Belarmino y Apolonio

Published in 1921, Ramón Pérez de Ayala's Belarmino y Apolonio is a masterpiece of the Spanish Silver Age (1898-1936). Through a seemingly “costumbrista” story set in a provincial town, it offers a profound exploration of human conduct, perspective, and the relativity of human opinions, all delivered with a playful and ironic tone.

The novel centers on two shoemakers in the fictional city of Pilares (a stand-in for Oviedo): Belarmino, a humble philosopher who invents a unique, abstract language to describe reality; and Apolonio, an ambitious shoemaker and aspiring playwright who perceives the world in dramatic, emotional terms and speaks in verse. Their opposing worldviews form the core of the narrative, highlighting the fascinating tension between rational abstraction and passionate expression.

Pérez de Ayala employs a complex, innovative narrative structure, featuring multiple narrators (including the author himself as a character) and shifting temporalities. The novel's “Chinese box” structure and “bilateral” vision emphasize the partiality of human knowledge, suggesting that no single perspective can fully grasp reality. This literary artifact reflects a deep metafictional engagement, where the story is not just told but is also a reflection on the act of telling.

Belarmino y Apolonio is a novel both “about” and “of” language, exploring how words shape our understanding of the world. Its richly varied style—combining erudite references, archaicisms, localisms, and colloquialisms—creates a text that is both a precise portrayal of characters and a conscious verbal construct. The characters are highly symbolic, embodying attitudes rather than purely realistic individuals.

This Stockcero edition, prepared by Juan Herrero-Senes, is based on the first edition of 1921. It provides extensive annotations to clarify vocabulary, cultural, and historical allusions, making this complex, philosophically rich, and tragicomic novel accessible to contemporary students. It is a work that champions not just coexistence but the fraternal embrace of diverse perspectives, expanding our understanding of the world and inspiring us towards greater humanity.