Open Collections

Philosophical elements in Martin de Caretas

University of British Columbia

Martin de Caretas is a trilogy of novels richly endowed with literary and philosophical elements stemming from such varied sources as the Old Testament, the picaresque, Cervantes, Galdos and Baroja. In writing Martin de Caretas, Sebastian Juan Arbo avails himself of certain superficially picaresque features which serve not so much to constitute a modern adaptation of the picaresque novel as to portray cultural and social conditions for a uniquely twentieth century protagonist with timeless human characteristics. The same can be said for the author's apparent recourse to Old Testament wisdom from the book of Ecclesiastes which, like the true picaresque, gives us a pessimistic view of man's condition on earth. The ultimate effect of Martin de Caretas is one of transcending such a pessimistic view of life on earth, ironically with the aid of elements of the wisdom from Ecclesiastes and the general ideological climate in which existentialism had come to exert considerable influence. Both the author of Ecclesiastes and the humanistic existentialists were essentially optimistic about man's potential for psychic well-being in spite of life's negative qualities. This contrasts with Arbo's earlier Catalan narratives about harsh rural life and its determination of the character of rustic people, in which one sees only the superficial pessimistic qualities associated with existentialism. Arbo, then, leads his young protagonist through an extended series of episodic adventures through which he develops as a responsible, autonomous man over the impediments posed not so much by the inscrutable vicissitudes of life, but by well meaning adults seeking to guide him. An ideological/formal study of these mentors and their function would embrace the aforementioned Old Testament wisdom, existential thought and picaresque features that contribute to the uniqueness of Martin de Caretas. The tripartite structure of the work affords further potential for the study of time, space (landscape) and money as constituent elements of Arbo's philosophical intention. This thesis proposes that a study of such elements may reveal that the author composed Martin de Caretas with a preconceived philosophical scheme or that, as a novelist, he was merely responding to the existing philosophical and literary climate of the time.

Text

2010-05-31

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25221

Hispanic Studies

University of British Columbia

Graduate