How did post-Civil War Spanish novelists change their approach to fiction?

Following the Spanish Civil War, Spanish novelists shifted their approach to fiction in several distinct phases, moving away from the experimentalism of the early 20th century toward traditionalism, social critique, and eventually, renewed technical innovation.12

• Return to Traditionalism: In the immediate postwar period, many writers—including Miguel Delibes and Carmen Laforet—rejected the formal experimentation of their predecessors, favoring a more traditional, realistic approach to storytelling.2
• Tremendismo and Social Realism: Early postwar literature saw the rise of tremendismo, a harsh, unsentimental realism popularized by Camilo José Cela. This evolved into "social literature" or "critical realism," where writers used their work to offer covert opposition to the dictatorship, focusing on poverty, social inequality, and the struggles of marginalized groups.1
• Technical Innovation: By the 1960s, writers began breaking away from the "pedestrian" style of social realism. Luis Martín-Santos introduced complex techniques like stream of consciousness, while others like Juan Benet Goitia and Juan Goytisolo embraced metafiction, nonlinear chronology, and neo-Baroque complexity.1