"Trece dioses" (1902): Pérez de Ayala’s first approach to Modernism

This essay aims at highlighting some of the modernist features that Ramón Pérez de Ayala's first novel, "Trece dioses" (1902), shares with the most famous novelas de 1902: José Martínez Ruiz's "La voluntad", Miguel de Unamuno's "Amor y pedagogía", Ramón María del Valle-Inclán's "Sonata de otoño" and Pío Baroja's "Camino de perfección". To reach this purpose, I proceed with a formal and a content analysis of Pérez de Ayala's novel. From a formal point of view, I take into account the use of the first person narration (developed to the detriment of the omniscient narrator of Realism) and the disintegration of the plot combined with a propensity for autobiography and the character's introspection. As for the content, I mainly focus on the echoes of the Spanish 'mal de España', heritage of the so-called 'Generación del 98'.