COLOR SYMBOLISM IN SELECTED NOVELS OF VICENTE BLASCO IBANEZ
by
JEFFREY THOMAS OXFORD, B.A.
A THESIS
IN
SPANISH
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
Approved
Accepted
December 1989
Ac
Copyright 1989 Jeffrey Thomas Oxford
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude and most
profound appreciation to not only my committee members,
but especially to Dr. Wendell McClendon. Without his
help and being an ear, as well as sounding-board on color
symbolism, this would have been immensely more difficult.
11
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i i
LIST OF TABLES iv
CHAPTER
I. HISTORICAL AND LITERARY LIFE OF VICENTE BLASCO
IBANEZ 1
II. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF BLASCO IBANEZ 14
III. APPROACH AND DEFINITIONS 27
IV. COLOR ANALYSIS OF SANGRE Y ARENA 34
V. COLOR ANALYSIS OF LOS CUATRO JINETES DEL
APOCALIPSIS 60
CONCLUSION 85
WORKS CITED 90
111
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1:
Table 2:
Table 3:
Table 4:
Color Analysis of Sanqre v arena
Color Analysis of Sanqre v arena; Juan Colorization
Color Analysis of Los cuatro iinetes del Appealipsis
Color Analysis of Los cuatro iinetes del Appealipsis; Characterization Coloring
57
58
82
83
IV
CHAPTER I
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY LIFE OF
VICENTE BLASCO IBANEZ
The study of almost any author raises questions con
cerning the literary period during which the author wrote,
the genre of his principal works, themes and techniques
employed, and personal historical data relevant to the
author's writings, as well as, the author's native or
adopted country and language.
One author for whom all of this is of utmost im
portance due to the vast amount of his publications and
thematic subject matter is Vicente Blasco Ibanez. When
considering this late nineteenth century and early twen
tieth century peninsular Spanish author's life, generally
one thinks first of his latter years in which he possessed
great wealth as well as substantial fame. However, he did
suffer during his early years many of life's pains and
hard knocks portrayed in his works, and he had personal
experience dealing with many of the problems and sadnesses
of his fictional characters.
Blasco Ibanez, who scrawled his maternal last name
along with his surname in his signature "pour que I'on ne
fut pas tente d'attribuer a d'autres [specifically signi
fying Eusebio Blasco—another Spanish author of the
V
nineteenth century] qu'a lui les productions de sa
plume,"^ was born on January 29, 1867. His parents were
Caspar Blasco and Ramona Ibanez, both Aragonese, whose
families had moved, due to economical reasons, to Valencia
in which city the two later met and married, and where
Vicente was born. The child started school at four and
progressed rapidly, but due to his restless and individ
ualistic nature he was isolated and solitary. It was
during this self-sufficient childhood that he developed a
fondness for reading which stayed with him even into his
adulthood: "II ne se passe pas de jour qu'il ne consacre
de trois a quatre heures a la lecture" (Pitollet 9). But
his mother, a very pious person, did not approve of his
voracious reading of non-religious material, and, thus,
he was compelled to hide those highly beloved novels.
In 1876 Vicente met Francisco Verge, a schoolmate his
own age with whom he became good friends and accompanied
in skipping school. Probably due to this, at least in
part, Vicente had a less than perfect performance in his
classes, encountered scholastic problems, and was obliged
to give up his dreams of becoming a sailor; that is, "poco
a poco fue desistiendo ante el problema insuperable de las
matematicas, del algebra."^ His mother had always wanted
him to be a priest, and continued her insistence, but he
refused. Then when academics did force a change of plans.
he switched to the study of law, in 1882, partially as a
conciliatory move toward his parents. He soon thereafter
became known at the Universidad de Valencia for his
outspoken viewpoints, and began to attend the student
tertulias. However, his disapproving mother soon forbade
even his going out at night. But Vicente was not to be
outdone; he rebelliously took to slipping out the window,
"pero su madre siempre acaba por descubrirle" (Iglesias
23).
Finding such a controlled life quite unbearable, this
sixteen-year old left home and escaped to Madrid in Decem
ber of 1883 in order to find his freedom and fortune as a
writer. As no editor would publish his works due to his
age, he was forced to become a secretary to Manuel
Fernandez y Gonzalez—another formerly famous Spanish
nineteenth century author. It is under his tutelage where
Vicente learned many of his skills and developed his
artistic talents by writing, taking dictation, and
editing.
But his material existence was not very easy then;
young Vicente lived an almost picaresque life, his mentor
inviting "a cenar a Blasco—unico pago que recibe por su
labor" (Iglesias 24). On the other hand, his future
career was aided: "He [Vicente] learned from him [Fer
nandez y Gonzalez] the techniques of rapid composition.
forceful description of people and their customs, and ways
of achieving suspense and keeping the reader's interest on
every page."^ Suspense, reader's interest, and a pica
resque life, however, were not what Vicente's mother
wanted for her adolescent son; consequently, she went to
the police in order to find him. This they did; they
detained him, and on February 2, 1884, Vicente was com
pelled to return with his mother to Valencia.
With this, the closing of the most important develop
mental chapter of his life, Blasco Ibanez found himself
again in a confined environment studying to be a lawyer.
He completed his work, received the degree in 1888, and
decided to continue his first love and work as a writer.
Forced to flee to France only a short while later due to
his leading demonstrations promoting his pro-republican
political persuasions, he met Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla. For
the next twenty years he spent time in Spain, France, and
Italy propagating his "heretical," and certainly comprome-
tidas views, alternately fleeing governmental persecution
and serving in the Spanish government as an elected repre
sentative. He endured several months of incarceration for
his actions, but his radicalism was more dangerous "en los
metodos que en su doctrina"^. he was "un activista en la
plena acepcion de la palabra" (Conte 510). It was also
during this time that his activism carried him to the
point of being involved in a duel at least three times,
possibly more: "II soutint aussi de frequents duels avec
ses adversaires politiques" (Pitollet 51), none of which
had serious ramifications.
In 1909 Blasco traveled to Argentina in order to
escape the pressures and built-up tension deriving from
his active and controversial life-style. He founded two
agricultural colonies, but these failed due to hard eco
nomic times, so he rededicated himself to his writings.
He had opposed the Spanish-American War, stating that the
Cubans deserved independence; consequently, in World War I
he favored the more liberal element, and was an activist
for the Allies. In 1919-1920, he visited the U.S.A.,
Mexico and Cuba, receiving an honorary doctorate at the
University of Washington and signing contracts for the
filming of certain of his works. In 1923-1924, Blasco
took a six-month trip around the world after which he
returned to his home, Fontana Rosa, in France, where he
died on January 28, 1928.
But his life story doesn't end with his death for
even today there are differing opinions, and animated ar
guments, concerning his life-style and writings. To some
authorities his writings are quite agreeable, and these
critics find him worthy of note. Others despise him per
sonally or ideologically, and consequently they have the
same feelings for his writings. But whether one per
sonally likes him or not, and no matter how long the
arguments endure, one thing remains constant: his wri
tings are definitely divided into groups.^ Although
critics have divided his total literary writings, which
are primarily novels and short stories, into groups
numbering from three to ten, for the purposes of this
paper the divisions of his more often cultivated genre—
the novel—will number five, the figure which seems to be
most often used by critics.
Blasco Ibanez's best period of writing, according to
many critics, was his earliest, or the turn-of-the-century
period during which he wrote regional novels, that is,
novels about Valencia, his native area and the region of
Spain that he knew best. Included in this group, among
others, are Flor de Mavo (1895), Canas v barro (1902), and
the novel which originally was written as a short story,
later amplified, and is now considered by many as his mas
terpiece. La barraca (1898). He surpasses in artistic
aesthetic qualities many other regional authors not only
due to his descriptive ability but also, and more speci
fically, because "no adula al pueblo. Al contrario,
expone su ignorancia, vicios y brutalidades junto con sus
buenas cualidades."^ In addition, all of these regional
novels contain "the hard edge of bitterness and personal
suffering" (Ward 66) showing with an overabundance of
examples that "Blasco era un amante de la naturaleza en
bruto y sus descripciones son mas dinamicas que estati-
cas."'7
Blasco Ibanez's thesis novels comprise the second di
vision of his works. These include La catedral. El in-
truso. La bodega and La horda (1903-05). These works are
less valuable for their descriptive content which is
often sacrificed due to obsessions with their respective
ideological themes. Indeed, these titles are classified
by some critics as works of social protest. It is true
that their shock value comes from their exposing and
condemning the injustices to the poor committed by the
Church—as portrayed in the first two—and by the
industries—in the latter two.
These propagandizing novels are followed by four psy
chological novels: La maia desnuda (1906), Sanqre v
arena (1908), Los muertos mandan (1908) and Luna Benamor
(1909). The most important of these is Sanqre v arena.
The fourth division of novels comprises the so-called
American novels, particularily Los Arqonautas (1914) and
La tierra de todos (1922). As may be observed by the
dates of these two works, expansion and completion of this
group was hindered due to the author's inability to firmly
establish himself in this vein. In fact, this group was
8
truncated by the more ample thematic and ideological op
portunities provided by World War I.
Novels of World War I, comprising the fifth group,
are termed the cosmopolitan novel series by many critics.
This phase was initiated in 1916 with Los cuatro iinetes
del Apocalipsis, the first of Blasco Ibanez's three novels
about the "Great War." This group later expanded, en
tailing historical novels in the latter part. However,
Blasco lacked time to properly develop or complete another
independent group as it was this fifth division which he
was writing at his death in 1928.
In addition to the five groups of novels, Blasco Iba
nez • s short stories, too, are worthy of note. Perhaps
they should be divided into two subsets, but they shall
not be, primarily due to their particular inherent artis
tic qualities and descriptive capabilities. The major
productions of Blasco's brief fiction come from two dif
ferent time periods of his life. In the first period—
up to, and including, 1896—he dedicated himself to the
writing of short stories almost exclusively, while in the
second—his latter years—he also happened to produce a
few novels as well. Like his novels, his short stories
are "finest when most deeply engaged in regional social
problems and psychology" (Ward 67). He wrote two meri
torious collections during his early years: Cuentos
valencianos (1893) and La condenada v otros cuentos
(1896). But his short story writing ability was cur
tailed during his latter years, 1921-1927, by his
repeated production of novels, and his four latter
collections are of lesser literary value.
In conclusion, this Spanish author who earned mil
lions from his works lived almost sixty-one years. He
dealt literarily with many themes, was.an advocate for the
poor, favored a republican form of government in Spain,
wrote novels and short stories, was a journalist, not only
during the time while writing the regional novels, but
also during World War I, and even wrote one drama which
was performed only once on May 12, 1894.^ He died very
wealthy and was buried in Mentone, France "in earth sent
from Spain, because he did not want his body to be sent
back to Spain as long as it was a monarchy."^ However,
this honor—burial in his native country—was finally be
stowed upon him when his remains were moved to Valencia
in 1933 after the downfall of the royalist government
which Vicente had fought all of his life to replace.
But Blasco Ibanez was denied other honors, even after
his death. His name was seldom mentioned, and even less
appreciated, among early twentieth-century Spanish cri
tics. Perhaps due to jealousy caused by the international
fame and subsequent earnings which he received, the
10
tendency toward rejecting him was very common. However,
not all of the blame for this lack of merited attention
can be placed on others' jealousy; Blasco Ibanez himself
certainly provoked discrimination through controversial
actions which were quite unacceptable to the government
and could be construed as egocentrical.
Other self-centered personality traits also con
tribute to putting him in a bad light. One of these is
related to the modern researcher by a one-time friend of
Blasco Ibanez, Jose Maria Carretero—"El Caballero Audaz."
He writes that once at a dinner, news was brought that a
certain Spanish artist had just died, and Blasco Ibanez
"se deleito en referirnos sus aventuras amorosas con
aquella dama ilustre. . . narrando. . . los mas intimos
escarceos con todo lujo de detalles. "-̂ ^ Other critics
maintain that he wanted to overthrow the monarchy in order
to be President himself. Carretero even quotes him as
saying: "Antes de un mes [after the revolution] sere
Presidente de la Republica" (Carretero 50).
