Spanish · 1916–2002
Camilo José Cela won the 1989 Nobel Prize in Literature for "a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability." The Spanish novelist invented tremendismo—a literary style of brutal realism—with his 1942 debut "The Family of Pascual Duarte." "The Hive" captured postwar Madrid through fragmentary scenes of hundreds of characters. Cela also compiled a dictionary of Spanish profanity, viewing vulgar language as legitimate cultural heritage. His fiction refused consolation.