The Meaning of Words: The Art (or Artlessness) of Communication in Galdós’ Torquemada en la hoguera (1889)

Abstract

Building upon James Whiston’s studies on Galdós’ dedication to the correction of his manuscripts and his preoccupation with contemporary matters, this article sets out to explore the novelist’s hitherto largely overlooked attention to language, and particularly its effectiveness in his work as a vehicle for communication. The article highlights Galdós’ concern with the superficiality of language employed in the oratorical sphere and examines why his style was undervalued during his lifetime. Using Torquemada en la hoguera as a case study, the article then proceeds to explore the different styles and the significance of individual words within this novel. Revealing that words can be used to deceive others, and additionally lead to misunderstandings, this study moves on to highlight Galdós’ sensitivity to non-verbal communication and examines the way that he innovatively employs body language. Torquemada en la hoguera is shown to reveal the author’s dissatisfaction with the superficiality of fin de siglo society, its propensity for imitation and the major problems it has in communication; the novel is seen also to expose the challenge faced by Realist writers attempting to use words to reproduce life. Finally, this article contends that Galdós uses language in Torquemada en la hoguera (and other novels) to incite readers to engage in a process of self-regeneration.

Key words:

• 19^th-century society in Spain
• 19^th-century Spanish novel
• fin de siglo
• Realism
• Benito Pérez Galdós
• Language in Galdós
• Torquemada en la hoguera

Notes

1 James Whiston, Creatividad textual e intertextual en Galdós (Ottawa: Dovehouse Editions Canada, 1999), 9.

2 Whiston, Creatividad textual e intertextual en Galdós, 215–16.

3 All quotations relate to the first-edition text of Torquemada en la hoguera (Madrid: La Guirnalda, 1889).

4 For example, H. B. Hall, ‘Torquemada: The Man and His Language’, in Galdós Studies, ed. J. E. Varey (London: Tamesis, 1970), 136–63; Douglass M. Rogers, ‘Lenguaje y personaje en Galdós (un estudio de Torquemada)’, Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, 206 (1967), 243–73; Diane Urey, ‘Identities and Differences in the Torquemada Novels of Galdós’, Hispanic Review, 53:1 (1985), 41–60; Creación de una realidad ficticia: las novelas de Torquemada de Pérez Galdós, ed. Yolanda Arencibia Santana (Madrid: Castalia, 1997).

5 Wadda C. Ríos-Font, ‘El crimen de la calle de San Vicente: Crime Writing and Bourgeois Liberalism in Restoration Spain’, Modern Language Notes, 120:2 (2005), 335–54 (p. 336).

6 Cited by María Cruz Seoane, Oratoria y periodismo en la España del siglo XIX (Madrid: Fundación Juan March/Castalia, 1977), 13.

7 Cited in Carmen Bravo-Villasante, Vida y obra de Emilia Pardo Bazán (Madrid: Magisterio Español, 1973), 122.

8 Emilio Castelar, ‘Crónica internacional’, La España Moderna, 107 (November 1897), 185–200 (pp. 199–200).

9 ‘Los tres oradores: Salmerón, Castelar y Cánovas’ (15-8-1886), in Benito Pérez Galdós, Obras inéditas, ed., con intro., de Alberto Ghiraldo, 10 vols (Madrid: Renacimiento, 1923–1930), III, Política española, 169–83. The articles’ dates correspond to their publication in La Prensa, as recorded in William Shoemaker, Las cartas desconocidas de Galdós en ‘La Prensa’ de Buenos Aires (Madrid: Ediciones Cultura Hispánica, 1973).

10 ‘La ola oratoria’ (17-1-1884), in Galdós, Obras inéditas, ed. Ghiraldo, II, Arte y crítica, 197–200 (pp. 197 & 198).

11 Galdós, ‘La ola oratoria’, 199.

12 Galdós, Obras inéditas, ed. Ghiraldo, III, 7–17 (p. 13).

13 Galdós, Obras inéditas, ed. Ghiraldo, III, 19–26 (p. 23). Indeed, according to Jaime Vicens Vives, only c.30 of the 296 practical plans proposed were implemented. See his Coyuntura económica y reformismo burgués, y otros estudios de la historia de España, nota preliminar & selección de textos de Josep Fontana, 4^a ed. (Barcelona: Ariel, 1974), 203.

