JOSÉ MARÍA DE PEREDA: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS - LITERATURE - 2024

José María de Pereda y Sánchez Porrúa (1833-1906) was a Spanish novelist and politician who went down in the history of the literary world as one of the most important representatives of the transitory period from Costumbrismo to Fictional Realism that originated in the 19th century.

The works of this writer were developed within the rural and traditional aspects of his time. Many of them are based on his personal experiences, having spent part of his life in the field, and depending on livestock and agriculture.

José María de Pereda. Source: Zenón Quintana

His passion for writing was due more to his passionate spirit for the art of letters, than for an academic background. He had the ability to envelop the reader with a sufficiently energetic language and with detailed and intense descriptions of each of the environments.

Biography

José María de Pereda came from a large family dedicated to field and mountain activities. He was born in Polanco on February 6, 1833. His parents were Francisco de Pereda and Bárbara Josefa Sánchez Porrúa. Of twenty-two siblings, he was the youngest.

Perera Education

Pereda attended his primary education in the town where he was born. Years later, his parents made the decision to move to Santander, the capital of Cantabria, to give their children a better academic training. There the future writer entered the Cantabrian Institute.

He was not an outstanding student. Being born and living in the countryside, made him prefer nature, hunting and fishing instead of other activities. A few years later he went to Madrid to study at the Artillery Academy of Segovia.

Perera did not have a vocation for science, so while he was in Madrid he devoted himself to frequenting the sites of literary activities. He attended the theaters, meetings and conversations that took place in the then famous La Esmeralda cafe.

General aspects of your life

At 22 years of age, he returned to Santander to visit his family. Soon after, his mother died, causing deep sadness in Perera. It was a time of illness and disease. He was a victim of cholera and suffered an illness that left him in bed for a long period.

Later he recovered and began to take his first steps in writing. He wrote some newspaper articles for the printed medium La Abeja Montañesa. He used his last name to sign the essays. He also decided to start and founded the weekly El Tío Cayetano.

At the beginning of 1860 he tried to put on some plays, however he did not get the results he expected. Some of his first theatrical pieces were Tanto Tengo, Tanto Vales (1961), Marchar con el Siglo, which he premiered in 1863, and Mundo, Amor y Vanidad, from the same date as the previous one.

At the age of 31, José María de Pereda began to taste the honeys of fame, by publishing one of his most recognized works: Mountain Scenes. The boom was local at first, then spread to other parts. After that he did work for various newspapers.

Marriage and tragedy

In 1869 he married a young woman named Diodora de la Revilla. Little is known about him, but it is known that the couple had children, two males and one female.

The death by suicide of Juan Manuel, his first-born, led Perera to depression, and he was for a time away from his passion for writing.

Political activity

The writer was inclined towards politics. In 1869 he presented his candidacy for deputy for Cabuérniga, a town in Cantabria, in addition he did so for the absolutist and traditionalist movement known as Carlismo. From that time was his friendship with the writers Benito Pérez Galdós and Leopoldo Alas.

His walk through politics allowed him to collect experiences that he later expressed in some texts. In 1876 he published Bocetos al Temple in which he inserted the novel Los Hombres de Pro. Some time later he returned to his writing work. Which he combined with his family.

Death

Tribute to José María de Pereda. Source: www.webcamsantander.…

After the death of his son in 1893, the writer was mired in sadness and hopelessness. For some reason he blamed himself and after a while he didn't want to write anymore. His life deteriorated, and he began to suffer from various diseases. He died on March 1, 1906.

Style

Although the writer was close to the time of Romanticism and Naturalism, he did not approach those movements. His style was rather attached to customs and realism. He took great care to present the reality of his time, especially life in the fields and its characteristics.

Perera showed no affinity for the transformations of society towards the modern; hence he wrote the way he did. Writing about customs and traditions did not prevent him from being innovative, and at the same time giving vitality to each of his literary works.

Plays

Most of Pereda's works were based on the customs of his hometown. He did it with a detailed description and with a language in accordance with the educational instructions of the society of his time. The following are some of his most important works:

To be a good muleteer, the work of José María de Pereda. Source: Apel les Mestres i Oñós

De Tal Palo Tal Astilla (1880), Sotileza (1885), La Puchera (1889), Peñas Arriba (1895). In each of them, nature plays a fundamental role. Other renowned titles are: The Loose Ox (1878), To the First Flight: Vulgar Idyll (1891), and To Be a Good Arriero (1900).

Like father Like Son

In this novel the writer deals with the relationship between Águeda, a young believer, and Fernando, an atheist influenced by his father, Dr. Peñarrubia. The parents of both young people have different life stories ready for them. The end comes with the death of one of the lovers.

Fragment:

“-You won't deny me,” Don Sotero said, “that Águeda is a pearl of beauty.

