Hamletism in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39.

Within the historical context of the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39, ineffectuality, vacillation and irresolution in social and political commitment came under scrutiny as a kind of 'Hamletism'. Catalan journalist and writer Paulino Masip (1899'1963) cites Hamlet as a type in his article 'Carta a un español escèptico' ['Letter to a sceptical Spaniard'] in the Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia on 16 September 1937, as does Josè Bergamín (1895-1983) in his contribution to the 2nd International Congress of Writers in Defence of Culture, published in the monthly review Hora de España in August 1937. A theatre production of Hamlet in Valencia in December 1937 reveals similar conflicts and anxieties. In the novel El diario de Hamlet García [The Diary of Hamlet García], written during his exile in Mexico, Masip criticizes wartime Hamletism and reflects upon the dilemmas the civil war imposed on him, contemporary intellectuals and the civilian population of Madrid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]