The literary imponderables: the case of José María Requena

Abstract

The literary work of José María Requena (1925-1998) has not received, not even among his fellow countrymen, the recognition it deserves, neither before nor after El cuajarón, his first novel, winner of the Nadal Prize in 1971, a circumstance that led to inscribe his name in the famous and controversial «narraluces» movement. In this paper, an attempt is made to outline some of the reasons of all kinds (biographical, literary, sociological) that help to understand the cause of this lack of recognition, while summarizing the vital and literary career of the writer from Carmona and analyzing the main dimensions of his work.