From Prim to Cánovas. Story and novel in the last Episodios nacionales of Galdós

Abstract

The concept of History changes in the last eight Episodios nacionales, from Prim to Cánovas. It is no longer about the dialectical relationship between Fiction and the historical level incorporated into the Fiction, but rather History and Society are subsumed in literary fiction, which thus paradoxically achieves a superior status in the order of historical truth. Hence, in the last episodios the traditional formula of the previous ones to relate 19th century Spanish History through novel fiction coexists with the new consideration of History as part of the Fable itself. Therefore, breaking the molds of official History and inventing true History, Galdós tries to find the meaning of the events derived from the Gloriosa, with a bold reconstruction of the past, which pretends to be a stimulating political exhortation for its historical present.