Gabriel Miró Ferrer (;
Alicante
Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
, 28 July 1879 –
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, 24 May 1930), known as Gabriel Miró, was a Spanish modernist writer. In 1900 he finished his studies in law at the
University of Granada
The University of Granada (, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apart from the city of Granad ...
and the
University of Valencia
The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...
. He focused mainly on writing novels, but also collaborated to a large number of newspapers such as: ''El Heraldo, Los Lunes de El Imparcial, ABC'' and ''El Sol''. He was among the contributors of the Madrid-based avant-garde magazine ''
Prometeo
''Prometeo'' (''Prometheus'') is an "opera" by Luigi Nono, written between 1981 and 1984 and revised in 1985. Here the word "opera" carries the generic Italian meaning of "works", as in work of art, and not its usual meaning in English. Indeed, ...
'' between 1908 and 1912. The rich and poetic language, the philosophical and theological ideas, and the subtle irony are some of the main characteristics of his works. Gabriel Miró preferred to focus on the intimate world of his characters and its development, in the inner relations between everything in their surrounding and the way they evolve in time.
He is the author of more than 20 novels. Most critics believe that Gabriel Miró's literary maturity begins with ''Las cerezas del cementerio'' (''Cemetery cherries'') (1910), whose plot revolves around the tragic love of the super-sensitive young man Félix Valdivia for an older woman (Beatriz) and presents—with an atmosphere of voluptuousness and lyrical
intimism—the themes of
eroticism
Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...
,
illness
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...
, and
death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
.
Work
In 1915 he published ''El abuelo del rey'' (''The King's grandfather''), a novel that tells the story of three generations of a tiny
Levant
The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
ine town, for the sake of presenting, and not without a little irony, the struggle between tradition and progress, the pressures of one's environment, and above all, a meditation about time.
One year later, ''Figuras de la Pasión del Señor'' (''Characters from Our Lord Passion'') (1916–17) was published, formed by a series of scenes about the last days of
Jesus
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. Also in 1917, Miró began his autobiographical-style works with ''Libro de Sigüenza'' (''Sigüenza's book''), in which ''Sigüenza'' is not only the
heteronym or
alter-ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different personality. Add ...
of the author, but the author's own lyrical self, which gives unity to the scenes which comprise the book.
''El humo dormido'' (''The sleeping smoke'') (1919) is one of his most personal books and contains various autobiographical moments. There the author mingles reflections on topics like childhood, life, death, friendship, innocence, imagination, faith and beauty. These are also the main topics of his literary works as a whole. In ''Años y leguas'' (''Years and leagues'') (1928) he again turns back to his character of Sigüenza as a
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...
, are of a similar nature.
In 1921, he finished two more books: ''El ángel, el molino, el caracol del faro'' (''The angel, the mill, the lighthouse snail''), a book of scenes, and the novel ''Nuestro padre San Daniel'' (''Our father Saint Daniel''), which is part of a series with ''El obispo leproso'' (''The leprous bishop'')(1926). Both play out in the Levantine city of ''Oleza'', a reflection of
Orihuela
Orihuela (; ''Corpus Toponímic Valencià''. Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. 2009, València.) is a city and municipality located at the foot of the Sierra de Orihuela mountains in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain. The c ...
, in the last third of the 19th century. The city, submerged in lethargy, is seen as a microcosm of
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...
and sensuality, in which the characters debate between their natural inclinations and social repression, and intolerance and the religious resistance to progress to which they are submitted.
Ricardo Gullón has described the Miró's stories as
lyrical novels. They pay more attention to the expression of feelings and sensations than the simple act of listing events. The hallmarks of Miró's work are:
#The use of the
ellipsis
The ellipsis (, plural ellipses; from , , ), rendered , alternatively described as suspension points/dots, points/periods of ellipsis, or ellipsis points, or colloquially, dot-dot-dot,. According to Toner it is difficult to establish when t ...
and
#The structuring of the story in disparate scenes, joined by reflection and memory
Impermanence is the essential theme of the author, who incorporates the past into a continuing present, through sensations, evocation, and memory.
Like Azorín before him, the senses are a form of creation and knowledge in Miró's work, hence
#the vivid style of his work,
#the use of synthesis and sensory images
#surprising adjectives and
#a lavish vocabulary
For background on his reading Macdonald's monograph, ''Gabriel Miró: his private library and his literary background.'' provides illumination.
[Macdonald, Ian R. 1975. ''Gabriel Miró: his private library and his literary background.'' London: Tamesis Books.]
Further reading
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Miro, Gabriel
1879 births
1930 deaths
Writers from Alicante
Spanish male writers