Dissidences

Hispanic Journal of Teory and Criticism

Volume 3
|
Issue 5 Article 1
11-30-2012
Tirano Banderas: A Case of Early Postmodernism
Jefrey Oxford
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
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Recommended Citation
Oxford, Jefrey (2009) "Tirano Banderas: A Case of Early Postmodernism," Dissidences: Vol. 3: Iss. 5, Article 1.
Available at: htp://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/dissidences/vol3/iss5/1
Tirano Banderas: A Case of Early Postmodernism
Keywords / Palabras clave
Postmodernism, Tirano Banderas, Valle-Incln, Spain
Tis article / artculo is available in Dissidences: htp://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/dissidences/vol3/iss5/1
Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 1
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Jerey Oxord , Uniersity o \isconsin - Milwaukee




1irano Banderas ,1926, is oten cited as the Spanish author Valle-Inclan`s masterpiece, as well, the
noel is pointed out as the prototypical esperpento--the caricaturesque literary orm or which the
author achieed ame. 1hat 1irano Banderas has roots in 19
th
-century naturalism is undisputed, and
no one denies the inluence that the esperpento has on the post-Ciil \ar tremendista literature o
Camilo Jos Cela, Carmen Laoret, and others. Interestingly, especially in light o the common
critical attention to aesthetics, language and character creation, and irony in the work, is the lack o
acknowledgement and,or study o the parallels between 1irano Banderas and later, postmodernist
literature. 1his latter moement`s emphasis on language--in particular the parody--as well as
nonsensical speech, and the lack o order in lie, among other techniques and tropes, has been
adequately noted. But no study currently exists detailing the importance o Valle-Inclan or his work
Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 2
to the postmodernists. In this essay, I will ocus on three aspects o 1irano Banderas that indicate
nascent characteristics o what would later become known as postmodernism: breakdown o
identity, ragmentation o time, and an emphasis on language manipulation. It is my contention,
then, that 1irano Banderas is, in act, an early example o Spanish postmodernism.

7,1%83*9& *. "31&5"52

1he establishment o one`s identity has traditionally been perceied as undamental to understanding
one`s existence, to the reason or being, postmodernism, howeer, esteems indiidual identity to be
o little importance, preerring instead to oer a sense o breakdown o national, linguistic, ethnic,
and cultural identities` ,Irine,. 1here is, then, a global illage` phenomena |or a| globalization o
cultures, races, images, capital, products` ,Irine,. 1irano Banderas relects such through its
construction o itsel as a type o global community. In the two-day time rame o the noel`s plot,
the reader learns that gachupines, con el rudo acento del Lbro` ,68,, control the country and that
people o other countries are more important to the nation`s well-being than the naties themseles.
Lurope has the means by which esos hombres pueden hacer estudios que aqu nos orienten` ,15,, a
Polish scientist introduces biomagnetism and works as the hypnotizer that succeeds in haing Lupita
read Banderas`s mind, and a North American is the one, in spite o the general hatred o \ankees
expressed by the Indians, who supplies the inancial means to exploit the country`s resources. But
this breakdown o a homogenous identity is een more notable when one considers that the
transplants neer are able to assimilate themseles totally into either the natie indigenous or the
lispanic culture and language. Mr. Contum, the yanqui,` proesses to understand the political
speeches, but his own words render that suspect: Lstar mucho interesante or los discursos. As


Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 3
manana estar bien enterado m. Nadie lo contar m. Orlo de las orejas` ,66,. 1he peasant girl`s
grandmother breaks out in Italian: ,Perch questa ollia Se il lilomeno troa ortuna nella
rioluzione potra dientar un Garibaldi. Non mi spaentar i bambini!` ,159,, and the written text
includes the inerted Spanish punctuation marks at the beginning o both the question and
exclamation ,typographical marks not present in Italian,, urther conusing the distinction between
the two languages and the character`s identity. And een the indigenous Banderas himsel enters the
room exclaiming in Latin, again with the troublesome introductory exclamation point, Salutem
plurimam!` ,18,.

