De la vida a la novela o la historia del Sexenio (1868-1874). Masones y autobiografía en Pequeñeces, de Luis Coloma

Abstract

This article undertakes the task of stressing the importance of the biographical projection of its author, the jesuit Luis Coloma (1851-1915), in the novel Pequeneces (1890). Three episodes of the plot are studied, those in which the writer’s life and his own creative imagination converge. Pequeneces is a novel that has received little critical attention in some aspects, mainly in two: the historical content of its plot, and the little importance that has been given to the role of the masonic characters. The novel offers a clear vision of the aristocratic social fabric at the time of the Spanish Sexenio (1868-1874), which is a source for any historian of that period. On the other hand, the presence of Masonry in the plot creates a background worth of further study. In any case, we focus our attention on those scenes in which the biography of the novelist becomes relevant.