Spanish Modernist classic : Miguel de Unamuno's "Niebla" (Fog) translated by Elena Barcia

"Niebla" by Miguel de Unamuno

Translated by Elena Barcia

In his introduction to this English edition of Miguel de Unamuno’s Niebla (“Mist” or, as in Elena Barcia’s new translation – “Fog”), Alberto Manguel makes a bold claim for the novel. Critics, he tells us, have almost unanimously placed it amongst the great Modernist texts, next to Virginia Woolf’s The Waves and Pirandello’s Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore. Except that Unamuno’s novel precedes them both, having been published in 1914 and commenced years before.

Now I have a confession to make. Although a fan of Italian literature, I have never read Luigi Pirandello, mainly because I have always been afraid that my tastes are too traditional to appreciate this experimental master. As for The Waves – I did read the novel over twenty years ago, but that was only because it was lent to me by a girl I fancied. And if the rocker Meat Loaf sang that he “would do anything for Love”, I guessed that having a go at Woolf was no big deal. Alas, The Waves washed over me without leaving any long-lasting ripples and I’ve never felt any inclination to tackle Woolf since then. It was therefore with some trepidation that I approached Unamuno’s book. I needn’t have worried, as the novel turned out to be really fun to read. And by “fun” I do not simply mean that it is “interesting” and “intellectually satisfying” (although it is that is well) but it is also seriously entertaining.

As in any self-respecting Modernist novel, the plot is secondary, if not inexistent. Bored bachelor Augusto Pérez has lost his doting mother who, before passing on, insists that he find himself a wife. It takes the gaze of piano-teacher Eugenia to finally awake Augusto’s passions. There is a problem though - the wilful Eugenia is not particularly drawn to Augusto. Apart from the fact that she already has a fiancé. Moreover, thanks to Eugenia, Augusto’s eyes are finally open to the charms of women in general, and the ones who surround him in particular. Meaning that he is soon embroiled in a nascent affair with the earthier Rosario, the young woman who does his laundry. In between Augusto’s hapless attempts at lovemaking, he indulges in philosophical discussions and meta-fictional discourses with the other characters, which culminate in a showdown with the Author himself. Add a prologue purportedly written by one of Unamuno’s fictional characters, a “postprologue” by the author, and an epilogue by Augusto’s dog, and you have the makings of a Modernist text, a work which challenges preconceptions about the role of the author, his characters and his readers.

What is surprising is that even at his most abstruse, Unamuno retains a light and comic touch. Indeed, when not exploding novelistic conventions to smithereens, he indulges in a type of comedy which reminds me of early Evelyn Waugh. I particularly enjoyed the scenes involving Eugenia’s uncle - a self-declared “theoretical, mystical anarchist” who believes that Esperanto will bring about world peace.

I sincerely hope that Elena Barcia’s translation will bring this novel to the attention of a wider English-speaking (and reading) public. It deserves to be known not only for its literary-historical merits, but also – and perhaps more importantly – because it is such a great read.

Paperback, 192 pages

Published August 15th 2017 by Northwestern University Press (first published 1914)