MENÉNDEZ PELAYO LIBRARY BULLETIN

To do justice to art—that could be the motto emblazoned on the intellectual shield of Luis Beltrán, for this professor, this friend, this mentor, to whom we dedicate the second monograph of the Boletín de la Biblioteca de Menéndez Pelayo for the year 2025, has devoted his academic life and efforts to the comprehensive theorization and revision of literary art.

To do justice to Luis. To thank him for his dedication, work, teaching, and friendship—that is the objective that a group of friends, colleagues, and students had when they proposed to this century-old journal the publication of the monograph that follows this introduction.

The journal had undoubtedly accepted this proposal for several reasons. Luis is one of the great theorists of contemporary literature. Luis has collaborated on many occasions with the Menéndez Pelayo Society, the organization that promotes this journal, in publications, conferences, and joint research endeavors, including an article in this year's regular issue. And, why not say it, the author of this piece would like to: consider herself in some way a disciple of his teachings, a friend, and above all, an admirer of an independent intellectual who has forged his own unique way of thinking, one that aspires to understand and explain art.

Luis Beltrán's value as a literary theorist is undeniable, but it is magnified even further when we consider his independent spirit, his immense humanity, and his singularity as both a person and a scholar.

These are all great virtues that were also present in Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo: a capacity for reading, an indomitable spirit—clearly at the ideological opposite of Beltrán's—an uncomfortable presence for those who follow doctrines without thinking or questioning, and a desire to construct a system for explaining art, a new aesthetic.