But neither of the above elements constitutes a suf
ficient reason for the ostracization of this literary
great in his day, nor in the present day. Certainly other
writers of the time propogated egocentrical viewpoints,
while some of the same time period had political aspira
tions. Perhaps the margination of Blasco Ibanez is due to
11
a combination of reasons, but whatever the explanation may
be, the fact still remains that Blasco Ibanez received
more objective treatment from foreign critics than from
those in Spain.
12
Notes
Camille Pitollet, Blasco Ibanez, ses romans et le roman de sa vie (Paris: Calmann-Levy, 1921), 20.
2
3
Concepcion Iglesias, Blasco Ibanez: Un novelista para el mundo (Spain: Silex, 1985), 22.
Phillip Ward, ed. The Oxford Companion to Spanish Literature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978), 66.
^ Rafael Conte, "Vicente Blasco Ibanez: Lecciones de un centenario," Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos No. 216 (1967), 512.
5 Even superficial research will indicate this as George Northup gives him three groups in An Introduction to Spanish Literature (Chicago: 1960), Manuel de Montolui calls these four stages in Literatura castellana (Barcelona: 1929), Philip Ward, editor of The Oxford Companion to Spanish Literature (Oxford: 1978) accepts the six-period division, and Federico Carlos Sainz de Robles draws up and specifically details ten groups in La novela espanola en el siqlo XX (Madrid: 1957). Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, in Literatura espanola contemporanea (Madrid: 1949), states that "(s)u obra literaria comprende un crecido numero de novelas en las que, si no por el estilo, a lo menos por su tematica puede establecerse una clasificacion" (179), and he goes on to name the novels which comprise his six groups.
^ Smith, Paul, Vicente Blasco Ibanez; Una nueva introduc-cion a su vida v obra (Santiago de Chile; Andres Bello, 1972), 19.
^ Suarez, Bernardo. "La creacion artistica en «La barra-ca» de Blasco Ibanez," Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos No. 371 (1981), 375.
S See Paul Smith's article; "Blasco Ibanez and Drama." Hispanofila 16 (1972), 35-40. As Smith notes, Blasco Ibanez learned of the death of his mother during the estreno of the play and cancelled all remaining performances, never to write strictly for the theater again. However, as Iglesias points out in Blasco Ibanez; Un novelista para el mundo, at least seven of his other works have been adapted to that art form.
13
^ "Blasco Ibanez, Vicente" World Book Encyclopedia (Chicago: Field Enterprises, 1958).
^^ Maria Carretero, Jose, El novelista que vendio a su pa-tria (Madrid: Renacimiento, 1924), 44.
CHAPTER II
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF BLASCO IBANEZ
Through frequent allusion to Blasco Ibanez's not
"attaining a significant place in modern Spanish lit
erature, "^ the conservative, and often politically
motivated, critical establishment has contested his
importance in an attempt to negate the obvious. Blasco
Ibanez may not have been the favorite author of his time
with Spanish critics, but the fact remains that he is one
of the most widely read Spanish authors of all times. Del
Rio affirms that, "no se le puede negar. . . que sea uno
de los maestros del realism© espanol,"^ and Rafael Conte
still more emphatically notes that "Vicente Blasco Ibanez
es el escritor espanol mas traducido de toda la historia
de nuestra literatura, despues de Cervantes."^
Critics of the opposition erroneously, or perhaps
deliberately, overlook the international importance of
Blasco Ibanez's works in their zeal to discredit him.
Although the rationale is usually aesthetically or poli
tically biased, their arguments bear examining. Those
aspects of Blasco's works which lead some critics to
condemn him are seen by others as qualities which make
Blasco what he is, and thus they credit him for achieve
ment where opponents find shortcomings.
14
15
Perhaps the most logical or objective of these
attempts to discredit Blasco Ibanez targets his use of
incorrect grammar. Northup writes: "(H)e is crude, un-
grammatical at times, and always without polish."^ But
this critic's following statement suggests an underlying
hostility as the real reason for this view: "He is com
mercial and too prolific" (Northup 386). The accusation
concerning incorrect grammar is not entirely unfounded for
Blasco Ibanez often exploited the natural flow of language
to achieve more poignant results.^ This trait, and fre
quent use of the imperfect tense, are two of his most
visible attributes. He is, as will be remembered, a
descriptive writer—a naturalist—although not to every
one a complete adherent of that school. Conte in his
authentically original manner attempts to set us straight;
"En el fondo, era un romantico que utilizaba las tecnicas
del naturalismo" (Conte 518).
Two other critics, Aubrey Bell and Gonzalo Torrente
Ballester coincide in admiring Blasco Ibanez's "vitality,"
or energy and hard work, but that is their only concession
among varied less conciliatory remarks which concede
little of the credit due him as a world renowned author.
Bell states that "Senor Blasco Ibanez has an overwhelming
personality but little imagination,"^ yet adds somewhat
inconsistently, that Blasco Ibanez may be successful in
16
"extricating himself from the cosmopolitan, cinemato
graphic wave of inartistic chaos that has temporarily
overwhelmed him" (Bell 93). Later, however, in the same
analysis Bell states that Blasco Ibanez "wrestles with a
subject which a less energetic and living writer would
not have attempted, only to present us with a block of
dead matter for his pains" (94).
Torrente Ballester, on the other hand, states: "Bus-
car en la obra de Blasco Ibanez valores literarios. . . es
tarea inutil," and sums up with, "del resto de su obra
[all except the regional novels] solo quedan argumentos
bien trabados para el cine."^ However, no documentation
is adduced in support of this position which seemed to be
prevalent during the Franco regime.
On the other hand, not all criticism of Blasco Ibanez
is entirely negative; some contains positive elements
worthy of note. Sainz de Robles summarizes Blasco Iba
nez 's artistic abilities by stating: "la mayoria lectora
sigue gustando la prosa vehemente y corriente, la retina
luminosa captadora de grandes mezclas de colores crudos,
la psicologia sin complicaciones, la imaginacion des-
bocada, [which form] el realismo ardiente de Blasco
Ibanez."^ Conte reaffirms the view that Blasco Ibanez was
able to achieve success and be an important author due to
his "estilo intense, colorista, apto para las mas
17
efectistas descripciones" (Conte 517). In short, critical
analysis of Blasco Ibanez may be either positive or nega
tive, but let it suffice to say that both sides recognize
his "abnormal" (exceptional) abilities in creating vivid
narratives.
Perhaps it is true that between 1903 and 1907
Blasco's "art is sacrificed [albeit not totally] to
propaganda" (Northup 325), but to condemn without
qualification that period of Blasco Ibanez's works is to
forget his governmental job, and responsibilities, in Ma
drid. He was, at the time, a Valencian representative as
well as a writer with a cause, but he was adept at por
traying his cause in a literary form. He knew what was
literature and what was propaganda.
Years later he was involved in more than one strictly
propaganda experiment, one being the pamphlet "Lo que sera
la Republica espanola,"^ the other Espana con Honraf a
weekly tabloid written in collaboration with Unamuno at
tacking the Monarchy. They favored a Republican form of
government and considered action necessary in order to
stimulate the Spanish people, and foment a Republican gov
ernment. But as may be surmised, Blasco Ibanez was not
happy just to have this tabloid published; he would also
have it flown by plane into Spain and distributed liter
ally por correo aereo. However, the highly belligerent
18
propagandistic tone is not noticeable in the novels writ
ten between 1903 and 1907; they are, merely, literary
works whose themes happen to be political.
Without a doubt, "Blasco Ibanez no es humorista."^^
In fact, as would be expected of any practitioner of
naturalism, there is seldom any humor in his works. He
did not care about writing humor, nor did he wish to
tickle the reader's fancy. Rather, he told it like it
was, exactly as he saw it, including the good, the bad,
and the ugly. Blasco Ibanez himself states that, "Yo
procedo por explosion, violenta y ruidosamente,"^^ and
this is undoubtedly one of the primary reasons why some
critics find his writings less than admirable, or even
"common." He is, after all, not simply a peruser of his
novels, but rather a thought-transcriber and image maker.
Blasco's novels do at times reflect his life; Concep
cion Iglesias identifies eight of his novels which are at
least partially autobiographical.^^ These novels contain
data from his youth, his various love affairs and his life
in general and include, among others, Flor de Mavo, Entre
naranios, Sanqre v arena, Los Arqonautas, as well as one
which he ordered burned—although one or two copies still
exist—La voluntad de vivir. All of these "autobiogra
phies," were written before 1908, except Sanqre v arena
(1908) and Los Arqonautas (1914) and consequently
19
exemplify a different style of writing from that examined
in this study. Primarily, all but the last two seem to be
provoked by profound events which the author dissects.
Sanqre v arena, as well as La maia desnuda and La voluntad
de vivir, is a psychological novel, but with less self-
involvement by the author in the text; he is able to
distance himself from his characters and their problems.
Los Arqonautas, on the other hand, is a novel which stands
by itself as the most recent of the "autobiographies" and
part of Blasco Ibanez's uncompleted American cycle.
Since these works do reflect the personal life of
Blasco Ibanez, they are not comparable to works by any of
the author's contemporaries. He was, as were his works,
unique, neither to be emulated by anyone nor to be com
pared to anyone else: "Yo me enorgullezco de ser un
escritor lo menos literate posible; quiere deeir, le
menos prefesienal" (Iglesias 148). He was, to use the
words of Ortega y Gasset, an "excellent man,"^^ seeking
these heights and imposing on himself those demands which
made him as debatable as he is.
One element which helps to make Blasco Ibanez such a
debatable author is his us of color symbolism. As indi
cated by the title, this study concerns itself with color
symbolism in selected works of Vicente Blasco Ibanez.
Although this author wrote many works in which color plays
20
an important part, the two primary ones selected for study
are Sanqre v arena and Los cuatro iinetes del Apocalipsis.
These two novels have not been examined in this particular
fashion before; indeed, the only valuable in-depth study
which my research has discovered at all concerning the
writings of Blasco Ibanez and his use of color symbolism
is a single 1967 article treating La barraca.^^
In his essay of nearly a quarter-century ago. Dr.
Vernon Chamberlin calls attention to "la importancia, la
dependencia mutua, y la unidad creadora de dos de los ele-
mentos mas importantes. . . las imagenes animalistas y el
uso del color rojo" (Chamberlin 23). Although the greater
part of his article deals with animal symbolism, the
author does focus on the coloring abilities of Blasco
Ibanez by examining the various tones of red in relation
ship to the action of the work. Only the use of red is
analyzed because of all the colors in the novel "el rojo
es uno de los colores mas frecuentes." (30) This hue is
found throughout the work, but it becomes more pronounced
when "hay violento combate directo entre personas" (31)
and such usage "avanza la novela hacia sus mementos clima-
tices." (34) Furthermore, because "el rojo es un color
basice y primitive" (35), Blasce's manipulation of it al
lows him to penetrate and work "en la subcensciencia del
lector" (35). In addition, Chamberlin clarifies that the
21
powerfulness and effectiveness of the novelist is estab
lished due not to his ideological content—as many would
say of others of his works—but, because "uno se hunde y
el autor le lleva—hasta le ebliga—a proyectarse y a
participar mental y emecionalmente en la novela" (36). As
this critic suggests, this is achieved, at least in part,
by color symbolism. Thus, there is already a basis for
affirming the importance of color symbolism in at least
one of Blasco Ibanez's works. This study will expand on
the nature and function of Blasce's use of color and its
contribution to narrative impact in the two aforenamed
novels.
Blasco Ibanez may have been egotistical and of unre
fined behavior as some observers have asserted, but his
demageguery is net pronounced in the novels examined in
this study. One of his primary strengths as a narrator as
evinced in these two novels comes from his coloring abili
ties. In the tenth, and final, chapter of Sanqre v arena,
colors are utilized to help build the tension se that at
the climax the reader can almost literally see the moment
when "hombre y fiera ne fermaron mas que una sola masa, y
asi se movieron algunes pases. "-̂ ^ In Les cuatro iinetes
del Apocalipsis, the apogee of plot tension is achieved by
the author's manipulation of color symbolism in the over
threw and recenquest of Desnoyer's castle, and his
22
presence at the Battle of the Marne. In ether words,
although Blasco Ibanez may have used many ether literary
elements in these particular novels, a most important and
decisive factor of the works under consideration in the
present study is color symbolism.
