Abstract
Following an overview of the Cuban novel up to the inauguration of the Republic in 1902, Miguel de Carrion and Carlos Loveira are presented as representative novelists of the first generation of writers who developed their work from 1902 to 1933. Criticism on their work to date is reviewed, and an analysis of their approach to the creation of the fictional world serves as an introduction to the detailed discussion of thematic constants.The treatment of sex and love and its symbolic projections in each author are studied in Chapter 1. Carrion's main concerns are women, their relationships with self, their social role, sexual desires and fantasies, as well as the preoccupation with individual affirmation and authenticity. Loveira, on the other hand, treats love as a means of promoting unity, social welfare and change.The relationship between the paradoxical glorification of love, viewed as means of redemption which often fails, and other themes such as repression due to religious fanaticism and spiritual suicide is also examined. The portrayal of the female character, particularly the mother as symbol, is analyzed in detail in order to draw contrasts and parallelisms.Chapter 2 examines the treatment of loneliness and orphanhood as thematic constants which influence structure and narrative discourse. The effects of orphanhood and its profound symbolic implications in each author are also studied.Chapter 3 discusses each author's view of the Spanish Colonial heritage and its effects on the emerging Cuban nation. The negative influence of the Colonial period, and the reasons for the country's inability to transcend underdevelopment, as viewed by each author, are discussed in order to arrive at a definition of what Carrion and Loveira identify as "Spanish" and "Cuban." The manner in which descriptions of rural landscape and urban life, language and humor are used to portray the author's view of "lo cubano" is also examined.