Azorín and Descriptive Stillness: Aspects on Style in "La Andalucía Trágica"

Abstract

Azorín's writing was characterized from the beginning by the search for an easily recognizable genuine style. The critics agree in affirming an evolution in his style, which has great austerity in his last writings where he removes everything accessory. In our reading we observed certain aspects in the author's early prose that can be linked to his search for verbal concentration and precision, which show an intentional elaboration in pursuit of recognizing himself and being recognized by a unique, very personal style. In the analysis of selected passages from the articles that conform "La Andalucía trágica", an essay first published in the press and added to the third edition of Los pueblos (1905) from 1914 onwards, we will try to detect some intrinsic and decisive factors in the configuration of his modern style. Here, from a fragmentary view of the narrator, he tries to represent what he calls the "Andalucía trágica", clearly related to the Spain’s regenerationist concern of the men of '98. Although Azorin's work has already been extensively studied, we have not found any recent critical studies about these articles; hence our interest.