Previous lack of sufficient attention to this partic
ular aspect of Blasce's work, demonstrated by the dearth
of published research of said aspect, is to be at least
somewhat remedied by the present study which was prompted
by what three critics have to say: Montoliu states that
"[Blasco] sobresale ademas por el arte con que sabe pintar
el ambiente en que se desarrollan los asuntes de sus
novelas. "-̂ ^ Northup notes, "He interests chiefly by the
attractive descriptions of Valencian life in his early
novels" (Northup 386). Romero-Navarra asserts that "Pesee
en grade sumo el den de reflejar, con vigor incomparable,
la naturaleza fisica. Tanta plenitud de vida come les
personajes suele tener el escenarie en casi todas sus
novelas" (Romero-Navarra 658) In short, these critics
suggest that Blasco Ibanez is a much better descriptive
than dialogue writer, implying that one of his primary
attributes which make him what he is is his artistic
coloring. He has, in effect, "el den de celerear las
cesas come si fuese pinter" (Suarez 377). His use of
color, in fact, is one of his stronger points or talents
23
as a writer. Color is one of the elements which permits
him to describe situations and events while effectively
evoking many impressions. It allows him to draw forth
images in the reader's mind and is so suggestive that the
power of imagination is used to the fullest extent with
significant results. It permits him to create without the
tediousness of a miner author, facilitating the portrayal
that he desires and conveying the message without exces
sive information. Perhaps his life and works were best
summed up by Federico Carlos Sainz de Robles: "(E)s
precise reconecerle su portentesa imaginacion, su expre-
sividad, muy sugestiva . . . sus faciles y brillantes
imagenes. . . Blasco pone cierte optimismo en su natura
lismo. . . (A)m6 apisienadamente [sic] la lucha. . . de
ninguna de ellas [his novels] puede afirmarse que sea una
mala novela" (Sainz de Robles 87).
That is, all of the critics would seem to agree that
Blasco Ibanez merits attention. Seme are unsympathetic or
even hostile, implying that he wrapped himself up in his
own little world letting success and fame go to his head.
Others defend him, stating his artistic abilities as
undeniable qualities which make him what he is, and still
ether critics declare that the regional novels are his
best productions worthy of merit. Ne matter the view
point, whether coming from a conservative observer
24
influenced by the France regime, or an ardent supporter
biased by some particular aesthetic preference, one should
remember that many of these criticisms will seen be re
placed due to the ongoing reevaluation of Blasco Ibanez's
works, which is presently occurring, in a mere compatible
ideological environment.
25
Notes
^ Jeremy Medina, "The Artistry of Blasco Ibanez's Flor de Mavo," Hispania 65 (1982), 210.
2 Angel del Rio, Historia de la literatura espanola. Tome II (New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1963), 218-219.
^ Rafael Conte, "Vicente Blasco Ibanez: Lecciones de un centenario," Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, Ne. 216 (1967), 514.
^ George Northup, An Introduction to Spanish Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960), 386.
5 This is amply pointed out in Bernardo Suarez's article, "La creacion artistica en «La barraca» de Blasco Ibanez," Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos No. 371 (1981), 371-385.
^ Aubrey Bell, Contemporary Spanish Literature (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1933), 91-92.
^ Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, Literatura espanola contemporanea (Madrid; Alfrodisio Aguado, 1949), 181.
^ Federico Carles Sainz de Robles, La novela espanola en el siqlo XX (Madrid: Pegase, 1957), 87.
^ For a more complete study of this see Victor Ouimette's "Unamuno, Blasco Ibanez, and Espana con Henra," Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 53 (October 1976).
^^ M. Remera-Navarro, Historia de la literatura espanola, 2nd ed. (Boston: D.C. Heath y Compania, 1949), 658.
^^ Concepcion Iglesias, Blasco Ibanez; Un novelista para el mundo (Madrid: Silex, 1985), 131.
^2 Among these are the popular Flor de Mayo and Sanqre y arena. For a mere complete listing, see chapters 5 and 6 of Iglesias's previously cited work.
13 This should in ne way be construed as a personal reflection of Ortega y Gasset en Blasco Ibanez, but as Ortega y Gasset's reflection en humanity in chapter seven of La rebelion de las masas.
26
Vernon Chamberlin, "Las imagenes animalistas y el color rojo en La barraca," Duquesne Hispanic Review 6 (October 1967), 23-36.
Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Los cuatro iinetes del Apocalipsis, 3rd ed. (Valencia: Premetee, 1916), 392.
•̂^ Manuel de Montolui, Literatura Castellana (Barcelona: Editorial Cervantes, 1929), 835.
CHAPTER III
APPROACH AND DEFINITIONS
The following analysis of Sanqre y arena and Les
cuatro iinetes del Apocalipsis will employ a quasi-
scientific-quantitative-thematic approach. The word
quasi-scientific is used because completely scientific
observation would not be applicable to literature. The
procedures used may be summarized as follows: First came
identification of the selected reading passage from each
novel. These particular passages were chosen because they
contain the thematic highpoint, the climax, of each work.
Consequently, these passages should reveal the use of
colors mere fully because they should contain in the space
of a few pages such important elements as suspense
building, plot, characterization, localization—or
setting, the climax, and a denouement. Second, the
passages were divided into sections, or divisions, accord
ing to the content, plot and characterization encountered
on the pages, and all of the color-related words were
noted. Net only words such as bianco, reio, and neqre
were identified, but words such as palema, sanqre, and
carbenizade, which connote chromatic images, were extrac
ted. As will be explained later, the most usual, or
"typical," hue associated with these elements is assumed
27
28
(e.g., rio is blue and net brown or green unless se speci
fied).
The relevant color words—called color references, or
color elements, in this study—were first noted and then
grouped into classifications. The first of these, which
had seven subsets, comprised colors of the light wave:
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Each of these colors is referred to as a separate color
type, with the first three being warm colors, and the last
three being cold colors. Another four color types were
noted—white, black, gray, and brown—and are included,
along with these of the light wave, in the classification
called "Strictly colors." Thus, this latter group in
cludes eleven color types and approximately 77% of all
the color references in the two novels.
The ether 23% of the color references relate to color
elements which de not necessarily evoke a specific visual
color, but de correspond to mental images produced by
light. These include, among ethers, laqrimas, botella,
and vidries in the subset of "Clearness." "Brightness"
includes brillante, estallar, fulqer, and light-refracting
metals, such as revolver, bayeneta, canones, and cine.
The third subset of these three groups, collectively
referred to as "Intensity," is "Blurriness," and includes,
among others: qrasa, cirie, and borresa.
29
These color groupings produce fourteen different
classifications, into one of which each color element may
be placed. Collectively, all fourteen compose the grand
cate gory of "Color," as used in this study.
An analysis of the words was then made; this analysis
comprises chapters four and five of this study. Due to
the approximately equal length of each division of the
reading passage from Sanqre v arena, except the fourth
which is almost one-half the others in length, the data
can be examined rather easily in a comparative analysis of
Blasco Ibanez's use of color in the build-up to, and de
nouement from, the climax. However, because of the wide
discrepancy of the length of the divisions of Los cuatro
iinetes del Apocalipsis—9.5, 15 and 5 pages respectively,
the numerical figure assigned each real value noted for
purpose of comparison will be less easily cross-studied
through the three divisions.
Afterwards, a summary of the study was made and is
included as a part of this study in chapter six. The
same chapter ends with a conclusion, encapsulating in a
final recapitulation the most important points of this
research.
As stated by Dr. Wendell McClendon, the use of colors
in a literary text is oftentimes very important;
30
Color imagery is one form of visual imagery. Visual imagery is the most frequent type of sensory imagery in writing, since stories depend only upon descriptions of settings, characters, and actions. Color imagery reinforces visual imagery, by bringing described objects, people, places, and events into sharper focus and by adding to them the emotional content associated with the colors. A child's wagon, especially closely described, carries some power of its own. The same wagon called apple-red takes on still greater significance, and that apple-red wagon with gleaming white letters emblazoned on one side, its shiny rounds of black rubber around glinting metal hubs...—you get the picture.-^
and he sums up with:
These [colors] cannot go unnoticed by the attentive reader. In the writings of skillful novelists with a painterly bent, they become integral to the reader's understanding of how the novel works, and, thus, of its outcome. To image such writings without their color imagery is to discover texts far inferior.
With this in mind, there are included in this anal
ysis as color references more than just simple words
which have a "hue" denotation. Color is relative; the
meaning, connotation, or hue quality of each particular
"color" (denotation) can, and dees, change;
If one says "Red" (the name of a color) and there are fifty people listening, it can be expected that there will be fifty reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different. . . What dees this shew?. . . [It shews that] the nomenclature of color is most inadequate. Though there are only about thirty color names.^
Any literary examination, then, of only "hues" would be
31
insufficient and only partially indicative of the coloring
effects in a text. This is true primarily true because
(f)rem it [the psychology of color] we learn that colors have absolute values, as well as associative ones. By manipulating background colors and circumambient lighting, experimenters can produce given meeds in subjects: nausea, languor, serenity, coeperativeness, irritableness, [or] excitation.^
In light of this, the examination of colors in Sanqre
v arena and Les cuatro iinetes del Apocalipsis must be
mere thorough than to limit itself to only particular
denotative values of color. Adequate analysis must encom
pass all tones and shades employed in the work. In order
to accomplish this, in this particular study in cases
where a chrome isn't specified, but yet where a hue is
obvious, the most common connotation is assumed: cisne
as white although theoretically it could be black, aqua
as blue instead of green or muddy brown. These assump
tions are made based on the belief that it is the respon
sibility of the author, especially one as prolific and
talented as Blasco Ibanez, to specify if the reader
should visualize the abnormal, or a lesser frequent
symbol.
Symbol, as defined in this study is not necessarily
"an object, animate or inanimate, which represents or
•stands for' something else."^ Neither is "metaphor"
32
necessarily implied when speaking of color symbols in the
examination of Sanqre v arena and Les cuatro iinetes del
Apocalipsis, although at times this relationship may be
applicable. Rather, when speaking of a "symbol" in this
study, the implication may also be "eveker." Colors may
be symbols in the traditional sense of the word—and, as
occasionally pointed out, they are; at the same time,
they may also be used to produce certain meeds in the
reader. Thus, what are seme of the traditional color
"symbols" in the work? Hew does Blasco Ibanez use colors
to enhance and manipulate the novels to produce given
moods? How does the author use colors to evoke images and
ideas in the reader's mind? How does Blasco Ibanez use
colors to portray his characters and the scenes? How de
these influence the reader's perception of these charac
ters? Are the "evocations" and the traditional symbols
the same? These are the central questions which this
study will attempt to answer.
33
Notes
1 Letter dated 11 October, 1989, from Dr. Wendell McClendon.
2 Josef Albers, Interaction of Color (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971), 3.
3 John M. Haller, "The Semantics of Color," ETC.; A Review of General Semantics, XXVI,2 (1969), 201.
^ J. A. Cuddon, A Dictionary of Literary Terms (New York: Viking Penguin, 1979), 671.
CHAPTER IV
COLOR ANALYSIS OF
SANGRE Y ARENA
This study implicitly compares and contrasts a novel
from two definite, and different, literary periods of
Blasco Ibanez's works. They are different in theme, as
will be observed later, but let it suffice new to say that
the 1908 novel is a psychological study of the mentality
of a Spanish pastime—bullfighting. The second novel,
from 1916, is a fictionalized historical account of the
"Battle of the Marne" and an attempt to support, and
propagate, the cause of the Allies in World War I.
Sanqre y arena, 1908, portrays and examines the life
of Juan Gallardo from his childhood all the way to his
days of fame and fortune as a nationally renowned bull
fighter. After being injured by a bull, however, he loses
his nerve and courage to properly stand his ground, face
the challenge, and please the aficionados. Thus, his fame
quickly diminishes until one day he forces himself to the
level"of his former exploits. That day his wife Carmen,
who had never been to a bullfight previously, unbeknownst
to her husband went to Madrid to see him in action. Al
though net really wanting to see her husband injured, of
which she had been having premonitions, she was present at
34
35
the time of impact between man and bull and knew first
hand the dangers of the sport.
