The Ortega collection in “Spanish and Latin American Lives of the 19th Century”: another political and cultural undertaking

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63487/reo.162

Keywords:

Ortega y Gasset, Espasa-Calpe, New Biography, Dehumanized novel, Vital Reason, Historical Reason, Europeanization

Abstract

In 1928 and as a literary advisor, Ortega y Gasset projected in the Espasa-Calpe publishing house a biographical collection entitled Vidas Españolas e Hispanoamericanas del Siglo XIX (1929-1942). This article examines succinctly the series as one of his initiatives to bring Spain closer to Europe, since it followed the trail of the new biography, as well as his political and cultural business. The series was motivated by three factors: the need to renew the dehumanized novel, the relation between biography and the vital and historical reason, and, finally, the political conditions.

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Author Biography

Jessica Cáliz Montes, Universidad de Barcelona

She holds a degree in Hispanic Philology (with honors) and a master's degree in Spanish Language and Hispanic Literature from the University of Barcelona (with honors), where she obtained her PhD in February 2017 with a thesis entitled La nueva biografía: Vidas Españolas e Hispanoamericanas del Siglo XIX (The New Biography: Spanish and Latin American Lives of the 19th Century), thanks to an FPU grant from the Ministry of Education. Her research, cum laude and awarded the Extraordinary Doctorate Prize, has been awarded the 11th International Academy of Hispanic Studies Prize and published as. In addition to Ortega y Gasset's editorial work, his lines of research include the newspaper archives and literary criticism of the Silver Age, especially the figure of Melchor Fernández Almagro, the publishing industry, the polarization between elite culture and mass culture, metafiction, and fantasy literature, among others.

As for his publications, many of which focus on Ortega y Gasset, the following are particularly noteworthy: “The collection ‘Vidas Españolas e Hispanoamericanas del Siglo XIX’ (Spanish and Latin American Lives of the 19th Century) in the context of Ortega's social pedagogy,” in URRUTIA, Jorge and THION SORIANO-MOLLÁ, Dolores (eds.), From Slave to Servant: Literature and Society (1825-1930). Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 2014; “The different exiles of Antonio Espina, the ‘Fígaro’ of the 20th century,” in AZNAR SOLER, Manuel; LÓPEZ GARCÍA, José-Ramón; MONTIEL RAYO, Francisca, and RODRÍGUEZ, Juan (eds.), The Republican exile of 1939: journeys and returns. Seville: Renacimiento, 2014; “The de-canonization of the Silver Age from its literary salons: Fabulous narratives through stories,” in MURILLO SAGREDO, Jesús and PEÑA GARCÍA, Laura (eds.), Literary after-dinner conversations: on gastronomy in Hispanic literature. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 2015; Ortega y Gasset and the new biography: Spanish and Latin American lives of the 19th century. Vigo: Academia del Hispanismo, 2019.

References

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Published

2020-11-01 — Updated on 2020-11-01

How to Cite

Cáliz Montes, J. (2020). The Ortega collection in “Spanish and Latin American Lives of the 19th Century”: another political and cultural undertaking. Revista De Estudios Orteguianos, (41), 43–50. https://doi.org/10.63487/reo.162

Issue

No. 41 (2020)

Section

Ponencias