2020, 444-45

Contents:

ix-x	Acknowledgements C. W. doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.3	Cite
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1-16	Introduction Caragh Wells doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.4	Cite
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17-36	Chapter 1 Grief and Relief: Nada (1945) Caragh Wells doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.5	Cite
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37-54	Chapter 2 Reason As Relief: La Isla Y Los Demonios (1952) Caragh Wells doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.6	Cite
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55-70	Chapter 3 Religion As Relief: La Mujer Nueva (1955) Caragh Wells doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.7	Cite
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71-90	Chapter 4 Friendship As Relief: La Insolación (1963) Caragh Wells doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.8	Cite
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91-108	Chapter 5 Psychoanalysis As Relief: Al Volver La Esquina (2004) Caragh Wells doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.9	Cite
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109-112	Conclusion: Silence and Relief Caragh Wells doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.10	Cite
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113-118	Bibliography Caragh Wells doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.11	Cite
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119-124	Index Caragh Wells doi:10.2307/j.ctv16kkztf.12	Cite
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Bibliography entry:

Wells, Caragh, The Novels of Carmen Laforet: An Aesthetics of Relief, Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures, 29 (Legenda, 2019)

First footnote reference: ³⁵ Caragh Wells, The Novels of Carmen Laforet: An Aesthetics of Relief, Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures, 29 (Legenda, 2019), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: ³⁷ Wells, p. 47.

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Bibliography entry:

Wells, Caragh. 2019. The Novels of Carmen Laforet: An Aesthetics of Relief, Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures, 29 (Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Wells 2019: 21).

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The Novels of Carmen LaforetAn Aesthetics of Relief

Caragh Wells

The Novels of Carmen Laforet
An Aesthetics of Relief