With this short plot summary in mind, the approach
with Sanqre v arena involved dividing the climatic chapter
into parts by means of variations in plot materials, and
en this basis the chapter falls easily into four sections.
The first three are almost symmetrical in that they con
tain 7, 7.5 and 6.5 pages respectively, the last entails
only three pages, or slightly less than half the others.
The first division presents the trip of Carmen, the
matador's wife, from her home, to Madrid and her praying
before the Virgen de la Palema to protect her beloved.
The second part of the chapter moves directly to the arena
itself. Here a picador is wounded; Juan, the matador,
rushes to his rescue and is enthusiastically applauded by
the crowd for his bravery and finesse. In the third part,
however, Juan is unable to fearlessly face a bull which
had circled the arena, and to which banderillas de fueqo
had been applied. The fourth division comprises net only
a conclusion of the chapter and novel, but also Blasco
Ibanez's thesis synopsis in which he condemns bull
fighting.
That is, these divisions are neither arbitary nor
construed without a reason. They facilitate an in-depth
character analysis which might otherwise be overlooked, or
36
at least not appear as clearly, in a mere typical page-by-
page or unit-chapter study. With this breakdown one can
examine mere closely Carmen—division one—as well as the
three distinct stages of Juan's last bullfighting day, or
expanded to a more general term, critical moments symbolic
of his fame, hesitation, and final defeat. Thus, by
narrowing the study primarily to the examination of two
characters, and factors influencing them, specificities
may be noted which a broader-scoped analysis would tend to
discount.
With this in mind, the data gathered from these divi
sions are quite interesting. As noted in Table 1, there
are, in the first division twenty-nine instances in which
colors are employed in the primary text; each instance is
called a color reference. These range from Carmen's "ejes
enrojecidos,"^ to the "cabezas tendidas y palidas per la
emocion siguiendo la veloz carrera del tore" (378), to the
"clear" botellas (377) used by Carmen as candlestick
holders. In the second section there are fifty-seven
references. Red, the most common color, is primarily
sanqre, while brown is the color new used which was net
employed in the former section. Seme of these include;
suele, the "color. . . castane de les animales quedaba
brillante" (382) and the excremente scattered from the
gored animals. In the third part there are forty-six
37
colors. Red, as in each section, is again the most common
element, but now these are primarily concerned with the
red muleta, also called the trapo reio. Encountered for
the first time is another warm color: "Comenzaban a caer
en el redondel. . . naranjas. . . en terno a la bestia
fugitiva" (388). And in the final pages of the novel
there are twenty-three color references in which red new
is primarily a lack of blood. These include, among
others: "nadie habia visto sangre" (393) and "ne se veia
sangre" (394). Other coloring also occurs with blancura
verdosa, eios vidrieses and "el tore. . . que arrastraban
por la arena en aquel memento con el cuello carbenizade y
sanguinelento" (396). That is, there is an average of
6.46 color references per page in this reading passage.
One interesting point which supports the hypothesis
that Blasco Ibanez intentionally manipulated color is that
in each division of the passage, except the third, ne mat
ter the number of color references, there are only eight
different color types used; in the third division there
are nine. But also in the third division there are four
types which contain only one reference, whereas the first
and second divisions have only one type with a single
element. As may be noted in Table 1, section four has
three types with only a single element, but none of these
pertains to the warm or cold colors of the light wave.
38
Interestingly, all four divisions of the chapter in
clude the five color elements white, black, gray, red and
yellow. In fact, these five account for 73% of the entire
color references in the chapter; the latter two alone
constitute 46%. In addition, three of the four sections
take in clearness and brightness while two embrace blur
riness and brown. Furthermore, orange, green and blue are
encountered at least once in the chapter. That is, the
"solitary element," the color reference found only once,
in sections one and two is black; it is white and green in
division four. But in the third part, the "solitary ele
ments" are white, orange—the only occurrence in the
entire passage—brown, and yellow, which is the second
most frequent color reference in the other portions of the
chapter.
Mere clearly stated, the second division of the chap
ter, which glorifies and exemplifies the heroic stature
of Juan, the matador, harbors the greatest number of color
elements: fifty-seven; 35% of which are of the category
red. Carmen "sentiase atraida per el rojo mareader de la
sangre" (381); a horse "guardaba [between its teeth]. . .
celgajes de piel y peles rejos" (383), and when Carmen has
to leave the stands it is because "la angustiaba la sangre
que corria per el patio" (384). Page 382, which takes in
the greatest number of color elements, seventeen, is also
39
the page which gives the description of a gored horse and
the "surgery" to keep it alive in order for it to finish
its function in the match. Some of these are included in
the following citation;
Pugnaban las manes sangrientas de les curanderes por devolver a la abierta cavidad las flacidas entranas; pero la respiracion jadeante de la victima las hin-chaba. . . . Cuando el caballo quedaba «arreglade», con barbara prentitud, le echaban un cube de agua per la cabeza. . . . Unes, apenas caminaban dos pases, caian redondos, derramando un chorro de sangre. (382)
The only other page in this section to hold a double-
digit number of color elements, twelve, is 380, the page
which reveals Carmen's seeing for the first time in her
life the blood and effects of a picador being gored:
Carmen needed to "ver el sol. . . . Salio al patio.
Sanqre per todos lades: sanqre en el suele y en las in-
mediacienes de unas cubas, donde el aqua mezclabase con
el licuido reio" (380, emphasis added). On these two
pages alone 50% of the section's coloring occurs; with
this in mind, one can see that the increase in color
references occurs with the presentation of traumatic
events.
Also interesting to note is the fact that the page
which deals with a human being critically injured, 380,
contains fewer color references than that which portrays
animal injury; the former's portion of the division's
40
color references is 21% while the latter's is 30%. Beth
pages entail one brightness, clearness and brown. "El
color bianco o castane de los animales quedaba brillante,
cherreande sus peles un liquido de color rosa, mezcla de
agua y de sangre" (382). In reference to the picador,
Blasco Ibanez dees not describe the gored man himself, but
his surroundings: his "perneras de hierro," and the "san
gre en el suele y en las inmediaciones de unas cubas,
donde el agua mezclabase con el liquido rojo" (380). Both
pages, as well, contain reds and yellows, four and two
respectively, on page 80 and five and three on page 382.
The reds, as one would suppose, come from blood. The
yellows on the earlier page are the sun and teeth, while
on the latter they are teeth, tourniquet twine and urine.
As is commonly understood, the color red acts as the
symbol for blood, and consequently violence. However,
mere than that, red, as is yellow, is a warm color, and
this group corresponds "to processes of. . . activity and
intensity."^
Beth these pages, in addition, contain the same types
of color references: gray, clearness, brightness, red,
yellow, and brown. Moreover, page 382 also has five white
elements: two veiiqas, two cubes de aqua, and one color
bianco of the horses. One can only speculate as to the
reasoning for the author's leaving white out of the human
41
injury, but perhaps the cause is that white is "an
allusion to those paradisiac isles which man has lest and
to which he returns again and again," (Cirlet 342) and
there is no "paradisiac isle" in bullfighting. As will be
shown later, Blasco Ibanez makes it clear that he is anti-
bullfighting and, thus, can allow no "good"—of which
white is commonly seen as a symbol—to intrude upon this
scene.
Chromatically, that is, in this second division only
nine color elements are used to glorify Juan in the four
pages which de so: 380, 381, 385, 386; these include five
grays, asembrar, tarde, etc., two reds, capote and reio,
and one yellow and brown, arena and suele respectively.
With this color distribution, one can see that the glory
of Juan—which is what this division really contains and
represents—is at best cool. However, the bullfighter, as
a human, is not what is necessarily negatively viewed by
the author, and consequently he, the bullfighter, is
neither given the glory, innocence, or purity of whiteness
nor the evilness, "emptiness or deficiency"^ of black, but
due to his role in the tereo, which Blasco Ibanez "despre-
ciaba,"^ Juan is allotted a combination of both white and
black, sprinkled with red, yellow and brown. In this
manner the author is able to avoid mono-chromatic suffo
cation and implicit out-right condemnation of Juan.
42
The second division contains six pages, or portions
thereof, in which the destructiveness of bullfighting is
described, utilizing thirty-nine color elements. These
include fifteen reds, of which ten, or 25.6%, are varia
tions of the word sanqre. There are six whites: the
whiteness of the horses' coat, and Carmen's becoming
palida at the sight of all the bleed (379), among ethers.
Seven browns are also a part of this second division.
Four of these are the suele on which the smitten beasts
fall; the ethers are estopa and bramante, describing the
horses' job; and the excremente from the gored horses'
innards strewn all ever the ground.
Four yellows, although theoretically brightening the
picture, do not add cheer or vitality to the story-line;
rather, they accentuate the brutality: "(E)l vientre
abierto de la bestia, que esparcia en terno regueros de
sangre y de erin" (382), and "(the horses) checaban les
dientes largos y amarillentes con un escalofrie de mar-
tirio" (382). Aiding in this dismal toning are the four
grays, one being during the "horse operation" when, with
its head being held to the ground, the horse's relinches
were "perdiendose en el pelvo" (382). The brightness of
the horses' coats manifests itself, as does the clearness
of water, but these are counteracted, or negated, by the
multiplicity of negatives, culminating in the sole black
43
of the section: "la sangre corria entre las piedras, en-
negreciendose al secarse" (383). Thus, in spite of the
eight different color types used for coloring effects,
this division of the chapter shows a heightened intensity
of violence and destruction through the constant preoccu
pation with bleed.
Stated another way, there are two pages emphasizing
the destructiveness of the bullfights to every one glor
ifying the matador. At the same time, the author includes
mere than four color elements describing that negative for
every one lauding the matador in his finest hour. In
other words, in the only section to tolerate the actions
of this protagonist of bullfighting, there are five color
words describing the destructiveness of the sport for
every one praising the hero.
The difference in the portrayals of this protagonist
and the destructiveness, however, is net limited merely to
quantitative manipulations. There are only three warm
color elements used in the entirety of Juan's coloring and
none of these refers directly to Juan himself, but to his
capote—two—and sand—one. Three of the five grays refer
to the advanced hour of the day, and the other two are
elements beyond Juan's control—the filthiness of his uni
form and the astas of the rushing bull. The final color
referent is a brown—the ground itself.
44
With this in mind, it can be seen that even though
Juan is cast in a starring role, he himself lacks direct
coloring. His environs are colored, but with an average
of 7.60 color elements per page in this division, the'
reader is forced to unconsciously question why none of the
color references is directly attributable to Juan, the
person. That is, the author in a twist of symbolism uses
this element—color—to drive home the point and ensure
that the reader understands that bullfighting and these
who participate in it are not to be praised by him.
In section one of the chapter intensity is equally as
important as the colors of the light wave.^ That is, ex
cluding black (the absence of light), white (the presence
of all light), and gray (a mixture of the previous two),
as much emphasis is placed en the boldness and recessive-
ness of color as on the pigment itself. In fact, of the
category "Strictly Colors" there are only two of the eight
other possibilities portrayed in section one, and these
two, red and yellow, are the primary coloring factors
associated with Juan's wife. Carmen, who has "ejes enro-
jecides" (376) and is depicted three times with specific
luces. The whites of this division ewe themselves to the
"miles de cabezas tendidas y palidas per la emocion si
guiendo la veloz carrera del tore" (378), the white hat
of the cunade, and of the Virgen de la Palema before which
45
Carmen prays for Juan. She herself is dressed in black,
and the grays are a result of the time of day. Conse
quently, the reader is unconsciously forced to consider
the probability that Carmen is symbolic, or representa
tive, of the death angel, and, as well, at the same time
she is a foreshadowing of her own widowhood.
