The picaresque novel and its characteristics

During the Spanish Golden Age a narrative subgenre appeared that was totally contrary to the aesthetics of the time. We are talking about the picaresque novel, a type of literary text that arose as a rejection of Renaissance idealism and with the aim of criticizing the Spanish society of the time. With "Lazarillo de Tormes" we witness the first great expression of this narrative subgenre that had great success during the 16th and 17th centuries both in Spain and in Europe. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will discover what they are the characteristics of the picaresque novel so that you know in detail this type of literary production so typical of Spanish letters.

Before starting to talk about the characteristics of the picaresque novel, it is important to briefly contextualize the beginning of this literary genre typical of Spanish letters. It's about a prose genre that had a great importance in Spanish literature and that, later, so influenced European authors. It arose during the

Spanish Golden Age, a time in which, socially, Spain was immersed in different wars and military strategies that made the rural areas of the country impoverished.

The innovation of the picaresque was that, while the lyric and the novels of the time idealized the characters, with this subgenre it was intended show spanish reality just as it really was: a society full of beggars, thieves and people anchored in economic misery. Therefore, we can point out that this type of novel appeared in contrast to the idealizing novels that were so abundant during the Renaissance.

This was the reason why many people baptized this subgenre as "antinovela" since, in addition to showing a painful reality, the protagonist of the narrative was also a antihero: a poor, miserable and "mischievous" person who lived marginally in society.

But the origin of the picaresque novel in Spain dates back to the death of King Felipe II and during the second third of the seventeenth is when it reaches its maximum splendor. This was the subgenre that the authors chose for portray the decline of society Spanish of the time with daily narratives and with illustrious and well-regarded people from society.

The masterpiece of the picaresque novel is, without a doubt, The Lazarillo de Tormes, a novel that appeared in 1554 and that was a faithful reflection of the corruption that existed in the society of the time. The author of the work It presents emblematic people of the time such as priests, soldiers, etc.

But let's get into the matter now and get to know what the characteristics of the picaresque novel are. It is a very specific genre that has unique elements that make it very easy to recognize. Here we leave you a complete list with the most outstanding elements of this type of literary production.

1. The character of the rogue as the protagonist

Obviously, one of the main characteristics of this type of novel is that it stars a very defined character: the rogue. This character is usually a person who comes from a lower class or who lives on the margins of society. Therefore, we can talk about a complete antihero that he is totally contrary to the novelistic protagonist that we were used to. The objective of this character will always be the same: to improve his social condition. However, to achieve his purpose he must be cunning and "rogue".

2. Renaissance parody

Another characteristic of the most common picaresque novel is that the authors wrote this narrative subgenre to offer a satirical version of the idealistic novel Renaissance. And it is that, only because of its main protagonist, we find an antihero who goes totally against the classic literary heroes.

3. False autobiography

Normally, picaresque novels are structured as if they were a false autobiography. And, for this, resources are used such as, for example, narrating the events in the first person singular or with a tone of regret that makes us empathize with his situation. It is common for the protagonist to speak directly to us, the readers, and explain events about his past, his genealogy, his misadventures, and so on.

4. Presence of social determinism

In the vast majority of novels of this subgenre, the antihero is subject to a social determinism that does not allow you to advance or improve in his life. That is, as much as he tries to improve and achieve a better quality of life, he will end up failing and will never abandon his situation on the social scale.

5. Moralizing novel

The fact that the protagonist can never improve in his life has a moralizing intention: and it is that the author intended offer a great "example" of the human misconduct that many people in the city may be forced to commit. But, no matter how much they do, they never end up "rewarding" this behavior, but rather they end up punishing themselves with a destiny and an immovable future.

6. Satirical tone

Another of the great characteristics of the picaresque novel is that these texts are written with a satirical tone and with a great presence of humor. Through this humorous voice it is possible to launch a voracious criticism of the society of the time and, also, of the great hypocrisy that exists in all layers and estates. Therefore, among the authors who cultivate this genre, there is a great use of irony as a resource to show a painful reality.

7. Colloquial and informal language

Because the protagonist of the novels is usually a person of low and marginalized social status, these works are usually written in a very colloquial language. Let us remember that, as we have already said, these novels are usually presented in the first person, emulating a autobiography, therefore, in order to reflect the social condition of the character, a language adapted to his reality.

And now that we have already reviewed the characteristics of the most outstanding picaresque novel, we are going to meet the authors and works that are most emblematic of this literary subgenre. Although its splendor was during the Spanish Golden Age, the truth is that we could already see this literary style in the classic literature with works like Satyricon of Petronio or The golden ass scored by Lucio Apuleyo.

In Spain, representatives of the picaresque novel best known were:

• Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and his fortunes and adversities
• Mateo Alemán, Guzman de Alfarache
• Juan Martí, Second part of the Guzmán de Alfarache
• Francisco de Quevedo, The life of the Buscón
• Juan Cortés de Tolosa, Lazarillo de Manzanares
• Juan de Luna, Second part of Lazarillo de Tormes

The picaresque novel in Europe

Although this genre was very popular and successful in Spanish literature, its influence could be seen in many other countries in Europe such as the following.

• England: Life of Jack Wilton by Thomas Nashe, Fortunes and adversities of the famous Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, The Tom Jones story by Henry Fielding
• France: The comic novel by Paul Scarron
• Holland: Brabant Spanish by Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero
• Germany: True Story of Isaac Winkelfelder and Jobst von der Schneid by Nikolaus Ulenhart, The adventurer Simplicíssimus by Hans Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen