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Faustian Figures: Modernity and Male (Homo)Sexualities in Spanish Commercial Literature, 1900-1936

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Faustian Figures: Modernity and Male (Homo)Sexualities in Spanish Commercial Literature, 1900-1936 University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies Hispanic Studies 2012 FAUSTIAN FIGURES: MODERNITY AND MALE (HOMO)SEXUALITIES IN SPANISH COMMERCIAL LITERATURE, 1900-1936 Jeffrey Zamostny University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Zamostny, Jeffrey, "FAUSTIAN FIGURES: MODERNITY AND MALE (HOMO)SEXUALITIES IN SPANISH COMMERCIAL LITERATURE, 1900-1936" (2012). Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies. 4. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/hisp_etds/4 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Hispanic Studies at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained and attached hereto needed written permission statements(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine). I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless a preapproved embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s dissertation including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Jeffrey Zamostny, Student Dr. Susan Larson, Major Professor Dr. Susan Larson, Director of Graduate Studies FAUSTIAN FIGURES: MODERNITY AND MALE (HOMO)SEXUALITIES IN SPANISH COMMERCIAL LITERATURE, 1900-1936 DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Jeffrey Zamostny Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Susan Larson, Associate Professor of Spanish Lexington, Kentucky 2012 Copyright © Jeffrey Zamostny ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION FAUSTIAN FIGURES: MODERNITY AND MALE (HOMO)SEXUALITIES IN SPANISH COMMERCIAL LITERATURE, 1900-1936 I contend in this study that commercial novels and theater from early twentieth- century Spain often present male (homo)sexual characters as a point of constellation for anxieties regarding modernization in Madrid and Barcelona. In works by Jacinto Benavente, Josep Maria de Sagarra, El Caballero Audaz (José María Carretero), Antonio de Hoyos y Vinent, Carmen de Burgos, Álvaro Retana, Eduardo Zamacois, and Alfonso Hernández-Catá, concerns about technological and socioeconomic change converge upon hustlers and blackmailers, queer seducers, and chaste inverts. I examine these figures alongside an allegorical interpretation of Goethe’s Faust in Marshall Berman’s book All That is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity (1982) in order to foreground their varying responses to modern innovation. They alternately sell themselves to prosper under consumer capitalism, seduce others into savoring the pleasures of city life, or fall tragically to the conflicting pressures of tradition and change. In the process, they reveal the fear and enthusiasm of their creators vis-à-vis rapid urbanization, fluctuating class hierarchies, the commercialization of art, and the medicalization of sex from the turn of the nineteenth century to the Spanish Civil War. From a methodological standpoint, I argue that close readings of commercial works are worthwhile for what they reveal about the discursive framing of modernity and male (homo)sexualities in Spain in the early 1900s. Hence, I use techniques of literary analysis previously reserved for canonical writers such as Federico García Lorca and Luis Cernuda to discuss texts produced by their bestselling contemporaries, none of whom has been equally scrutinized by subsequent criticism. Existing scholarship on modernity and sexuality in Spain and abroad helps contextualize my detailed interpretations. Although my project is not a sustained exercise in comparative literature, I do situate Spanish works within historical and literary trends beyond Spain so as to acknowledge the interplay of transnational and local concerns surrounding modern change and sexual customs. By considering the primary texts in relation to varying temporal and geographic contexts, the dissertation aims to be of interest to a readership in and outside Hispanism, and to supplement important studies of modernity, (homo)sexualities, and literature that overlook Spain. KEYWORDS: early twentieth-century Spain, modernity, male homosexuality, mass culture, Álvaro Retana _______Jeffrey Zamostny________________ _______January 26, 2012________________ FAUSTIAN FIGURES: MODERNITY AND MALE (HOMO)SEXUALITIES IN SPANISH COMMERCIAL LITERATURE, 1900-1936 By Jeffrey Zamostny _______Susan Larson______________________ Director of Dissertation _______Susan Larson______________________ Director of Graduate Studies ______January 20, 2012____________________ To my family To Susan Larson, Thomas Deveny, and Dayna Lane ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing a dissertation is solitary work, but formulating ideas, undertaking research, and revising drafts also bring one into contact with many other people. I have been fortunate to count on the support of an amazing group of individuals during the completion of this project. As director of my work, Dr. Susan Larson has been a constant source of motivation. Her recommendation that I read the novels of Álvaro Retana set this dissertation into motion, and her insights into modernity laid its theoretical foundation. Moreover, Dr. Larson’s devotion to her students, colleagues, and community sets an example that I shall seek to emulate in my own career. I also extend my thanks to the other members of my committee for their academic rigor and enthusiasm for my project: Drs. Ana Rueda, Mariana Amato, and Marion Rust. While they did not form part of the examining committee, I also owe a debt to Drs. Juana Suárez and Michael Trask for their guiding contributions to early stages of my work. Along the way, conversations with Luis Antonio de Villena, Maite Zubiaurre, Eva Woods, Uriel Quesada, Amy McNichols, and my outstanding colleagues in Hispanic Studies and Social Theory at the University of Kentucky have also been invaluable. Research for this project was funded in part by the Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities. I dedicate this study to Dr. Susan Larson of the University of Kentucky, Dr. Thomas Deveny of McDaniel College, and Mrs. Dayna Lane of South Carroll High School. Without their commitment to introducing students to Spanish literature and culture, I would never have started this dissertation. I also dedicate the project to my family, Kathy, Frank, and Jake Zamostny, for their unflagging confidence in me. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................................................1 Notes ......................................................................................................................20 Chapter Two: Little Fausts: Modernity, Hustling, and Homosexual Blackmail in Commercial Drama and Narrative .........................................................22 I. Homosexual Blackmail in De muy buena familia .............................................33 A. Benavente and Homosexuality, Between Visibility and Erasure ........34 B. Marañón on “True” and “False” Modernities ......................................39 C. Conflicting Modernities, Bickering Brothers .......................................42 D. Modernity, Blackmail, and Homosexuality .........................................47 E. Benavente’s Balbuceos .........................................................................51 F. Revelation, Concealment, and Mise en Abyme .....................................55 G. Censorship and Scandal .......................................................................58 II. Hustler-Blackmailer-Author Relations in Vida privada ..................................60 A. Sagarra and Modern Barcelona ............................................................62 B. Vida privada in History and Criticism .................................................66
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