As noted in Table 1, there are four references each
to brightness and blurriness, and three to clearness—that
is, eleven intensity references. Demonstrations of clear
ness include botellas (377), Carmen's "llorando come si
diese per cierta su desgracia" (375), and her "lagrimas de
una nerviesidad" (373); even though tears may cause things
to blur, they in themselves are clear. Blurriness occurs
three times as cirie—since the particular hue of the wax
is not known—and once as imaqen borresa, while brightness
is displayed through primavera, espuelas and the velas—
again, specific hue not revealed—that Carmen burns. In
addition, there are eleven references pertaining to the
light wave—six reds and five yellows. These include,
among ethers. Carmen's "ejes enrejecidos" (376) and the
Virgen de la Palema, which becomes an "imagen borresa,
enrojecida per las luces" (377). At the same time—in
section one—only seven color elements relate to white,
black, and gray. With such coloring effects being applied
primarily to the characterization, rather than plot
46
advancement, the author emphasizes the intensity of the
atmosphere and characters themselves at the expense of the
plot and activity in this section.
The third most populous segment in regards to color
elements depicts Juan's humiliation—the third division of
the chapter. Here again, as in the second subsection, the
major focus of color is not Juan, but an animal element,
this time a bull—not the stereotypical arena bull, but a
non-fighting, frightened bull. The three pages devoted to
this bull's flight around the arena provide twenty-eight
color references; that is, 60.9% of all the color refer
ences in the six and a half pages of this section appear
on these three pages. Twelve of the twenty-eight refer
ences, or 42.9%, are red, and thus carry the reader
rapidly along in the "surging and tearing emotions"
(Cirlet 53) of the crowd and its desire to eliminate the
unfit bull. Eight of these twelve deal directly with the
banderillas de fueqo and the crowd's yelling "—jFuego!
. . . jFueeego!" (387) The others include; "El presidente
agito al fin un panuelo rojo" (388), "el tore, al ne sen-
tir la quemazon del fuege, quedo inmovil . . . sacande una
lengua seca, de rojo obscure" (389), and a little latter,
the bull's "ejes enrejecidos" (389). Another 25%, or
seven color references painting the bull's flight, relate
to "putrificatien" (Cirlet 56), or the color black.
47
including the "banderillas que parecian enfundadas en
papel negro" (388), and the hair of the bull being chamus-
cado, quemade and carbenizade (388-389). Thus, almost 68%
of the color elements of these three pages symbolically
underscore the destructiveness and evil of this sport—
whether infecting the aficionados or suffered by the bull.
Suspense builds again in the last section beginning
with the fall of Juan after impact with the bull. The
reader does not for two complete pages knew what Juan's
actual prognosis is; in this interval seventeen color
elements are used to carry the novel toward the final
conclusion. These references are divided among eight
chromatic types, yellow being the most common: Juan "cayo
en la arena, encegide come un ano enorme de seda y ere"
with his "cabeza. . . amarillenta" (393), and a "luz que
entraba per una claraboya del teche" (394) of the infir
mary to where he had been carried. Four variations of
sanqre appear en these pages, all, except the last one,
being strictly passive or negative instances: "Nadie
habia visto sangre" (393); thoughts of Juan's "espada
ensangrentade [sic]" (392) which had been seen before;
another affirmation of "Ne se veia sangre," and, finally,
when the obstructing clothes are removed, one sees en
Juan's stomach "una abertura tertuesa de labies ensan-
grentades" (394). In addition to red, the color elements
48
gray, white, black, green, blue and clearness are mani
fested by the gray "picador magullado" (394), "cabeza del
espada [Juan], palida" (393), "negruras de la virilidad"
(394), Juan's complexion as "blancura verdosa" (393),
"piltrafas de fresco azul" (394), and the fallen matador's
"ejes vidrieses" (393). Only one of the references is
used in dealing with the certainty of Juan's death—"los
ojos [of the banderillol se le hinchaban a impulses de las
lagrimas" (395) when he ascertained Juan's death. By con
trast, six are used in the one-half page conclusion:
Penso en el tore, al que arrastraban por la arena en aquel memento con el cuello carbenizade y sanguine-lento, rigidas las patas y unes ojos vidrieses que miraban al espacio azul come miran les muertos. . . (396)
Thus, color functions strikingly in moving the plot
toward the climax. But in the truly suspenseful and cli
mactic final moments, there is a lack of intense hueing.
Three elements of clearness appear in the final section,
but none of brightness or blurriness. Interestingly, ne
elements of gray are utilized following Juan's death.
Blasco Ibanez uses color to further the action and
heighten its vividness, but apparently dees net find it
necessary in this case to intensify the climax.
A prime example of Blasce's action-coloring occurs in
the first division. During this page-long supplication of
49
Carmen to the Virgen de la Palema—"la Virgen de les tore
ros, la que escuchaba sus eraciones de ultima hora"(378) —
there are fifteen color images of six different color
types, or, stated quantitatively, 53% of the color refe
rences in this section are found on this one page alone.
All three subsets of intensity are present, running the
gamut from the brightness of Carmen's velas lit in prayer
to the clearness of botellas, and en to the imaqen borresa
to which she prays in search of divine intervention. This
image, however, is "enrojecida por las luces," (376) and
consequently, one sees both red, white (palema), and
yellow in this painting of Carmen's prayer. The total
absence of any cool color underscores the fervency of her
oration.
Carmen, in fact, has mere yellow and red color refe
rences than any of the ether colors—accounting for almost
37% of the color references in this division. According
to Cirlet, yellow symbolizes "magnanimity, intuition and
intellect" (Cirlet 54). Another critic says yellow repre
sents the "vital spark" of life,^ while still another
notes that this color "represents sadness, despair, less
of hope, or trouble of any kind."^ The attribution of
intuition especially applies to Carmen; but at the same
time she is nervous and despondent from the outset of the
chapter. When she makes the journey to Madrid to divert
50
Juan from the inpending disaster, she is withheld by the
cunade from going to Juan's hotel room immediately pre
ceding the corrida by his playing on fears of their being
thrown into jail. Her foreseeing the danger to Juan is
accentuated for the reader, net solely by Carmen herself,
but by the yellow background^ across which she moves. She
herself is not described, except as "vestida de negro"
(272) and having "ojos enrejecidos" (376). Net only Car
men, but especially the situation in which she is found,
and the lighting against which she appears, permit the
reader to comprehend the level of foresight found here,
and which her coloring associations reinforce.
The red coloring, however, does come from the fore
ground events. Against the darkened background of the
capilla. Carmen lights candles which burn and reflect the
"passion [and] sentiment" (Cirlet 54) that torture her and
are tearing her inwardly apart, as evinced by her eyes
full of tears. Responding to the "activity and intensity"
(Cirlet 52) of warm colors, she actually becomes a part of
these warm color processes. In fact, except for the
single exception of Carmen's being dressed in black, this
entire first segment is dominated by warm colors.
Although there is a general effect of red en yellow
throughout this section, the element "intensity" is almost
evenly split. Clearness comes in from Carmen's "lagrimas
51
de una nerviesidad excitada por el miede" (373), caused by
her clearly foreseeing Juan's demise, and motivating her
attempts to save Juan through obtaining divine interven
tion. Blurriness appears in the one instance of Carmen's
seeing a blurry image, as well as the waxiness of the
cirios which she wishes to burn. Brightness occurs in the
spurs she sees, as well as the Spring day and burning
velas. These instances of intensity tend to underscore
the yellow already present, se that Carmen's intuition
stands out.
Perhaps the reader may be unaware of some specific
nuances or esoteric ramifications of the color symbolism,
but the meed is se well set that the inevitable has al
ready been foreshadowed. As already noted, yellow and
red are the only elements of the light wave which are used
in this first section, se that the reader is immersed in
the color symbolism and pschelogically invaded by the warm
coloring with its attendant effects and connotations from
the outset.
The distribution of Juan's coloring is also revealing
of Blasco Ibanez's use of color: While the first division
contains ne color references to the absent Juan, in the
second section there are two: one brown, "Se ha acestae
[sic] en el suele elante [sic] del tore" (381), and one
red, "Gallardo habia acudido con su capa, llevandese a la
52
fiera al centre del redondel. . . tras el engafie del trapo
rojo" (385). However, one must remember that this second
section has the greatest number of total color references,
fifty-seven, but the second least number attributed to
Juan, only two. The third section—Juan's shame—contains
twelve Gallardo coloring elements, among which are four
reds, two yellows, one gray, one brown, and four bright
nesses. The brown again comes from the suele, but instead
of lying en it in front of the bull's nostrils, new Juan
is standing "con el trapo rojo junto al suele y la espada
horizontal a la altura de sus ojos. . . lA meter el
braze!" (392) The reds are invariably attributes of his
cape (trapo reio or muleta); the yellows refer to the
sand, and the brightnesses come from two so called este-
ques, before each plunge at the bull, and two so called
espadas, after each stab. Thus, while witnessing the
downfall of the protagonist, the reader unconsciously
perceives also that the coloring comes not from Juan him
self, but from his environs and these objects which he
manipulates—or fails to manipulate successfully. The
fourth division of the passage has nine Juan color
references: These include two reds, three yellows, one
white, clearness and black, and even one startling, un
expected, incongruous blue; the "piltrafas de fresco
azul" (394) of the wound.
53
Juan, as is Carmen, is portrayed primarily through
warm colors—almost 57% of his total coloring. Mere
coloration is attributed to Juan's person than Carmen's.
In the fifteen relevant pages of this passage which con
tain color references attributed directly to Juan, only
9% are cold. Those, however, allude net to Juan's
character, but are descriptions of the fatal wound which
he received: the torn clothing "dejande visibles las
negruras de la virilidad," and the "piltrafas de fresco
azul" (394). Twenty-two percent of the elements pertain
to intensity, of which all but one—Juan's "ojos vidrie
ses" (393)—refer not to the bullfighter, but to his
sword. It is worth noting that in spite of the thematic
disapproval of Blasco Ibanez of this sport, he doesn't
negatively portray the matador personally so much as the
consequences of the fight.
On the other hand, 23% of the warm color references,
results from Juan's being en the sand—15 of the 23% being
a direct consequence of the goring; "cayo en la arena,
enco-gide come un gusano enorme de seda y ore" (393).
Sixty-seven percent of the red comes from his capote; the
other 33% is related to the wound where initially "no se
veia sangre," but later there were "labies ensangrentades"
(394). Even in the existentially culminating moment of
Juan's life, which is a very bloody and gory event, the
54
reader does not experience an overwhelming sense of bleed.
Here, Blasco Ibanez seems to have used deliberate mani
pulation of color as one would expect an overflowing
abundance of blood.
Perhaps such minimalization of blood from Juan's
downfall is a further attempt to demonstrate the inevit
able savagery of the sport for the animals while the
humans generally are unscathed. On the other hand, it may
be to show that in spite of the unequal odds, bullfighting
can be inwardly lethal. At any rate, this passage con
tains seventeen direct references to, and/or variations
of, the word sanqre; in addition, blood is once called
liquido reio. Eight such references, or 47%, appear in
four pages depicting the goring of the horses, while only
one, or 6%, describes Juan's injuries. The emphasis en
the cruelty to animals is unmistakable.
Examining the twelve color references related
directly with Juan in the third division, only three are
background—two of which involve yellow, the other, brown.
The foreground, however, contains four reds, four in
stances of bright, and one gray—basically all associated
with capote and "sword." In the fourth division, by com
parison, the foreground contains yellow, white, black,
blue, red and clearness in the description of Juan's con
dition, while the background contains only yellow. One
55
sees, then, the fulfillment of Carmen's premonitions both
in the plot, as well as in a repetition of the first sec
tion's background colors. Furthermore, in the same
section where Juan's capote and esteque control the
foreground and primary attention, Juan's humiliation and
downfall occur. The "passion, sentiment and the life-
giving principle" (Cirlet 54), represented by red (but
primarily associated with the animals and capote), do net
keep Juan from being denigrated and destroyed. Ironic
ally, it is in Juan's moment of glory, with his best
estecada, that he meets defeat, in spite of the intensity
and warmness of the gear which he uses.
