The spiritualistic trend in the Spanish novel (1887--1899).

Scholars of the 19th century Spanish novel have agreed for decades on the existence of a Spiritualistic stage in the work of prominent writers,- such as Galdos, Clarin, Pardo Bazan and Unamuno.

In this phase, the pessimistic and mechanical view of life typical of Naturalism gives way to the admission of ethical and religious concerns in human existence.

This is manifested in novels in which the characters are led by a spiritual drive to Goodness that struggles to succeed among the materialism of bourgeois society.

In spite of this general recognition, the Spiritualistic novel has not been thoroughly studied yet.

The intention of this thesis is to fill this scholarly gap: With the final objective of offering a general theory of the Spiritualistic novel, it analyses the ideological and literary characteristics of the most important novels of the trend, as well as the intellectual movements that underlie its existence---both the post-rationalist European fin-de-siecle currents, and the demand for ethical reform of the Spanish krauspositivists.

These will show that the Spiritualistic novel enables a better understanding of the aesthetic, cultural, social and political evolution that is taking place in Spain at the end of the century, in the so-called crisis del fin de siglo espanol.

This thesis will therefore cover and analyse the evolution of Spiritualistic novels: From their first appearance in early works like Fortunata y Jacinta (1887) or Realidad (1889), until its climax and dissolution in pre-Modernist novels like Las aventuras del infatigable creador Pio Cid (1898), or Morsamor (1899).