But it`s not just the conusion,utilization o a ariety o languages by the narratie`s characters that
leads to a sense o hybridity, globalization, and lack o any recognizable identity, the critic Valencia
comments on the use o language by Valle-Inclan in the noel by noting that liguraban en l raros
trminos castellanos entreerados de americanismos, por lo comn remotos, propios del habla
mejicana, cubana, peruana, argentina, chilena, en una sntesis genial que atendera artsticamente
mucho mas a su brillo y color expresio que a su propiedad purista estricta` ,Valle-Inclan 22,. And
Lima notes that Despite Valle-Inclan`s concentrated eort to amalgamate many strains o culture,
history, and character, indiidual reiewers |.| extracted rom the synthetic noel the circumstances
depicting their own region` ,151,. Language, then, becomes an important narratie element that
leads to the reading o the noel as an emerging postmodern work.

In addition to the breakdown o identity as demonstrated through language, 1irano Banderas also
contains what Irine reers to as the postmodern cyborgian mixing o organic and inorganic,


Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 4
human and machine and electronic.` \hen the Mayor del Valle speaks with Banderas, la oz tena
una modulacin maquinal` ,185,, and the soldiers receie their orders to capture Coronel
Domiciano con ritmo de autmatas alemanes` ,185,. Meanwhile, Kirschner, while not speciically
mentioning the issue o identity, also notes the automatismo` and teatralera` o the narratie
,632,. Ll Cabo de Vara, as well, demonstrates a complex hybridization o identities, national as well
as ,in,organic in that Lra mulato, muy escueto, con automatismo de antoche: Se cubra con un
chaado quepis rancs, lleaba pantalones colorados de uniorme, y guayabera rabona muy sudada`
,162,.


Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 5

Multiple hybridization o cultures, howeer, is also relected through the oerall narratie structure
and the unresoled question o whether 1irano Banderas is really a noel or a drama. 1he author
himsel is quoted by Madrid as calling it a noela` ,Boudreau 695,, but perhaps such should be
taken lightly since Valle-Inclan, upon beginning to receie the accolades rom 1irano Banderas`s
success, also then repudiated all his preious writings. And while it is true that the work lacks
theatrical markings such as scene or act number, character cues indicating each change o speaker,
or stage directions, Valencia does note that the narratie is Desarrollada en cuadros
cinematograicos` ,23,. Guilln goes een urther in explaining the multiple hybridities o the
structure when he notes that en cuanto a la orma, es teatral y, mas especicamente, guinolesca y
circense, con interpolaciones de la comedia de igurn. Guinol y circo son las metaoras
determinantes del ser y el actuar de los personajes: autmatas o animalescos, encuentran en esos
recintos el escenario adecuado` ,30,.

Interestingly, and not as supericial as it may at irst appear, the mixing o genres which leads the
reader to question whether the work is really a noel or a drama urther arises within the narratie
itsel. Lspronceda`s Cancin del pirata` appears, being entoned by el negro catedratico` with the
aleolar liquid replacing the palatal liquid: Naega, elelo mo, , sin temol, , que ni enemigo nao,
, ni tolmenta, ni bonanza, , a tolcel tu lumbo alcanza, , ni a sujetal tu alol` ,3,. 1he ballad
oreshadows Pedernales`s downall, immediately prior to Lupita`s mind-reading ,90, 92, 93,, when
Banderas, standing in his window, is sureying his kingdom ,49,. And Banderas himsel airms that
Lstamos en un olletn de Alejandro Dumas! ,Se recuerdan ustedes la noela Un olletn muy


Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 6
interesante. Lo estamos iiendo!` ,20,. In light o this hybridization o narratie structure, hardly
can the work be considered merely another examination o, and ocus on, language a la Generacin
de 98.` Len Unamuno`s niola remained at the core aithul to the literary structures demanded o
a noel, it is, among the Generation o 98--i not prewar--writers only Valle-Inclan who so radically
breaks rom tradition, constructs his own literary archetypes, and oreshadows what Irine calls
postmodernism`s promiscuous genres |and| recombinant culture.`

linally, the labeling o the work`s diisions, as well, demonstrates a hybridization--or more
accurately, a conusion o nomenclature. 1he narratie is diided into seen parts, with an additional
Prlogo` and Lplogo`, and each o these, in turn, is urther segmented into Libros` and
numbered diisions, these later not beginning on a new olio as would be the case with traditional
chapters. \hether or not this is relectie o the Bible or some other piece o literature in which the
oerall tome is diided into books` is not made clear, but the act remains that traditionally noels
hae been diided into parts and chapters while drama contains acts and scenes, norms that 1irano
Banderas iolates. 1hus, the reader remains at a loss o a ull understanding, and the critic can not
satisactorily explain the seemingly aberrant diisions without resorting to what lassan reers to as
the postmodern structural aspects o ambiguity,` pluralism,` decenterment,` and disjunction`
,153,.

:,%;61&5%5"*& *. /"61



Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 7
In addition to the hybridization o narratie structures, globalization, and the mixing o the organic
and inorganic, Irine notes that literary postmodernism demonstrates a marked ragmentation o
time into a series o perpetual presents.` In act, Klages airms that Postmodernism |.| doesn`t
lament the idea o ragmentation, proisionality, or incoherence, but rather celebrates that.` Clearly,
ragmentation and incoherence o time are prealent throughout 1irano Banderas. 1he plot occurs
oer a time rame o a mere two days, with the inal paragraph o the epilogue--where Banderas`s
cabeza, beada por sentencia, estuo tres das puesta sobre un cadalso con hopas amarillas` ,240,--
encompassing more clock time than the noel itsel.

Perhaps it should not be surprising then that the noel oers arious manners in which it can be
read. One way is the traditional coer-to-coer, beginning with page one and continuing to the
conclusion. 1his, howeer, ails to take into account the not-always chronological arrangement o
the chapters and the complex ragmentation o simultaneity such as, or example, the act that the
eents o the Prlogo` actually occur immediately prior to the eents o Part VII, book three,
section ie ,only thirteen paragraphs prior to the Lplogo`,. In a general sense, 1irano Banderas is
the story o Coronel Gandara`s all rom grace and taking up o arms beside those opposing the
dictator. Another, somewhat similar, reading would be Nacho`s unplanned collusion with Gandara
and attempts to sae himsel. \et another reading would ocus on lilomeno, and a ourth would
render Zacaras as the main character. Contemporaneous to all o these, howeer, would be the
loreign Ministers`s meeting, resulting in the letter signed by twenty-seen nations. loweer, it
should be remembered that any, or all, o these readings are legitimate and can be read
independently o each other, that is, the noel,drama deconstructs itsel into multiple


Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 8
interpretations, points o departure, and oci. As can be seen, then, the work is a complicated
portrayal o some ie simultaneous story lines much closer to the postmodern schizophrenia
,lassan 152, than the neoclassical unities o time, place and plot.

<%&;+%;1 6%&"$+-%5"*&

Postmodernism quite requently ocuses on an author`s use o language in its analyses, in act, it
oten appears that only elements o speech and language are o alue in postmodernist criticism.
Such comes as no surprise when one considers the importance that postmodernists place on
deconstruction, phenomenology, and semiotics. Lyotard, or instance, airms that human
discourses occur in any number o discrete and incommensurable realms, none o which is
priileged to pass judgment on the success or alue o any o the others,` and Klages states that
postmodernism emphasiz|es| pastiche, parody, bricolage, irony and playulness.` In 1irano
Banderas, while these are o arying importance, an examination o playulness and parody reeals
an element o postmodern humor and carnaalesque hyperbole.