Given Blasce's use of foreshadowing and premonition,
the final outcome is all too forseeable as the reader
begins section four, especially when Juan is portrayed
with more color references per page than in any ether
section. Thirty-nine percent of the passage's color
references describe his condition in six different colors
in this section: two reds, three yellows, and one white,
clearness, black and blue. The author is intent en making
sure the reader clearly sees Juan's plight. That bull
fighting is net an "iffy" proposition which seme may
approve while ethers disapprove, is quite obvious in the
clarity with which the novelist paints the figure of the
matador: Only one of the twenty-four grays or instances
56
of blurriness in the reading passage relates to the bull
fighter; almost all others concern background information
or Carmen's religiously motivated attempts to save her
husband.
Juan is portrayed quite differently from Carmen, and
nowhere is this more dramatically so than in the colors
employed. Both play their roles against a background of
yellow, but whereas Carmen is primarily associated with
red, black and intensity, Juan is portrayed in multi
colored hues. As the center of attention of the reader
and crowd he is exceptionally colorful, being portrayed by
nine of the fourteen possible color types. Blasce's imag
inative use of color and skillful manipulation of aspects
of its symbolism helps to make the novel strong, vivid,
and moving.
57
Table 1: Color Analysis of Sanqre y arena
Section Color I II III IV Total % of Total
White 3 7 1 1 12 7.74
Black 1 1 8 2 12 7.74
Gray 3 10 3 1 17 10.97
Clearness
Blurriness
Brightness
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
3
4
4
6
0
5
0
0
0
0
2
0
3
20
0
7
0
0
0
0
0
2
8
21
1
1
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
6
0
6
1
3
0
0
8
6
15
53
1
19
1
3
0
0
5.16
3.87
9.68
34.19
0.65
12.26
0.65
1.94
0.00
0.00
Brown 0 7 1 0 8 5.16
Total 29 57 46 23 155 100.01
Per Page 4.14 7.60 7.08 7.67 6.46
58
Table 2: Color Analysis of Sanqre v arena: Juan Colorization
Section Color I II III IV Total
White 0 0 0
Black 0 0 0
Gray 0 0 1
Clearness
Blurriness
Brightness
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
4
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
0
3
0
1
0
0
1
0
4
7
0
5
0
1
0
0
Brown 0 1 1 0
Total 0 2 12 9 23
Per Page 0.00 0.27 1.85 3.00 1.03
59
Notes
Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Sanqre y arena, (Valencia: Premetee, 1919), 382.
J. E. Cirlet, Tr. Jack Sage, A Dictionary of Symbols, 2nd ed. (New York: Philosophical Library, 1971), 52.
^ John M. Haller, "The Semantics of Color," ETC.: A Review of General Semantics, XXVI,2 (1969), 202.
^ Concepcion Iglesias, Blasco Ibanez: Un novelista para el mundo, (Spain; Silex, 1985), 102.
^ It must be remembered that color is not just pigmentation in this study; see pages 26-27 of chapter 3.
^ Donald A. MacKenzie, "Colour Symbolism," Folk-Lore, XXXIII,2 (1922), 152.
^ Herbert A. Kenyon, "Color Symbolism in Early Spanish Ballads," The Romance Review, VI,3 (1915), 332.
^ Dr. Wendell McClendon, in his article "Red on Gray: Therese Raquin," to be published in the Winter 1990-1991 edition of Nineteenth Century French Studies, says that; "On this analogy with painting, the 'background' includes data given to establish mood and to present characters. The 'foreground' includes character developments, actions, and events occurring against the background. The themes emerge from the interaction of background and foreground."
CHAPTER V
COLOR ANALYSIS OF
LOS CUATRO JINETES DEL APOCALIPSIS
Los cuatro iinetes del Apocalipsis details don Mar-
cele Desnoyers' childhood and life in Argentina. The
protagonist inherits great wealth at the death of his
father, but has to divide it with his only sister and her
German husband who use the money to move to, and live in,
Germany. Responding to the constant bickering of his own
wife, who is jealous of his sister's living in Europe, he
packs up his family and moves to France, where he buys a
castle. His son refuses to live a "normal" life and, in
stead, becomes a painter. At the outbreak of the "Great
War" Desnoyers feels guilty because of his inability to
defend his adopted country, France. Consequently, he
goes "to fight" by leaving Paris (to where he had re
cently moved) and returning to his castle.
This castle happens to be strategically located near
the Marne River and is used as a field hospital by the
Germans after they overrun the region. Desnoyers is
present at the time, meets one of his German nephews, new
a captain in the opposing army, and stays until the
French, or Allies, recapture the castle. Afterwards, he
returns to Paris, having completed his "tour of duty." A
60
61
few days later his own sen, now repentant for not
fighting, comes to visit him, telling him that he is
leaving for the front; Desnoyers instructs him, "—Tal vez
encuentres frente a ti rostros cenocides. La familia no
se forma siempre a nuestro gusto. Hombres de tu sangre
estan al etro lade. Si ves a algune de ellos. . . no
vaciles, jtira! es tu enemigo. iMatalo . . . imatale!"^
The passage for analysis from Los cuatro iinetes del
Apocalipsis was chosen because it contains in the space of
a few pages suspense, characterization, plot, localiza
tion, climax and a denouement. Moreover, this passage
easily divides itself into three sections which, while net
independent of one another, can be examined, with enlight
ening results, separately in detail. This examination
employs the same criteria of color classification used in
the analysis of Sanqre y arena; The method involves a
reading of the selected passage, annotation of the color
references, and a systematic classification of these
elements into their own respective categories.
In Les cuatro iinetes del Apocalipsis, Blasco Ibanez
again limits himself to the use of a specific number of
different color references, at least as observable in the
three divisions of the portion analyzed. However, instead
of using only eight color types in each division, he uses
eleven. These include the five with which Blasco Ibanez
62
painted images in Sanqre v arena: white, black, gray, red
and yellow. Other colors employed in this mere complex
manipulation of chromes are clearness, brightness, green,
blue and brown. In addition to these ten colors or color
attributes each section of the reading passage portrays
one other element in its development, a color allusion
which occurs only once.
In the first division of the passage, one reads of
don Marcelo's emergence from his cellar, to where the
Germans had banished him, his trek through the German-
pillaged town, and his deciding he must live in order to
see vengeance poured out on the enemy; in this section
blurriness is the solitary, unrepeated element. Section
two, depicting the German retreat—or defeat—from the
castle grounds, contains a single violet. And the third
part, again involving travel—this time den Marcelo's
leaving behind his castle and journeying by foot and taxi
back to Paris—alludes to a single blurriness.
Blurriness, then, only occurs twice in the novel:
"Les cadaveres habian desaparecide (from the streets),
pero un hedor nauseabunde de qrasa decempuesta, de carne
quemada, parecia agarrarse a las fesas nasales" (288,
emphasis added) and once in section three as: "Un hedor
de grasa descempuesta per la muerte arano su (Marcelo's)
elfate" (310). The violet occurs in the battle at the
63
castle: "Mas alia unes artilleres que estaban dereches
aparecian subitamente tendides e inmoviles, embadurnades
de purpura" (302). As noted in Table 3, all ether colors,
except orange and indigo—which are net present, appear
at least twenty-one times in the passage.
Another important difference between the two novels
studied is that instead of only averaging 6.46 color ele
ments per page, as in chapter 10 of Sanqre v arena, the
author employs 14.53 in the passage from Los cuatro iine
tes del Apocalipsis, i.e., the latter half of the chapter
entitled "La batalla del Marne." Here Blasco Ibanez
paints with almost two and a half times more color refe
rences per page than in the 1908 novel, and by doing such
the author is able to achieve much more subtle and complex
coloring effects.
As may be anticipated given the plot structure with
its weaponry and casaulties, many color elements in "La
batalla" are of the brightness classification. Indeed
18.58% involve brightness, primarily because this element
entails the subset of the metals; revolver, bala, baye
neta, canones, hez, etc. However, words such as reqie
esplender, redaias brillantes, fulqer, "estallide de les
projectiles franceses" (303), etc., also are subsumed in
this referent's make-up. Of these elements 71.23% occurs
in the second division of the analyzed passage—the German
64
retreat from, and the French invasion of, the castle and
its territory. These include, among others: "(U)n
estrepito de caballos, de maquinas rodantes paso la verja"
(296); "A lo large sonaba el canon, y en el intervale de
sus detonacienes un chasquido de tralla, un burbujee de
aceite frito, un crujir de moline de cafe, el crepita-
miente incesante de fusiles y ametralladoras" (297), and
the German response, "Un canon acababa de disparar a pecos
pases de el [Marcelo].... Solo entonces se die cuenta
de que dos baterias se habian instalado en su parque"
(298). Many other instances of brightness in this divi
sion, fifty-seven in all, with approximately 13.07% of
all the color references in the selected portion of "La
batalla" appearing in less than one-half of the passage in
only one color type. Through this abundant and variegated
colorization Blasco Ibanez ensures that the defeat of the
Germans is seen as a bright occasion.
This second division of the chapter contains the
greatest average frequency of color elements per page—
15.38. The most common elements besides these of inten
sity are gray, white, and brown, comprising 52% of the
strictly color group. The most numerous of these three is
gray, with thirty-three occurrences. Many of these pro
vide information and hueing of the background: "El sol
era una mancha tenue al rementarse entre telones de bruma"
65
(298); "se disolvieren las brumas matinales" (299), and
"(s)urgian de la niebla colinas y bosques, frescos y
cherrenates despues de la ablucion matinal" (299).
However, gray does play a role in the foreground as well:
"Se adivinaba[n]. . . las columnas de humo que surgian en
varies puntos del paisaje" (298). In the midst of battle
"un chorro de pelvo. . . obscurecio el cielo" (301). And
when Marcelo views the battle scene he sees a dead officer
whose "piernas grises con sus polainas habian quedado en
el suele" (302).
Brown, another of the four elements which individ
ually compose eleven, or mere, percent of the second
division's coloring, occurs primarily in the foreground.
Seme of these are net delineated in the following quotes,
but are implied, and understood, in the larger context of
the chapter. One soldier told Marcelo, concerning the
ranking German official at the scene, that "[the soldier]
lo habia visto en el suele rugiendo de dolor" (295). "Un
batallon de infanteria se habia esparcido a lo largo de
las tapias" (297, emphasis added). "Les arboles lleraban
por todas las aristas de sus certezas" (298) before the
battle, and a few minutes later "volaron per el aire copas
enteras de arboles, varies trences partides en dos. . . .
Algunas piedras redaren del mure" (301). Shades of brown
appear quite frequently—it is the second-most frequent
66
color in "La batalla" in depicting the destruction and
consequences that war and fighting have en net only
mankind, but also on nature itself.
White, the fourth of the four most common colors, is
the third most common color element of this section and is
similiar to brown in that it is found primarily in the
portrayal of the foreground. Twenty-one of these thirty
occurrences are in reference to the castillo; the remain
der describe primarily the destruction of man and the
upsetting of nature. The author also employs this color
to underscore evidence that the pretensions of the Germans
are false; they had set up a "bandera blanca y reja" (298)
signifying that the castle and its grounds were a Red
Cross base instead of a make-shift fort. Marcelo "volvio
les ojos con insistencia a la bandera blanca y reja que
ondeaba sobre el edificie. 'Es una traicion,' penso,
'iuna deslealtad!'" (298) The French sent a small spy-
plane to verity the truth, and "el avion frances se habia
inmevilizade unes instantes sobre el castillo, no pres-
tando atencion a las burbujas blancas que estallaban
debajo y en terno de el" (300). For the defense, "unes
armaban la bayeneta palidos," (307) but the French and
their allies couldn't be restrained. The latter started
pouring over the walls, "y revueltes con ellos, en el
desorden de la carga, [were] tiraderes africanes con ojos
67
de diablo y becas espumeantes" (308). White, then, is
used by Blasco Ibanez in the portrayal of both armies.
The author, then, uses white as a symbol of "despair and
even ill fortune"^ in an inversion of the symbolic import
of a normally perceived "good" color to underscore net the
merit of one side, but the destructiveness of war in
general.
This "reversal" of conventional connotations of white
in the painting of the author's thesis is not surprising,
even though traditional use is made of the darker elements
of the light wave—black, indigo, and violet—which are
present principally only in death, such as sepulcre or
incendiades. There are no indigos and, as previously
noted, only one violet, in comparison to twenty-four in
stances of black, of which seven concern the noche, and
another "las espirales negras que elevaban les grandes
preyectiles al estallar en el suele" (299). Other
examples include the spy-plane, concerning which "ne "
podia imaginarse las dos cruces negras en el interior de
sus alas" (300), while during the battle, "(v)olaren per
el aire. . . terrenes negres" (301), and Marcelo saw his
castle, new split in two by a bomb, se that "(d)e les
hordes pendian trezes de madera [and] pedazes bambe-
leantes de pavimento" (310, emphasis added). A little
later, after the conflict defused, Marcelo observed the
68
defeated Germans emerging from "las habitacienes en
ruinas, de las profundidades de las cuevas, de les mate-
rrales del parque, de les establos y qareqas incendiades"
(310). Notwithstanding the author's partisanship, neither
this section, nor the characters in general, are se
blackened with dark colors that they appear to be
reprobates; the Germans are not unreconcilably "evil,
wrongdoing . . . [and] loathsome."^ Rather, the blacks
primarily function to create setting and mood, painting
the background against which the attrocities occur. The
circumstances, or war itself, is bad, not the bystanders
caught up in the obedience to their country's mandates and
actions.
The coloring in this second division, however, is net
all white, black, gray or brown. Red, yellow, green and
blue are interspersed within the text, providing a variety
of tones and complexions. Perhaps surprisingly, however,
only one instance of bleed appears: Marcelo was looking
at the German lieutenant when "(d)esapareci6 de pronto la
cabeza del eficial: dos surtideres de sangre saltaren de
su cuello y el cuerpe se desplemo" (307). When the flood
of invaders came, "aparecieren kepis rejos. . . . Desno
yers ne supe con certeza come se realize la mutacion. De
pronto vio les pantalenes rejos dentro del parque" (308).
The ether reds appear in connection with "bandera de la
69
Cruz Roja" (297), a wounded soldier "mostrande entre les
desgarrones de la tela carnes sueltas, azules y rejas"
(302), and "el fuege de la artilleria" (306), among
others. The other warm color, yellow, appears primarily
as the sol, or luz in the sky. It also occurs, however,
as the "nubes amarillentas que flotaban en el aire" (298)
by which the invader's position was determined, as well
as "pavoresos rugidos envueltos en vapores amarillentes"
(300), and in connection with the German officer with "el
bigote ruble y corto" (302). The greens denote the arbo
les, heias, and hierba; likewise, the blue is implicitly
or explicitly splashed sporadically across the foreground
in association with words such as rio, laquna and cielo.
These four colors then play their role not so much in the
mood and setting of the story as in the individual parts
which combine to create the sum total of the picture of
war and degradation as presented by Blasco Ibanez.
The third division of the passage offers the second
highest frequency of color elements per page—14.2. Even
though den Marcelo is leaving behind his castle at the
Marne and traveling back to Paris, reflective brightness
is still the most frequent element—25.35%. Now, though,
instead of the metallics being bright and gleaming in
struments of destruction, they are less shiny, with many
destroyed and of no use. This dulling effect of the
70
brightness is achieved through the juxtaposition of adjec
tives or other qualifiers and the color words, as may be
observed on several occasions: Marcelo "(v)i6. . . cascos
con melenas de crines, sables retorcidos, bayonetas rotas,
fusiles, montones de cartuchos de canon" (311). On down
the road, "(e)ncontr6 canones volcados con las ruedas
rotas. . . [y] armenes de preyectiles convertidos en
madejas retorcidas de barras de acero" (311).
Of the strictly color elements in the third section,
black occurs in 20.83%, brown 20.83%, and red 18.75% of
the instances of usage. Brown, which ties with black as
the most frequent of the three, occurs primarily in the
depiction of the background: "Parecia que la tierra
hubiese vomitado todos los cuerpos que llevaba recibidos"
(311); "Les [cadaveres] que [Marcelo] encontro al etro
lade del rio llevaban dos dias sobre el terrene; luego
tres, luego cuatro" (311); "Bandas de cuervos. . . volvian
a posarse en tierra" (312), and "(j)unte a los pueblos en
ruinas las mujeres remevian la tierra abriendo fesas"
(312). However, brown does splatter the foreground as
well: "Vehicules de artilleria con las maderas censumidas
. . . revelaban el tragico memento de la voladura. Rec-
tangules de tierra apisenada marcaban el emplazamiento de
las baterias enemigas" (311). After having gotten a drink
from a creek because he was thirsty, Marcelo lifted his
71
head and "vio unas piernas verdes que emergian de la
superficie liquida, hundiendo sus betas en el barro de la
orilla" (312). In this section Blasco Ibanez uses brown
not simply to convey the destruction of nature by war, but
to depict how man destroys himself in battle while nature,
though injured, is still "obstinate"^ and will somehow
endure.
Black, the ether most frequent strictly-color element
in section three, is used primarily to paint foreground
events, in spite of the two in-passing mentions of the
noche. During his trip by feet back to Paris, Marcelo
sees "cones de materia carbenizade que eran residues de
hombres y caballos quemades" (311), as well as "(l)os
pueblos, las granjas, las cases aisladas, todo quemade"
(312). Further along in his walk he comes across the
tavern where he had stepped to eat on the way to the
front: "Penetro entre les mures hollinados, y un enjam-
bre de moscas pegajesas vino a zumbar en terno de su cara
. . . . Una pierna que parecia de carton chamuscado
asemaba entre les escembres" (312). This constant
repetition of black on the foreground depicts the ultimate
in death, destruction, waste, and desolation, as well as
"horrible and powerful beings invisible" (Haller 202).
Thus, the author is able mere graphically and starkly to
portray war's tragedy.
72
Red, sometimes combined with black, is used to
describe the actions and events in the third division.
Again, there are the "kepis rejos" (311), and the implicit
ruddy glow of hellfire: when he was asked upon arriving
in Paris from where he had come, "'Del infierno,' murmuro
don Marcelo" (314). Two days later his son comes to tell
him that he has decided to go fight, and the first thing
Marcelo notices is that the "kepis era de un rojo" (314).
In his advice to the boy he tells his sanqre (314) that
"(h)ombres de tu sangre estan al etro lade" (315). Red,
then, is net employed as one would probably expect in a
war novel—simply by the insistent, constant pulsating use
of sanqre. "La batalla" contains only seven variations or
uses of that particular word, even though "los cadaveres
de una y etra parte eran infinites, no tenian limite"
(311), and only four of these are violent, or imply the
shedding of bleed. By restricting his use of "bleed" and
employing shadings of red in this less violent and unster-
eotyped manner, Blasco Ibanez manipulates the colors so
as to net have simply another stereotyped, hemorrhaging
war-novel.
The remaining 33.80% of the color elements in the
third section are divided among the seven other color
types. The whites appear in Marcelo's references to his
castle: "lAdios, castillo de Villablanche!" (310) The
73
one blurriness occurs, as already seen, when he enters the
now destroyed bar: "Un hedor de grasa descempuesta per la
muerte arano su elfate" (312). One of the two greens is
actually an absence—"Encontro cadaveres per todas partes;
pero estos no vestian el uniforme verdose"(310)—while the
other involves the "piernas verdes que emergian de la su
perficie liquida" (312) that Marcelo had steeped to drink.
As with the three previous colors, yellow also is a part
of the foreground, and all occur during Marcelo's trip
back heme: "El sol, impasible, poblaba de puntos de luz,
de fulgores amarillentes los campos de muerte" (311). The
grays and clearnesses, mentioned primarily in passing, are
of ne great importance. The blue is of a little mere
value, calling attention to four bodies of water: rio,
aqua, arrove, and laquna, and in one case "vientres abier-
tos que dejaban escapar higades enermes y azules" (311).
These last seven colors—blue, gray, yellow, clearness,
green, white and blurriness, comprising almost two-thirds
of the color types employed, total only one-third of the
color occurences in this division of the analyzed passage.
Black, red, brown, and brightness alone form 66% of the
colors in this section.
Through the varied tones selected for backgound por
trayal of a moment when the heat of battle has subsided,
Blasco Ibanez subtly conveys a feeling that things are
74
looking up, or at least net looking down, even though the
most frequently used colors may not be the "happiest."
This is emphasized by the fact that during den Marcelo's
trip back to Paris (progressively further from war),
31.25% of the ele-ments in the strictly color category and
63.16% of the light wave elements involve warm colors,
with another 10.53% of the latter category being of
intermediate heat intensity. Thus, in spite of all the
destruction which don Marcelo witnesses, "the processes of
assimilation, activity, and intensity"^ are clearly pre
dominant. Away from the evils of war, mankind and nature
somehow survive and hope remains.
In the first segment with 13.22 color elements per
page, definites dominate. That is, 32.77% of the color
elements are either black or white. "El cadaver de un
cisne flotaba," and over the same water drifted "unes
bullenes blances"(287), while "(s)oldades formande parejas
llevaban objetos envueltos en sabanas" (291). Still
another of the whites is present when Marcelo has to buy
his own food from the German conquerors: "A la mafiana
siguiente el sanitario le esperaba en el mismo sitie con
una servilleta llena [of food]" (293). The blacks, ex
pressed and implied, are stark and graphic: On walking
through the torched village Marcelo sees ne one "en sus
calles, sembradas de botellas, de maderas chamuscados, de
75
cascotes cubiertos de hollin. Les cadaveres habian desa
parecide, pero un hedor nauseabunde. . . de carne quemada
[remained]" (288). And when compelled by the Germans to
help dig a mass-grave, Marcelo "(v)olvi6 los ejes para ne
ver les cadaveres rigidos y grotesces que asomaban sobre
su cabeza, al borde del hoyo, prentos a derramarse en el
fondo de este" (293). At least eight occurrences of noche
and nocturne are projected net upon the foreground, as are
most of the white and black references in section one, but
on the background.
The two categories of gray and blurriness combined
only yield 8.40% of the color elements in this division in
which don Marcelo emerges from his cellar, travels through
the town and decides he must live in order to see revenge
poured out en the Germans. Highlighting his decision are
six occurrences each of both clearness and brightness
which outweigh the single blurriness: the texture of the
"grasa descempuesta" (288). The grays include, among
others: "las telaranas colgantes" (286) in Marcelo's
cellar, the "cuerpos infermes rematades per una testa que
hablaba y fumaba" (290) while being transported to the
"hospital," and the "camienes grises" (294) that served
as ambulances bringing the wounded from the battlefield.
However impressive these instances may seem to be, appro
ximately three times their frequency is observed in the
76
mere definite, and thought-provoking categories of white
and black.
In this non-violent first passage of "La batalla"
89.08% of the color elements are devoted to the strictly
color group; indeed, 35.29% pertains to the light wave,
while in divisions two and three only 24.39 and 26.76%
respectively of the color references are of the light
wave. Pigmentation, then, plays a much greater role, and,
thus, a stronger implied condemnation of warfare in gen
eral is provided in this first section.
The general mood of this first division is best
defined as noncommittal (existentially). The primary
background colors—those which set the meed—are prin
cipally green or brown. Of the sixteen browns, one-half
are references to the tierra, another being suele, and yet
another, barro. Net all the browns, however, are back
ground—as demonstrated by mentions of roca, ramas secas
and trenco. The greens, on the ether hand, are primarily
foreground, embodied either in the green arboles, plantas
acuaticas, or "el valle, ruble y verde, senriendo baje el
sol" (287) before the French counter-attack occurs.
Blasco Ibanez employs these two colors to picture hew war
affects nature, as well as man. War's seen effects are
visible via the intermediate color green, which is the
representation of "sympathy and adaptability" (Cirlet
77
54), as violence tends to disrupt, destroy or annhilate
this coloring.
With 56.60% of the strictly color references of the
first section net being warm, only 43.40% of these
elements remain for character development and for pres
entation of actions and events. In short, the reader
laments what has happened to don Marcelo, the other castle
tenants and the village folk, but also sees how don Marce
lo struggles and continues on.
Blasco Ibanez also manifests his desire for the
defeat of the Germans in the last part of section three.
