French Literature Reviews - 2026
A, Le Scoëzec Masson, Who Am I? Valle-Inclán
Theatre and Performance
Annick Le Scoëzec Masson: "Who Am I?" Valle-Inclán
Grez-sur-Loing, PARDÈS, October 28, 2016, 128 p.
ISBN: 978-2-86714-496-7
Price: 12€
Although largely unknown to the French public, Ramón del Valle-Inclán enjoys a steadily growing appreciation in Spain, where he occupies a prominent place in the pantheon of Hispanic literature. A reformer of dramatic forms and theatrical language in the 1920s, alongside figures like Brecht or Pirandello, Valle-Inclán was also a master prose writer and a poet in constant pursuit of spirituality. Passionately interested in politics, he delivered an uncompromising critique of contemporary society.
This volume of the "Who Am I?" series dedicated to Valle-Inclán traces the intellectual journey of an extraordinary artist and presents the multiple facets of a prolific, complex, and evolving body of work. Rooted in an ancestral land rich in legends—Galicia—as well as in the Madrid of 1900 and the turbulent decades of the 1920s and 1930s on the eve of the Civil War, not to mention the Americas of the former colonial empire with its operetta tyrants (Tirano Banderas, 1926), this work is distinguished by a rigorous writing style imbued with avant-garde sensibilities. From the Sonatas, four short poetic narratives, to The Carlist War, a novelistic trilogy; from the Barbarous Comedies, a Galician dramatic trilogy, to Bohemian Lights, the Madrid-set play that established Valle-Inclán's signature aesthetic; and including March Carnival, a satire of a caricatural military, the broad scope of Valle-Inclán's creation continually unfolds the rich dimensions of a masterful vision waiting to be (re)discovered. It culminates in his unfinished novelistic trilogy The Iberian Arena, which synthesizes the author's aesthetic, historical, and ideological reflections.
An agrégée in Spanish and a PhD in General and Comparative Literature, Annick Le Scoëzec Masson has dedicated a significant part of her research to the work of Valle-Inclán (cf. Ramón del Valle-Inclán et la sensibilité "fin de siècle", L'Harmattan, Paris, 2000), whose Sonatas she has translated and introduced (Classiques Garnier, 2014, repr. October 2016). She is also the author of two collections of poetry (Suite indienne, 2001, and Brouillard sur le Pavillon Haut, 2015) and two novels (Mélancolie au Sud, 2004, and Esplanade Avenue, 2010).
Ramón del Valle-Inclán stands alongside contemporaries like Bertolt Brecht and Luigi Pirandello as a major reformer of twentieth-century theatrical language and dramatic forms. His career bridges the fin-de-siècle aesthetic and the turbulent political climate of Spain leading up to the Civil War. Scholar Annick Le Scoëzec Masson examines how the author's work draws deeply upon the legendary traditions of his native Galicia, the vibrant intellectual milieu of Madrid, and the historical legacy of the Spanish Americas. The study surveys significant milestones of his literary output, including Sonatas, Bohemian Lights, and the novelistic trilogy The Carlist War.
This volume serves as an accessible introduction for readers seeking to understand a multifaceted figure of Hispanic literature who remains less known in France. By highlighting the evolution from early poetic narratives to biting political satire and unfinished ideological projects like The Iberian Arena, the book illuminates Valle-Inclán's uncompromising critique of society and relentless pursuit of spirituality. It offers valuable context for students of comparative literature, theater history, and avant-garde prose, guiding them through the complex oeuvre of a master craftsman whose innovative vision continues to invite fresh critical attention.