Fathers to a Fatherless Nation After Defence
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Fathers to a Fatherless Nation: From Abjection to Legacy in Spanish and Catalan Autobiographies after Franco by Anna Casas Aguilar A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Spanish and Portuguese University of Toronto © Copyright by Anna Casas Aguilar, 2013 ii Abstract “Fathers to a Fatherless Nation: From Abjection to Legacy in Spanish and Catalan Autobiographies after Franco” Anna Casas Aguilar Doctor of Philosophy Department of Spanish and Portuguese University of Toronto 2013 This dissertation examines the figure of the father in autobiographies published in Spain after the death of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, in 1975. It analyzes how four well- known Spanish authors born in Barcelona, Carlos Barral, Juan Goytisolo, Clara Janés, and Terenci Moix, portray the figure of the father in their memoirs. I consider first and foremost the authors’ depiction of the biological father. Nonetheless, I read this father in relation to the political figurehead of Franco, who was portrayed by many as father to the Spanish nation. The four authors either blame their fathers for being an authoritarian figure in the shadow of the dictator or present him as an absent but alternative model to the singular vision of the patriarchal household promoted by the regime. I argue that these four writers question Franco’s paternity and foster other conceptions of fatherhood in the newly democratic Spain. This dissertation addresses several interrelated questions: To what extent do real fathers collapse and step away from the ever-present figure of the Spanish dictator as a censoring father? How do father figures influence one’s own gender subjectivity and what is the relationship between fathers and the transformation of gender models during the Spanish iii transition to democracy? In which ways are fathers central in the construction of selfhood in autobiographical writings in general and in post-Franco Spain in particular? The close reading of these four writers illuminates the strong bonds between father figures, autobiographical writing and Oedipal narratives in the literary scene of the Spanish Transition and more broadly in the three decades following Franco’s death. Drawing from psychoanalysis, feminism and theory on autobiography, I analyze how the language, space, body, and death of the father are essential to the construction of an autobiographical self. I also contend that the reading of these authors’ melancholic state after the death of their fathers offers a new way of understanding the politics of mourning in Spain. These authors’ considerations of the figure of the father illustrate divergent attempts to deal with desired and undesired legacies of Franco’s dictatorship and, in this sense, this dissertation establishes a dialogue with current debates about memory, generational replacement, and the politics of inheritance and legacy in Spain. iv Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of my teachers, friends and family. To start with, I would like to thank my committee. Robert Davidson, exceptional mentor, is a model of intellectual and critical thought, a positive and stimulating voice who always encourages me to take my thoughts further. His advice in all my academic endeavours has been, and remains, invaluable. Jill Ross always has an open door for her students, yet her generosity has gone far beyond. The conversations we have shared on gender, psychoanalysis and literature have been some of the most cheerful moments of my graduate studies, and her feedback is always thought-provoking. Josiah Blackmore’s insightful questions and bibliographical recommendations have been exceptionally welcomed. He always finds the right word and suggests the right book to challenge my ideas. A tots tres, us dono les gràcies de tot cor. I will always be in your debt. I feel fortunate to have met at the University of Toronto a vibrant and collaborative intellectual community. At different stages of my graduate work, many professors have advised me, and inspired me with their classes. Thank you, then, to Sanda Munjic, Eva-Lynn Jagoe, Yolanda Iglesias, Cristina Cuervo, Stephen Rupp, Manuel Ramírez, Susan Antebi and Iván Fernández Peláez. I am particularly grateful to Rosa Sarabia, whose mentorship and friendship has been indispensable. Néstor Rodríguez offered several helpful questions and much enthusiasm as a reader of this dissertation. Blanca Talesnik and Rosinda Raposo have assisted me in all kinds of administrative matters and answered all sorts of questions. Obrigada! At the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, at the University of Toronto, and in Canada, I have received financial support that was fundamental for this project. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Avie Bennett Scholarship and several School of Graduate Studies conference and travel grants have allowed me to fully devote my summers to research and to share my research with scholars in Canada and abroad. v Beyond the University of Toronto, I am indebted and deeply thankful to Alberto Medina Domínguez for his exceptional feedback and advice on how to further think about this project. ¡Muchísimas gracias! I also want to thank to Marta Segarra and my colleagues at the Centre Dona i Literatura and at the University of Barcelona for their assistance and advice when I first decided to pursue my graduate studies. My dissertation and academic life have been enormously enriched by dear friends who have contributed to this project in different ways. Ximena Berecochea, Ramiro Armas, Rebecca Janzen, Paula Karger, Adleen Crapo, Joanne Markle LaMontagne, Manuel Campirano, Gina Beltrán, Berenice Villagómez and Pamela Fuentes have made of Toronto my home. It has been immensely gratifying to share my ideas with them while listening to their academic interests. I also want to thank Alice Jonathan and Paulina Dabrowski for their invaluable friendship. On the other side of the Atlantic, and always there when I cross it, Maria Ángeles Rodríguez, Helena Torres, Natalia Villaverde, Ann Marie Poelen, Joana Gaspar Mallol, Mònica Junyent and Olga Forns have been the best friends anyone could ask for. I am especially grateful to Maria Ángeles Rodríguez and Teresa Martín Taffarel, who shared with me their passion for literature when I was a student in high school. In their classes my desire to study literature began. I also want to thank Rowan Melling and Ben Bryce who read the entire dissertation and asked me for clarifications on many passages. This dissertation is considerably better because of them. To Nick Melling, I owe the biblical title. I am infinitely grateful to my family as well. Rafael Casas and Glòria Aguilar’s love has guided me through since I began my formal education more than two decades ago. They created a harmonious and peaceful home where culture and reading was valued. They supported my studies, even when it meant being away from each other, and my choice to study hispàniques. Gràcies. My sister, Natàlia, is able to dissipate my fears and concerns with her irony and sense of humour. The day she was born my world changed for the better, and I am blessed because she is part of my life. My family in Barcelona and abroad— cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandfather Isidre Casas—have always been there when needed, and I want to thank them for that. I also want to thank Ben’s family—Elizabeth, vi Sarah, Gregory, Margaret, Janet and David Bryce as well as Ann Jansen—who have adopted me and welcomed me with their warmth and affection. Last but not least, my dearest Ben: my deepest gratitude goes to you, partner throughout these years. Your love for languages and passion for research has always inspired me. You are the cornerstone of my life, and this dissertation is only a part of a much larger project I want to share—always—with you. vii A Glòria Panadés de la Cortina i Anita Esteve Collell, les meves àvies viii Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgments iv Table of Contents viii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Father’s Language and Culture 21 Chapter 2: The Father’s Spaces 69 Chapter 3: The Father’s Objects and Body 118 Chapter 4: The Death of the Father and the Melancholic Subjectivity 159 Conclusion 201 Bibliography 207 1 Introduction Five days after Francisco Franco died, Juan Goytisolo published “In Memoriam, F.F.B. 1892- 1975.” In the article, the Spanish intellectual denounced the moral genocide that Franco had inflicted on those who, like him, were children during the war and grew up under Franco’s authoritarian regime. According to Goytisolo, Franco was an arbitrary and castrating father, a monstrous head of the family who obliged Spaniards to abandon their own principles. In his text, Goytisolo describes the dictator as a person “cuya sombra ha pesado sobre mi destino con mucha mayor fuerza y poder que mi propio padre” (3);1 Franco’s moral subjugation was such that Goytisolo felt forced to flee Spain, turning him into “an errant Jew,” “incapaz de aclimatarse y sentirse en casa en ninguna parte” (no page). Despite Goytisolo’s impassioned words regarding the dictator in “In Memoriam,” the writer’s two autobiographies, Coto vedado (1985) and En los reinos de taifa (1986), reveal a more complex understanding of fatherhood and of paternal figures. Throughout Goytisolo’s autobiographies, father and dictator are two mutually dependent figures, intimately bound to the author’s conception of censorship and law. They are two inhibiting presences from which Goytisolo tries to escape and liberate himself. This thesis considers the importance of father figures in autobiographies published in Spain after 1975. Goytisolo is not the only writer that relates father and dictator during the Transition.2 He is, nonetheless, one of the only Spanish writers to establish this bond as part of his autobiographical project.