This one-page description portrays don Marcelo praising
his sen (whom he formerly did not allow in his presence)
for joining the military. Only one of the light wave
elements selected is not warm, and even that one has a
positive effect: "jQue hermoso le veia!. . . El kepis
era de un rojo obscurecido por la mugre." (314) All ether
color allusions are red, and the one implied black is
tempered by red. Thus, while den Marcelo is telling his
son to go fight the Germans, even if they are relatives,
Blasco Ibanez consciously manipulates coloring to sub-
liminally reinforce the idea that the Germans need to be
defeated.
Blasco Ibanez's general coloring technique applied to
the Germans is quite interesting. As shewn by Table 4,
78
the largest color classification used to portray the Ger
mans is brightness; of these references, a full 60% are
words of weaponry, such as revolver, canon, fusiles or
bayeneta. Another 17.12% of the total color references
employ brown and are generally related to the soil, in
cluding, among others, tierra, barro and suele. The
passage totals are: of the color elements referring
directly to the Germans, 31.51% are cold colors, while
another 11.64% are gray; only 26.03% are warm colors.
Approximately 70% of the "strictly colors" modifying the
Germans, then, is not warm. Through such use of color
symbolism, Blasco Ibanez urges the reader to regard the
Germans as representative of "dissimilation. . . debil
itation" (Cirlet 52), "egoism [and] depressionism. . ."
(Cirlet 54) The result is clearly net a pretty picture of
the Germans—as can be seen even without analysis of other
writing techniques used by Blasco Ibanez besides the use
of colors.
Although the most frequent coloring of the French
soldiers also involves brightness, only 48.15% of such
references allude to weaponry. The authors's sympathies
are reflected in the fact that the French are represented
by 10% fewer cold colors than the Germans, and the browns
make up only 8.57%, instead of 17.12%, of the total
colors. Blasco Ibanez's condemnation of war dees net
79
prevent his distinguishing degrees of culpability, and
thus color is manipulated so that the French are less
negatively portrayed than are the Germans.
However, the one character of the three primary areas
of narrative focus (the Germans, the French, and den Mar
celo Desnoyers) with the largest percentage—32.52%—of
warm coloring is Desnoyers. He, although being the pri
mary focus of the narrative, is net "colorful;" in fact,
none of the "characters" is pintoresco. At the same time,
somewhat paradoxically, Desnoyers has the highest per
centage of cool colors—36.14%. Consequently, he is both
an assimilator and dissimilator—warm and cold colors
respectively. He is the former by his knowing for what to
fight but the latter by his methodology, or actual doing
of it. Despite the mixture of warm and cool, he is not
noncommittal; only 2.41% of his coloring is green—the
intermediate, neutral, or non-acting color. Whereas with
the Germans the primary warm coloring is white, and with
the French it is white and red, with Desnoyers this warm
coloring comes mainly from white and yellow. Thus, net
only may he represent "an allusion to the paradisiac isles
which man has lest" (Cirlet 342), but also he may also
embody "intuition and intellect" (Cirlet 54). As an al
legorical character of limited import, he represents the
implicit understanding of what should be dene in the
80
situation, but not necessarily the model to be followed or
imitated.
The procedure of combining gray and green, and then
comparing the result with the corresponding use of warm
and cold colors reveals the author's underlying feelings
toward the three main characters (or composite charac
ters). As shown in Table 4, the Germans are portrayed
via the combination of 26.03% warm, 31.51% cold, and
21.92% gray/green (the remaining percentage being
"intensity"). The French are painted as 22.86% warm,
21.43% cold, and 14.29% gray/green. Marcelo Desnoyers,
however, is 32.52% warm, 36.14% cold, and 10.84% gray/
green. Although the Germans and French are approximately
equally warm, the Germans are significantly more negative.
While it may seem that Desnoyers is the coldest, it must
be remembered that he is approximately equal in hot and
cold attributes, and his coloration includes much less
noncommittal neutral coloring than that of either the
Germans or the Allies.
Whatever his personal dislike for war (and in this
case his sympathy for the victims of aggression parallels
his compassion for the animals in the bullfight), Blasco
Ibanez never lost sight of the causes or motivations in
conflict. At any cost, therefore, the Germans must be
defeated; the cause of the Allies must prevail. Blasco
81
wants everyone to be committed, cemprometido. In the best
words possible, the words of the protagonist himself:
"(N)o vaciles, jtira! es tu enemigo. jMatalo! . . .
jmatalo!" (315), which is exactly the mood that Blasco
produces with the coloration. The hueing dictates that
necessity, showing that the warmest "character" is the
only one who can issue the command and reveal the bad, or
negative, points of the opposition.
82
Table 3: Color Analysis of Les cuatro iinetes del Apocalipsis
Section Color I II III Total % of Total
White 18 30 3 51 11.70
Black 21 24 10 55 12.61
Gray 9 33 6 48 11.01
Clearness
Blurriness
Brightness
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
6
1
6
10
0
18
10
4
0
0
14
0
57
16
0
10
21
12
0
1
4
1
18
9
0
3
2
5
0
0
24
2
81
35
0
31
33
21
0
1
5.50
0.46
18.58
8.03
0.00
7.11
7.57
4.82
0.00
0.23
Brown 16 28 10 54 12.39
Total 119 246 71 436 100.01
Per Page 13.22 15.38 14.20 14.53
83
Table 4: Color Analysis of Les cuatro iinetes del Apocalipsis: Characterization Coloring
Color Germans French Marcelo # % # % # %
White 21 14.00 7 10.00 12 14.46
Black 15 10.00 6 8.57 16 19.28
Gray 17 11.33 7 10.00 7 8.43
Clearness 4 2.67 2 2.86 8 9.64
Blurriness 0 0.00 0 0.00 1 1.20
Brightness 30 20.00 27 38.57 8 9.64
Red 11 7.33 7 10.00 4 4.82
Orange 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00
Yellow 6 4.00 2 2.86 11 13.25
Green 15 10.00 3 4.29 2 2.41
Blue 5 3.33 3 4.29 7 8.43
Indigo 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00
Violet 1 0.67 0 0.00 0 0.00
Brown 25 16.67 6 8.57 7 8.43
Total 150 100.00 70 100.01 83 99.99
84
Notes
^ Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Les cuatro iinetes del Apocali-sis (Valencia; Premetee, 1916), 315.
2 w. L. Fichter, "Color Symbolism in Lope de Vega," The Romantic Review XVIII,3 (1927), 227.
3 John M. Haller, "The Semantics of Color," ETC.; A Review of General Semantics XXVI,2 (1969), 202.
^ Faber Birren, Liqht, Color and Environment (New York: Van Nestrand Reinhold, 1969), 31.
^ J. E. Cirlet, Tr. Jack Sage, A Dictionary of Symbols, 2nd. ed. (New York: Philosophical Library, 1971), 52.
CONCLUSION
Color, as used in this study, and as evinced in
Blasco Ibanez's works, does not signify solely "hue" but,
rather, any word which connotes or evokes chromatic imag
ery. This chromatic imagery, although certainly not the
only literary device this author uses, is an important
part of the two novels Sanqre y arena and Les cuatro ii
netes del Apocalipsis. Having examined the coloring
effects of each of the two works, one may draw several
conclusions. The novelist's use of color is central to
the narrative. Its functions range from aiding in charac
terization to creation of mood, from foreshadowing of a
future event to advancement of the action, per se. Blas
ce's use of color is so pervasive that it is difficult to
imagine these novels without it. Certainly, the vividness
and brilliant coloration of the works analyzed played a
major role in their extraordinary popular success.
One interesting aspect of this novelist's coloring
techniques is his mixing of colors. In Sanqre y arena,
the earlier novel, Blasco Ibanez paints his characters and
plot, in short his themes, primarily en a background of
yellow. The texture and hue of the sand etch themselves
onto the painter's canvas se much that they become the
canvas itself. The intuition symbolized by yellow seems
85
86
to form the basis of all major actions and events.
However, this is not exactly the case; the yellow is
blotched out by the foreground, or the events, which
actually serve to conceal that reasoning. As noted in
Table 1, the most frequent color element is red, which
occurs principally in the foreground. The emotions of
red, then, do cause the novel to advance, contaminating
the intellect and aiding in the author's thesis of the
condemnation of bullfighting.
This red element, as well, demonstrates the inten
tional manipulation by the author of colors: Contrary to
what a reader would normally expect, "blood" is only in
frequently found in this novel of gorings and stabbing-
deaths. In fact, less than one-third of the red elements
are sanqre, or variations of that word, and more than 76%
of these appear before page 385, when the "bad bull" en
ters the ring. The other blood references—only one of
which refers to Juan's injury—occur on pages 393 and 394,
when Juan falls gored and the subsequent events. In the
interval, during Juan's actual fight of the bull and his
being gored, there are no occur-rences of sanqre; instead,
these are replaced by seven red references alluding to the
capote. The fight becomes a mere concrete, bounded action
instead of a free-flowing abstraction which it had been.
The red is not used simply as a gory detailing of bleed-
87
letting, but rather as a waving and turning foreground
attraction which aids in the concealing of the intellec
tual background.
But concealing or obscuring the background is net the
only coloring effect that Blasco Ibanez uses in the 1908
novel. Another is foreshadowing, of which Carmen is a
prime example. She, like the death angel, is dressed all
in black and is coming for Juan, while at the same time
foreshadowing her widowhood.
Juan, unlike his wife, is described in many colors,
only 9% of which are cold. He stands out, even though
performing his duty on the same background of yellow. His
constant covering, or neglect, of the intellect, however,
leads to his demise, and death. Blasce's mixing of colors
in Sanqre y arena, or more exactly, the individual stand
out function of each color in this novel, primarily shews
that the gaudiness and impiety of bullfighting only cam
ouflages or obliterates true reason and, thus, ultimately
leads to death.
Blasce's mixing of the colors encountered in Les cua
tro iinetes del Apocalipsis (1916), en the other hand, is
much more complex. Blasco Ibanez, at the time of this
writing, had eight more years of experience in color mani
pulation, and, as well, there are three, instead of two,
principal points of narrative focus or "characters" in the
88
latter novel: the French and the Germans (composite
characters), and don Marcelo Desnoyers. What is most
interesting in the World War II novel is the marked in
crease in color usage: The author pencils in almost 2.3
times the number of color references per page while em
ploying 3 more color types per section.
In the latter novel, as in the former, Blasco Ibanez
deliberately downplays the flow of sanqre: Less than
11.5% of the reds are variations of that word: instead,
this referent is primarily found in descriptions of the
Red Cross and the French troops. Whereas in Sanqre y
arena red is used in a negative manner to portray the au
thor's thesis, in Los cuatro iinetes del Apocalipsis, this
color both demonstrates the negative—deception by use of
innocence, and the positive—the recenquest by the French.
The fact that both novels involve incidents which are in
herently bloody and gory (and which a lesser writer might
have easily ever-emphasized) makes it amply clear that
Blasco consciously controlled and limited these elements,
combining them with ether deliberately chosen touches of
color to achieve the desired composite artistic effect.
If, as seme have suggested, Les cuatro iinetes del
Apocalipsis is a condemnation of war, color analysis
makes clear that the author intends an even greater con
demnation of the German forces. The Germans have the
89
largest non-warm percentage of the three main "charac
ters": 54% The French comprise the smallest non-warm
character 35%. Marcelo, on the other hand, shews the
largest use of yellow, logically so, as he symbolizes in
tellect—serving as spokesman for the author's belief that
one should do one's duty by first fighting and then re
nouncing the entire military mind-set. Actions are
eloquent in the case of Marcelo who did not fight except
to protect his own property, after which he quickly re
treated back into civilian life. Marcelo dees have mere
thinking colors—yellow and blue—than the others.
Coloring, then, is an important aspect of these two
Blasco Ibanez novels. It permits more complex character
motivation and cannily exploits the fact that colors de
affect the way in which a character is perceived. Repre
senting two different time periods, as well as styles, of
the author's writings, these two works clearly demonstrate
the progress and increasing complexity of Blasco Ibanez's
manipulation of color symbolism through greater utiliza
tion in the latter. Colors, both symbolically and en mere
literal levels, play a major role in the presentation of
the two novels, and the variety of ways in which color is
employed provides clear evidence that Blasco Ibanez's
narratives include mere art and artifice than has been
recognized heretofore.
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