What a body! Gold among cotton… What eyes! January star… How tall!…

Have you seen that size well, Bastián? "

Sotileza

In this case, Pereda dedicated himself to telling the story of Casilda, a girl without parents, who is taken in by a family of fishermen. In the development of the novel she falls in love with Andrés, who is the descendant of a wealthy sailor. The love between both is prohibited, because the society imposes norms that must be fulfilled.

The young people are forced to separate. Silda, as the protagonist is nicknamed, is going to marry a fisherman; while her lover will do the same but with a young girl of high social status. With this work the author reflected the way of life of fishermen and the inconveniences of their work at sea.

Fragment:

"… This, Sidora, is not a woman, it is pure sotileza… Here! And that is what we call her at home: Sotileza above and Sotileza below, and for Sotileza she responds so beautifully. As there is no wrong in it, and yes a lot of truth… Grape! ”.

In Peñas Arriba

Pereda managed to achieve wide recognition with this work. The reality with which he portrayed customs and history took him to a peak. The scholars of his works assure that in a scant twenty days the first edition was sold out.

As he was accustomed to his readers, he returned to write focused on his love for the work of the land, and his constant struggle to defend the customs and traditions of the people. Although the story is simple, it manages to capture the audience by the form and style that Pereda printed on it.

The plot is based on the life of Marcelo, who is going to spend a season at his uncle Celso's house in the town of Tablanca. The young man is impressed with the benefits and beauty of the place, and makes the decision to live in it, until he becomes just another local.

Fragment:

“Not only had the snow stopped, but the wind was also calmed; and, by a lucky chance, through a rip in the thicket of black clouds, the full moon appeared, shedding its pale light on the white tapestry of the valley and the highest peaks of the ridge of mountains that fascinate him… ”.

La Puchera

La Puchera is another of José María de Pereda's most outstanding novels. It was well accepted by the critics of its time. It is perhaps one of the closest to the current of Naturalism because it portrayed reality with objectivity and truth from many points of view.

In it Pereda narrated the story of two fishermen, father and son; the first called Pedro el Lebrato, and the second Pedro Juan el Josco. Their living condition was difficult, because they had to face constant threats from the moneylender Baltasar, whom they knew as the Verrugo.

In the course of the plot there are loves and heartbreaks. Hatred, anger, revenge and pain are also present. Despite the harshness of their lives, the fishermen are happy, while their executioner suffers the contempt of his daughter. The bad guy succumbs to fate.

"-Don't be stupid, Pedro Juan: take things properly, if you want on account of what you have… and tell your father that when he can go around here, I have to talk to him… It's not about that man, not that! Don't piss off again! It's a very different thing… ”.

The Loose Ox

Many scholars of the work of José María de Pereda consider that El Buey Loose is separated from what the author had written. Although he touches on the traditionalist and manners aspects in which he was an expert, he deviated, so to speak, towards moralistic teachings.

In the letter, Pereda explained the situation of those men who claimed to remain single, and who did not express the intention of joining any lady through marriage. In this case, he gives two close friends of his as examples.

In the story, Gideon marries a domestic named Solita, with whom he had children, although he doubts about paternity. A series of events unfold that tarnish the life of the protagonist, until in the end the only remedy is death.

Fragment:

“–How are you doing with your new life? –Asks the newfound crude.

"Well, like this, like this," Gideon says, grinding his teeth.

- At first it is a bit strange.

- Indeed, something is strange.

-But you will have already felt certain advantages…

"I have been unlucky in my house, if I have to tell you the truth."

(Here he summarizes in brief but picturesque words how much the reader knows of his domestic bitterness).

The taste of tierruca

It is said that with this work Pereda opened the way to the regional novel. It is a novel with a flavor of tradition and customs. That is why he set it in a purely rural space, in this case life in the Cumbrales village. In this case, love and class difference are the main themes.

The author was in charge of being a perfect portrait of landscapes, nature, customs and peculiarities of country life. It is a kind of document that collects a style and way of life that Pereda tried to make last over time.

Fragment:

“In the foreground, an extensive plain of meadows and cornfields, furrowed with streams and trails; those crawling hidden by the humid hollows; they are always looking for the firm in the dry hills… ".

“In the village where we are, old people abound, it gets dark later and it dawns earlier than in the rest of the region. There is a physical reason that explains the first by the same causes of the second; in other words, because of the elevated situation of the people ”.

With the previous fragments of El Sabor de la Tierruca, readers can see, smell and feel the qualities of the land described, which was one of Pereda's goals. Certainly the costumbrismo of his works has left a perennial mark on Spanish literature.

References

1. Fernández, T. and Tamaro, E. (2004-2018). José María de Pereda. (N / a): Biographies and Lives: The Online Biographical Encyclopedia. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com
2. José María de Pereda. (2018). Spain: Wikiepedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org
3. Arias, F. (2009). José María de Pereda (1833-1906). (N / a): Analytical Recovered from: analítica.com
4. González, J. (2018). José María de Pereda. Spain: Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library. Recovered from: cervantesvirtual.com
5. From Pereda, José María. (1996-2018). (N / a): Escritores.Org. Recovered from: writers.org