French Literature Reviews - 2026

The Essayistic Writings of Gregorio Marañón in Interwar Spain
History, Politics and Society

Vandebosch, Dagmar. Y no con el lenguaje preciso de la ciencia. La ensayística de Gregorio Marañón en la entreguerra española. Geneva: Droz, 2006.

Gregorio Marañón is one of the most representative figures among a group of intellectuals who viewed science as the primary driver of cultural and political emancipation in interwar Spain, and the essay as an ideal vehicle for disseminating their educational project.
Drawing on a broad conception of the essay as a hybrid and polymorphic genre, this book examines Marañón's essayistic practice as an instrument in the discursive construction of Spanish society. It demonstrates how these essays simultaneously shape and modify the generational project—a process closely tied to the socio-historical context and reflected in the evolving nature of his essayistic writing itself.

During the interwar period, Spanish intellectual life was deeply engaged with questions of modernization, scientific rationalism, and national identity. Writers and thinkers frequently turned to the essay as a flexible medium capable of bridging specialized scientific inquiry and broad public debate. Within this intellectual landscape, figures associated with the regenerationist tradition sought to address the perceived cultural and political crises of the nation through education and public discourse. The genre of the essay offered a space where literature and science could intersect without the rigid constraints of academic treatises, allowing authors to address a diverse readership.

Readers interested in twentieth-century Spanish intellectual history or the development of Hispanic essay writing may find this study relevant. Dagmar Vandebosch examines Gregorio Marañón as a representative figure among a group of intellectuals who viewed science as the primary driver of cultural and political emancipation in interwar Spain. The volume examines Marañón's essayistic practice as an instrument in the discursive construction of Spanish society, demonstrating how these essays simultaneously shape and modify the generational project in relation to the socio-historical context.