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In-Depth Information
Valera y Alcalá Galiano, Juan
(1824-1905)
Spanish writer
With aristocratic connections and a classical
education, Valera was well prepared for a
diplomatic career. He served in Rio de
Janeiro and Washington, D.C., as well as
many European capitals, ultimately becom-
ing ambassador in Vienna. He also held
political office, as a deputy in parliament
and undersecretary of state and, finally, a
senator for life. But Valera was and is best
remembered as a literary man. Some recent
commentators have called him Spain's best
literary critic of the 19th century. Deep in
his knowledge of writers, both ancient and
modern, and sophisticated in his judgments,
he was, at the same time, more generous
and sympathetic to newcomers than many
of his peers. As a novelist—the role in
which he is best known—Valera displayed
a similar amiability. In Pepita Jiménez (1874),
his most famous work, Valera displays a
warm sympathy with the dilemmas of his
principal characters and a skillful use of
both language and setting. These traits are
generally also present in Doña Luz (1879)
and Juanita la larga (1895), but some have
faulted him for a viewpoint that is too much
that of the elegant aristocrat, viewing the
world in terms of a philosophical discussion
in a salon of gentlefolk. He has nothing to
say about the common people and is essen-
tially indifferent to the currents of natural-
ism running through European literature in
his day and affecting other Spanish writers.
Even his use of the epistolary form in Pepita
Jiménez seems to emphasize an old-fash-
ioned gentility as his principal male charac-
ter, a young seminarian, debates the
conflicting demands of a priestly vocation
and his growing love for the charming
One of the most intelligent, methodical,
and successful of the conquistadores,
Valdivia's very record of success finally led
him to presume too much about his ability
to rout the indigenous folk who had
already yielded so much of their land to
him. He remains, nonetheless, the only
one of the conquerors to create under his
personal leadership the structure of a
Spanish colony that remains a major South
American state.
Valencia
This Mediterranean coastal city (with a
population of nearly 1 million) was succes-
sively ruled by Romans, Visigoths, and
Moors, whose mastery was interrupted
(1094-99) by the overlordship of Spain's
greatest medieval warrior, Rodrigo Díaz de
Vivar, known as El Cid. The city and its sur-
rounding territory passed permanently into
Christian hands in the late 13th century
and was subsequently joined to the lands
of the crown of A RAGON as capital of the
Kingdom of Valencia. Although maintain-
ing a distinct cultural tradition (with a dis-
tinct Valencian language linked to Catalan),
Valencia did not become a stronghold of
opposition to the centralization program of
successive Spanish regimes, as did other
regional capitals. The city nevertheless suf-
fered severe damage from bombardment
during the P ENINSULAR W AR and the S PAN -
ISH CIVIL WAR . The recent history of Valen-
cia has been characterized by the growing
prosperity of its manufactures, its advanta-
geous use of a wide-range of natural
resources, and its historical appeal to the
tourists who abound along the Mediterra-
nean coast.
 
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