Positively Negative: Pío Baroja, the Essayist, by Carlos Roberto Saz Parkinson.
While Baroja's novels have been the subject of numerous studies, until now, there has been no comprehensive analysis of his essays, in spite of the fact that this incredibly prolific writer devoted more than a third of his production to non-fiction prose. This work seeks to remedy this lacuna. The essays are approached in an innovative way, focusing on philosophical and formal elements that lead to intriguing conclusions. The author argues for two fundamental tensions in Baroja, one, the philosophical, due to, “contradictions of a violent existential struggle between the philosophies of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer,” while the other is formal, in that Baroja sometimes reveals this philosophical conflict differently in the essays and in the novels. This raises a number of fascinating questions regarding both genres.
Divided into five chapters, plus a lengthy introduction and conclusions, the author begins by exploring the history and form of the essay, concentrating particularly on Montaigne and Bacon. Chapter 2 is devoted to an extensive analysis of those aspects of the philosophies of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche most influential in Baroja. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the essays, systematically pointing out the profound influence of Nietzsche, as well as Baroja´s inner struggle as he tried to reconcile his admiration for both philosophers.
Chapter 5 considers seventeen of Baroja´s novels in the light of the philosophical tension revealed in the essays, dwelling in particular on the Schopenhauerian pessimism that prevails in his fiction, in contrast to the Nietzschean tone of so many of his essays. The author coins the phrase, “positively negative” for Baroja, the essayist, whom, he recognizes, was “not exactly the world’s jolliest character.” He believes he was, “absolutely negative because Baroja´s capacity to be critical knew no bounds, but positively so because behind the criticism there was a clear, even furious, desire for a vigorous alternative to what Baroja saw as the mediocre life of society.”
This work provides new insights into both the essays of Baroja and his novels. Those interested in the influence of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche on early twentieth century literature will similarly find the work of value. A Foreword by Gonzalo Sobejano, specialist, among other things, in Nietzsche in Spain, gives the book an added dimension.
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ISBN: 978-1-58871-192-2 (PB, 274 pp.) $45