Abstract

Julian Marias $ is a well-known contemporary Spanish philosopher, essayist and literary critic, and a noted disciple of Jose Ortega y Gasset. His works, which have not received sufficient critical attention, consist of ten volumes entitled Obras, and several separate editions of additional works that are not included in the collection. ;This dissertation examines Marias' writings on literary criticism. Two main goals have guided my work: To establish a relationship between Marias' ideas on art and literature and his philosophical thought. To show that behind Marias' writings on literary criticism there is a theoretical and ideological framework based on his philosophical thought. A study of themes, structure, and style reflects the literary, argumentative, or apologetic characteristics of Marias' writings on literary criticism. This approach to essayistic writings allows the critic to examine the work according to an ideological and theoretical framework, attending to its purposes rather than on the bases of unique parameters of literary criticism. ;The first two chapters present the relationship between Marias' ideas on art and literature and his philosophical thought. Among the aspects covered are his theory on the novel, the metaphor, the man as a fictional character, style and authenticity, the temporal dimension in the arts, his theory on the concept of generation, literary genres, and the literary writings on literary criticism as part of nonfictional prose. ;The remaining four chapters study, in chronological order, Marias' writings on literary criticism from Cervantes to Maranon, with a section on Spanish-American writers. Separate chapters are dedicated to Unamuno and Ortega. ;The conclusions reveal that Marias exercises more the use of argumentative reasoning in his writings on literary criticism than the literary or the apologetic approach to the subject of writing. On the other hand, one of the most important aspects that underlies all his essays and studies is that life and its manifestations, literature among them, are a method of knowledge. ;The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to a better understanding of Marias' works and to motivate future studies on the essay and its tradition