Miguel de Unamuno

1. Miguel de Unamuno

2. New Currents of Thought • Psychoanalysis (Freud) • Marxism, gains importance • Existentialism (man is born in order to die) • Soren Kierkegaard “leap of faith”

3. 1898 • Explosion of the Maine in Santiago de Cuba • War with the United States: begins April 23 • Destruction of the Spanish Fleet in the Pacific and the Caribeean • Treaty of Paris: December 10

4. Effects • Spain loses its last colonies: • Independent: Cuba and the Phillipines • Protectorates of the U.S.: Puerto Rico y Guam • Crisis in Spain: end of empire • Spanish intellectuals try to understand the essence of Spain.

5. Miguel de Unamuno 1864-1936 Intellectual Essayist Novelist Dramatist Poet

6. Chronology 1864 Born in Bilbao. 1873 Siege and bombardment of Bilbao by the Carlists. Interrupts Unamuno’s education. 1880 Attends U of Madrid 1883-84 Receives doctorate 1891 Marries Concepción Lizarraga. In June passes tests to become Professor of Greek at the U of Salamanca. Spends his life in Salamanca, except for periods of exile and deportation due to his political views. 1896-1897 he experiences a personal religious crisis that causes a distrust of progress and science.

7. Chronology 1914 Becomes rector of the University, a post he loses because of criticism of Alfonso XIII. 1924 Deported to Fuerteventura (Canarias) for his opposition to the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, Is exiled in Paris and then in Hendaya, until 1930. Loses his professorship. 1930 Returns to Spain, given the professorship of History of the Spanish Language. 1931 Named rector of the University but is fired due to his sympathy for the rebellion of General Francisco Franco. 1936 Reinstated as rector but loses the post due to his disapproval of the nationalists. Dies in Salamanca, 31st of December under house arrest.

8. Sample of Works • Essays • Vida de Don Quijote y Sancho (1905) suggests that Cervantes' hero represents the spirituality of the Spanish people. • Del sentimiento trágico de la vida en los hombres y en los pueblos (1913). • Novels: • Paz en la guerra (1897) explores the relationship of self and world through the familiarity with death. It is based on his experiences as a child during the Carlist siege of Bilbao. • Niebla (1914) called this work a “nivola” to dintiguish it from the novel • Abel Sánchez (1917) uses Cain and Abel story • San Manuel Bueno, Mártir (1933) • Poems: “El Cristo de Velázquez” (1920)

9. Cristo de Velazquez