Banderas himsel is an ironic caricature o not just the Spanish dictator Primo de Riera, but el
retrato de |...| todos los hombres uertes`` ,Valencia 2,. le parece una calaera con antiparras
negras y corbatn de clrigo` ,Valle-Inclan 40, and has la costumbre de rumiar la coca, por donde
en las comisuras de los labios tena siempre una saliilla de erde eneno` ,40,. Certainly, an
interpretation o eneno` as either enom` or poison` relects the dangerous nature o the
dictator and his disregard o any sanctity o lie, but it is a juxtapositioning o the erde eneno`


Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 9
and the juego de la rana that reeals the particularly postmodern subersie nature o the narratie.
1he juego de la rana seems to be what gies him most pleasure: amos a diertir honestamente este
rabo de tarde, en el jueguito de la rana` ,56,. And while the intricacies o the game are neer
explained in the text, it apparently is some dubious parody o the bolos-type competition ,La rana or
Ll juego de sapo, with the ictorious shout o rana!` being conerted into a submissie rog croak
,191-2, by Banderas`s playmate. But when Banderas enters the prison to speak with Roque, Nacho`s
submissieness seems to hae no positie eect, in act, the dictator, con la punta de la bota, le
hizo rodar por delante del centinela` ,192, ater Nacho`s tenth utterance o (cua!`

4*&'-+#"*&

In conclusion, 1irano Banderas is oten cited as the Spanish author Valle-Inclan`s masterpiece out o
deerence to its important position as the prototypical esperpento--the caricaturesque literary orm
or which the author achieed ame. Less than hal a century ater the publication o Valle-Inclan`s
work, howeer, postmodernism would seem to oertake the literary stage o the western world. 1his
latter moement`s emphasis on identity, the breakdown o time and language manipulation--as
opposed to the historically important plot structure, sensical speech, and an attempt to create order
in lie--has been requently noted among the critics. But no study has preiously been carried out
detailing the importance o Valle-Inclan or his work to the postmodernists. My argument in the
present essay, then, is to show how 1irano Banderas reeals nascent postmodernist tendencies and
merits a reexamination in light o its position as an early example o Spanish postmodernism.



Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 10
=*,8# 4"513

Boudreau, larold L. A Valle-Inclan`s Return to the Noel: 1926-1936.` Ramn del Valle-Inclan:
An Appraisal o lis Lie and \orks. Ld. Anthony N. Zahareas. New \ork: Las Americas
Publishing Co., 1968. 695-98.

Guilln, Ricardo. 1cnicas de 1irano Banderas.` Ramn del Valle-Inclan: An Appraisal o lis Lie
and \orks. Ld. Anthony N. Zahareas. New \ork: Las Americas Publishing Co., 1968. 23-
5.

lassan, Ihab. 1oward a Concept o Postmodernism.` Postmodernism: A Reader. Ld. 1homas
Docherty. New \ork: Columbia UP: 1993. 146-56.

Irine, Martin. 1he Postmodern,` Postmodernism,` Postmodernity`: Approaches to Po-Mo.`
1998. December 22, 2005.
www.georgetown.edu,aculty,irinem,technoculture,pomo.html.

Jean-lranois Lyotard.` 1he Luropean Graduate School. September 12, 2005. December 30, 2005.
www.egs.edu,aculty,lyotard.html.

Kirschner, 1eresa, J. La descripcin del Circo larris`: Lxplicacin de un texto de Valle-Inclan.`
Actas del Sptimo Congreso de la Asociacin Internacional de lispanistas, celebrado en
Venecia del 25 al 30 de agosto de 1980. Ld. Giuseppe Bellini. Rome: Bulzoni, 1982. 629-3.

Klages, Mary. Postmodernism.` April 21, 2003. December 22, 2005.
www.colorado.Ldu,Lnglish,LNGL2012Klages,pomo.html.

Lima, Robert. Valle-Inclan: 1he 1heatre o lis Lie. Columbia, U o Missouri P, 1988.

McGowan, John. Postmodernism.` 1he Johns lopkins Guide to Literary 1heory & Criticism. 2
nd

ed. 2005. December 22, 2005. litguide.press.jhu.edu,cgi-bin,iew.cgieid~212.


Dissidences. Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism 4/5 (2008) 11

Valencia, Antonio. Introduccin.` 1irano Banderas. Ramn del Valle-Inclan. 6
th
ed. Madrid:
Lspasa-Calpe, 198. 9B3.

Valle-Inclan, Ramn del. 1irano Banderas. 6
th
ed. Madrid: Lspasa-Calpe, 198.