Ramón del Valle-Inclán (1866-1936) was undoubtedly the most controversial literary figure of his generation. Whilst his genius was recognised by fellow writers, the reading public was slow to accept his work, and his theatre taxed directors and audiences alike. One of the harshest criticisms levelled against him concerned his use of repetition. This study shows how the reuse, recycling and development of material becomes one of the hallmarks of Valle-Inclán's writing during the first three decades of his literary career, linking one genre with another and blurring the borders between different aesthetics. The repetition of themes and motifs, characters and stylistic devices reveals an underlying interdependence among works that on the surface appear unconnected or even contradictory. Many of Valle-Inclán's works have been studied in isolation, rather than as pieces of a whole. This book examines the elements that provide significant links in his writing between 1889 and 1922, most of which shares the common backdrop of Galicia, and demonstrates that apparently unrelated works are part of a larger picture. Despite changes in perspective and genre, there are constants that relate individual works to those that precede and follow, creating a unifying pattern of continuity.

Published by Boydell & Brewer Inc.

Written in the early 1920s, Lights of Bohemia is set in the twilight phase of Madrid's bohemian artistic life against the turbulent social and political background of events between 1900 and 1920.

Ram�n del Valle-Incl�n (1866-1936) Galician novelist and playwright, evolved in style from the brio of these early short stories, to the luxuriance of his Sonatas (Vol II in this series) --- the life and loves of his Don Juan-like avatar, the Marqu�s de Bradom�n. There followed the straight-forward historical novel The Carlist War (Vol III) chronicling the horrors of Spain's 19th century ideological civil conflict.Valle's crowning achievement (masterpiece of esperpento or nailing of truth through the grotesque), is The Iberian Arena (Vol IV), a choral novel touching on every aspect of Spanish society as it flays the follies and vices of the Court of Isabel II in 1868, the year of her overthrow. Spain's greatest political novel of the 20th century.

The Sonatas are the memoirs of the Marquis o f Bradomin, a Galician Don Juan. Where the Spring and Summer Sonatas showed Bradomin at the height of his powers, we now find him in the autumn and winter of his life '