Discovering Everyday Life: Representation, Ethics, and Transatlantic Convergence in Contemporary Literary Journalism in Spain
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DISCOVERING EVERYDAY LIFE: REPRESENTATION, ETHICS, AND TRANSATLANTIC CONVERGENCE IN CONTEMPORARY LITERARY JOURNALISM IN SPAIN A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Spanish and Portuguese By Jovana Zujevic, M.S. Washington, D.C. April 14, 2016 Copyright 2016 by Jovana Zujevic All Rights Reserved ii DISCOVERING EVERYDAY LIFE: REPRESENTATION, ETHICS, AND TRANSATLANTIC CONVERGENCE IN CONTEMPORARY LITERARY JOURNALISM IN SPAIN Jovana Zujevic, M.S. Thesis Advisor: Francisco LaRubia-Prado, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This thesis looks at the interrelation between literary journalism in contemporary Spain, or periodismo de arte in Francisco Umbral’s words, and everyday life. Specifically I examine how weekly newspaper columns by fiction writers published in El País, a longstanding mainstream newspaper, and blogs published in FronteraD, an independent magazine of literary journalism, narrate, question, and redefine the two notions commonly considered transparent and thus overlooked: the everyday and reality. Drawing from Michel de Certeau, Ben Highmore, and other prominent scholars of everyday life, I argue that these diverse texts resist the idea that the everyday is a tangible reality that can be apprehended and described objectively and accurately in newspapers. They also reject the tendency of news media to portray daily life as dramatic and sensational, instead emphasizing its uneventfulness. I begin by exploring the indeterminacy and opaqueness of the everyday in Juan José Millás’s newspaper columns. I argue that Millás shows that what is considered as “reality” is not the natural state of things, but rather a construct of language, culture, and dominant world-views. The following chapter examines how Manuel Vicent’s columns redefine political and social criticism and challenge the dominant discourse. I contend that his decidedly literary style, his interest in the uneventfulness of everyday life, and his emphasis on universal moral virtues represent a more powerful form of resistance against social injustice than more flamboyant acts of rebellion. The final chapter looks at new perspectives that open up for periodismo de arte once it leaves the confines of mainstream iii newspapers and print media. I propose that FronteraD and Laura Ferrero’s and Paco Gómez Nadal’s blogs within this magazine mirror the instability and heterogeneity of the everyday through the dissolution of boundaries between media, genres, orality and literacy, and the crossing of cultural and geo-political borders between Spain and the Americas. My analysis ultimately shows that contemporary periodismo de arte in both form and content represents an alternative to the discourses and practices of the dominant ideology and to the style of traditional media thereby transforming the conventional newspaper reader into a more engaged and conscientious subject. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Francisco LaRubia-Prado, whose enthusiasm for this project, keen insights, and desire for excellence have taught me to be a better reader, researcher, and writer. My graduate education would not have been the same without his continued encouragement, professional advice, and his wisdom for everyday life. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my committee members, Tania Gentic and Gonzalo Navajas, for their support, generosity, and valuable comments throughout the process. I owe special thanks to two Spanish authors whose newspaper columns inspired this dissertation, Juan José Millás and Manuel Vicent, for generously agreeing to discuss their literary journalism with me. Among the numerous colleagues and friends who have accompanied me on this journey, I would like to recognize a special group of “compañeros de guerra” who made this process more enjoyable and truly memorable. Álvaro Baquero Pecino’s steady friendship and advice on all aspects of graduate studies, Mercedes Ontoria Peña’s pragmatism and emotional support, Pablo Camus Oyarzún’s confidence in me, and Ángela Donate Velasco’s optimism have been invaluable to me. Finally, I am forever and profoundly thankful to my family: to my grandfather whose childhood stories inspired my passion for literature, to my grandmother and aunt for their love and support, and most particularly to my mother. Without her strength, perseverance, unconditional love, and unwavering faith in me, I would not be here today. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Periodismo de arte and Science of Singularity……………………………………..1 Chapter One: Uncovering the Everyday: Representation, Reality, and Unreality in arti(foto)cuentos by Juan José Millás……………………………………………………………24 Chapter Two: The Philosophy of Everyday Life: Epicurean Ethics and Intra-History in Columns by Manuel Vicent……………………………………………………………...............................65 Chapter Three: Periodismo de arte and Convergence Culture: Smartness, Sincerity, and Transatlantic Gaze in FronteraD………………………………………………………………..104 Conclusion: Reading the Everyday……………………………………………………………..148 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………154 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Juan José Millás’s column in the print edition of El País………………………………5 Figure 2. Manuel Vicent’s columns in the digital edition of El País……………………………..6 Figure 3. Photograph in “Receptores del sabor”…………………………………………………58 Figure 4. Photograph in “La diferencia entre el dedo y el pezón”……………………………….60 Figure 5. Photograph in “Lo real y L’Oréal”…………………………………………………….62 Figure 6. One of the photographs in the video El extraño de la frontera..……………………..107 Figure 7. Sections of El País and FronteraD…………………………………………………..115 Figure 8. Blog header in Los nombres de las cosas…………………………………………….120 Figure 9. Illustration in “Mis líos con el periodismo”…………………………………….........121 Figure 10. Photograph in “Los ríos y la vida”………………………………………………….125 Figure 11. Photograph in “A pesar de la lluvia”………………………………………………..130 Figure 12. Photograph in “Viejas fotografías”…………………………………………………132 Figure 13. Blog header in Reportero salvaje..…………………………………………………135 Figure 14. Blog header in Otramérica…………………………………………………………138 vii INTRODUCTION PERIODISMO DE ARTE AND SCIENCE OF SINGULARITY Is it not then time to recognize the theoretical legitimacy of narrative, which is then to be looked upon not as some ineradicable remnant (or a remnant still to be eradicated) but rather as a necessary form for theory of practices? ⎯Michel de Certeau, Heterologies: Discourse on the Other On February 15th, 2008, nearly two decades since the beginning of Juan José Millás’s weekly contributions to the section “La Opinión” of El País, the highest-circulating daily newspaper in Spain, this prolific fiction writer and journalist published a brief metafictional text entitled “La columna.” Narrated in the first person by a fictionalized authorial persona, this playful text tells a story about the creation and almost immediate death of a perfect newspaper column. In the middle of the night, half-awake protagonist of “La columna” envisions a flawless column, deserving of the most prestigious literary and journalistic prizes, and writes it down as soon as he wakes up. The column, however, begins to show signs of decay almost instantly and despite the protagonist’s best efforts to save it and to advance its publication date, its imminent death takes place precisely on the morning of its appearance in the newspaper. Bewildered and saddened by the tragic fortune of his creation, the author dreams of a different deceased column that same night and once again writes it down in the morning. Contrary to his expectations, this lifeless column resurrects upon its publication in the newspaper. Published in both print and digital editions of El País, “La columna” illustrates the essential characteristics of what Alexis Grohmann considers as a relatively new genre in the rich 1 tradition of Spanish literary journalism (11-43) and denominates columna de escritores.1 According to Grohmann, the emergence of newspaper columns by fiction writers in the period following Francisco Franco’s death in 1975 is made possible by the development of Spanish new journalism in the sixties, proclamation of freedom of expression in the 1978 Constitution,2 as well as by the growing importance of journalism during the period of transition to democracy (13).3 This critic recognizes Juan José Millás, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Manuel Vicent, Javier Marías, Rosa Montero, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Eduardo Mendoza, and several other renowned authors as the most significant columnists in contemporary Spain. Having studied their texts, Grohmann identifies the presence of “un ‘yo’ autorial ficcionalizado (un columnista que es narrador y se convierte también en personaje)” (35) as one of the central features of columna de escritores. The narrator-protagonist of Millás’s “La columna” confirms this observation: Me desperté en medio de la noche y miré el reloj de la mesilla con un solo ojo, para no espabilarme demasiado. Eran las tres de la mañana, la hora en la que uno parece un extraño en su propia casa, en su propia cama, incluso en su propio 1 It should be noted that crónica, whose origins can be traced back to the first colonial accounts about the New World, and artículo de costumbres, which reaches its peak in the 19th century in 2 The Constitution established the rights to “expresar y difundir libremente los pensamientos, ideas y opiniones mediante la palabra, el escrito o cualquier