Search

Fragment to Panorama: A Cross-Analytical Study of History and Literature in "The Hive" by Cela

Author(s)

Yue Cao

Affiliation(s)

University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain

Abstract

Camilo Jose Cela’s ¨The Hive¨ is considered one of the important works of Spanish post-war literature because of its fragmentation and unique structure of group narrative. The existing research focuses on analyzing its criticism and reflection with the real society, and the comprehensive analysis of the narrative strategy, historical experience and collective memory of the work is not systematic enough. Based on the social context of post-war Spain, the author uses the theory of Genette's narrative, Ricoeur's "time and narrative" and cultural memory to conduct a comprehensive analysis of ¨The Hive¨, focusing on its nonlinear time structure, polyphonic narrative and fragmented writing. The author believes that the decentralized narrative structure of the center of the work and the details of mediocre daily life creates a historical expression that is completely different from the official view of history, so that the survival experience of the ordinary people can be seen in the narrative of history and literature, which is the presentation of the unique value of the work in the intertwining of history and literature.

Keywords

Postwar Spanish Literature; Fragmented Narrative; New Realism; Narratology; Collective Memory; Alternative Historiography

References

[1]Rotger, N. (2023). Postwar intellectuals and the concept of European literature: Exile, memory, reparation. Primerjalna knjizevnost (Comparative Literature), 46(3), p.171 https://doi.org/10.3986/pkn.v46.i3.09 [2]López Cobo, A. (2025). Review of The lyricism of the novelist: Camilo José Cela among poets. Unpublished correspondence with Vicente Aleixandre, Dionisio Ridruejo, José Agustín Goytisolo, and Concha Lagos, by A. Fuentes Ríos. Castilla. Estudios de Literatura, 16, p. 694 https://doi.org/10.24197/cel.16.2025.694-697 [3]Dougherty, D. (1976). Form and structure in La colmena: From alienation to community. Annals of the Postwar Novel, 1, 7–23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27741056 [4]Milevski, U., & Wetenkamp, L. (2022). Introduction: relations between literary theory and memory studies. Journal of Literary Theory, 16(2), p. 202 [5]Heersmink, R. (2020). Narrative niche construction: memory ecologies and distributed narrative identities. Biology & Philosophy, 35(5), p. 53 [6]Cacciatore, G. (2015). Time, Narration, Memory: Paul Ricoeur’s Theory of History. In The Concept of Time in Early Twentieth-Century Philosophy: A Philosophical Thematic Atlas (pp. 167-173). Cham: Springer International Publishing，p. 172 [7]Patnaik, N. (2025). The Narrativizations of Time: Paul Ricoeur on Memory and History. Sophia, p. 1-22 [8]Kansteiner, W. (1993). Hayden White's critique of the writing of history. History and Theory, p. 293 [9]Klein, M. (1929). Infantile anxiety-situations reflected in a work of art and in the creative impulse. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 10, p. 227–235 [10]Blanco Vila, Luis. How to Read Camilo José Cela. 1st ed., Palas Atenea, 1991, p. 19 [11]Cela, C. J. (1949). The Egg of Judgment. Barcelona: Seix Barral, p. 116 [12]Cela, Camilo José. In the Service of Something, vol. 19. Alfaguara, 1969, p. 9 [13]Muñoz, J. S. (2024). Analysis of popular proverbs in La colmena by Camilo José Cela. Romanica Olomucensia, 36(1), p. 62. [14]Wagoner, B. (2008). Narrative form and content in remembering. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 42(3), p. 321 [15]Chatman, S. (1974). Genette's analysis of narrative time relations. L'Esprit Createur, 14(4), p. 353 [16]Erll, A. (2022). The hidden power of implicit collective memory. Memory, mind & media, 1, e14, p. 3 [17]Rodiek, C. (2008). From the short story to the hybrid narrative: On the short fiction of Camilo José Cela. Madrid & Frankfurt am Main: Iberoamericana Editorial Vervuert, p. 8 [18]Dix, H. (2022). Autofiction and Cultural Memory. Routledge, p. 1 [19]Cela, C. J. (1953). Mrs. Caldwell Talks to Her Son. Barcelona: Destino, p. 4