14 Obras inéditas, ed. Ghiraldo, IV, Política española, 7–17 (p. 8)

15 Benito Pérez Galdós, El amigo Manso (Madrid: Administración de La Guirnalda y Episodios Nacionales, 1882), 164. Subsequent references are to this edition and are given in the text.

16 See Walter Pattison, ‘ “El amigo Manso” and el amigo Galdós’, Anales Galdosianos, 2 (1967), 135–53.

17 Eduardo Gómez de Baquero stated: ‘Es muy común la idea de que los periódicos están mal escritos y corrompen el idioma’ (‘Crónica literaria’, La España Moderna, 103 [July 1897], 120–32 [p. 129]).

18 José Echegaray, ‘Del periodismo en España’, in Discursos leídos ante la Real Academia Española en la recepción pública de D. Eugenio Sellés el día 2 de junio de 1895 (Madrid: Imprenta de la Revista de Navegación y Comercio, 1895), 45–63 (p. 61).

19 In his review of Torquemada en la cruz, H. Peseux-Richard wrote : ‘Quant à la langue, elle est toujours claire et nerveuse, mais certaines négligences de style tendraient à faire que le livre a été écrit un peu vite’ (Revue Hispanique, I [1894], 96; cited by Rogers, ‘Lenguaje y personaje en Galdós’, 243).

20 ‘Las letras’ (3-3-1886), in Galdós, Obras inéditas, ed. Ghiraldo, II, 37–48 (p. 46).

21 Ricardo Gullón, ‘Lenguaje y técnica de Galdós’, Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, 80 (1958), 38–61 (p. 42).

22 Cited by Rogers, ‘Lenguaje y personaje en Galdós’, 243.

23 He tells the tenants that ‘si las he sofocado otras veces no ha sido por el materialismo del dinero, sino porque me gusta ver cumplir á la gente … ’ (44).

24 Vernon Chamberlin, ‘The muletilla: An Important Facet of Galdós’s Characterization Technique’, Hispanic Review, 29:4 (1961), 296–309 (p. 299).

25 Torquemada en la cruz (Madrid: Imprenta de La Guirnalda, 1893), 86.

26 In Revilla’s words, it was ‘una enseñanza irrisoria que puede formar papagayos pero no hombres’. See Manuel de la Revilla, ‘De las reformas necesarias en la instrucción pública española’, Revista Contemporánea, 25 (1880), 178–87 (pp. 181–82); cited in Anna Homan, ‘Education and the Genesis of El doctor Centeno’, PhD dissertation (University of Sheffield, 2009), 43.

27 Vernon A. Chamberlin, ‘Galdós’ Use of Yellow in Character Delineation’, PMLA, 79 (1964), 158–63.

28 See Peter Bly, ‘The Mysterious Disappearance of Torquemada’s “Rosquilla” ’, Romance Notes, 18:1 (1977), 80–87.

29 Thus Quevedito suggests that Valentín should get some fresh air, whilst Torquemada blames the ‘miasmas’ for Valentín’s illness (36). See Teresa Fuentes Peris, Galdós’s ‘Torquemada’ Novels: Waste and Profit in Nineteenth-Century Spain (Cardiff: Univ. of Wales Press, 2007).

30 R. J. Weber, ‘Galdós’ Preliminary Sketches for Torquemada y San Pedro’, BHS, XLIV:1 (1967), 16–27 (p. 17).

31 See Michael W. Stannard, Galdós and Medicine (Bern: Peter Lang, 2015). Weber has also noted that the sketches to Torquemada y San Pedro were probably preserved among letters to Galdós from Tolosa Latour.

32 See also Terence Folley, ‘Clothes and the Man: An Aspect of Benito Pérez Galdós’ Method of Literary Characterization’, BHS, XLIX:1 (1972), 30–39.

33 It is repeated later: ‘—¡Tres mil reales!—dijo el usurero poniendo la cara de duda reflexiva que para los casos de benevolencia tenía; cara que era ya en él como una fórmula dilatoria, de las que se usan en diplomacia’ (82).

34 Clarín also lamented, ‘—¡Ay! nuestras medianías no saben más que imitar’ (‘Revista literaria’, La España Moderna, 13 [January 1890], 193–216 [p. 211]).

* Disclosure Statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.