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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles The Aesthetic of the Grotesque in Post-Franco Spain A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and Literatures by Elizabeth Mary Warren 2018 ©Copyright by Elizabeth Mary Warren 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Aesthetic of the Grotesque in Post-Franco Spain by Elizabeth Mary Warren Doctor in Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and Literature University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor María Teresa de Zubiaurre, Chair This dissertation examines the aesthetic of the grotesque in contemporary Spanish cultural production (1975-present). I maintain that in the aftermath of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975), film directors and writers resort to the grotesque to unveil the contradictions of the political narratives of the Transition to Democracy in order to destabilize them. For these authors, the grotesque is the key instrument used to challenge the perception of Spain as a paradigm of democratic transformation: they contest the celebratory democratizing discourse of the Transition, undermine the reconstruction of national and political identity in Catalonia, and question and denounce the negative social and political effects of the Pact of Forgetting in twenty-first century Spain. In the first chapter, I study how Luis García Berlanga’s film Patrimonio nacional (1981) and Pedro Almodóvar’s film ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? (1984) criticize the presumed modernization and democratization of the period. Against the grain, their authors present the survival and continuity of traditional Spain and Francoism as grotesque. In the second chapter, I explicate how Juan Marsé’s novel El amante bilingüe (1990), Bigas Luna’s film La teta y la luna (1994), and Albert Boadella’s theater play Ubú president o Los últimos días de Pompeya ii (2001) subverted the vision of Catalan national identity propagated after Franco’s death by Catalan President Jordi Pujol via grotesque satires of cultural normalization initiatives, Europeanist ambitions, and the political persona of Pujol himself. In the third chapter, I examine how Laila Ripoll’s theater play Santa Perpetua (2010), Álex de la Iglesia’s film Balada triste de trompeta (2010), and Hernán Migoya’s novel Una, grande y zombi (2011) address the deliberate suppression of historical memory that defined the Transition. In these three works, the grotesque is the fundamental element employed to challenge the silencing of the traumatic legacies of the Civil War and the Franco regime. iii The dissertation of Elizabeth Mary Warren is approved. Silvia Bermúdez John C. Dagenais Jesús Torrecilla María Teresa de Zubiaurre, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2018 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 The Aesthetic of the Grotesque 3 The Grotesque Tradition in Spain 14 Chapter 1: The Grotesque and the Arrival of Democracy 22 1.1. The Legacy of the Franco Regime in the Spanish Transition 22 1.2. Patrimonio Nacional 30 1.3. ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? 49 Chapter 2: Grotesque Visions of Catalan Identity during the Pujol Era 76 2.1. Catalan Identity during Jordi Pujol’s Presidency 76 2.2. El amante bilingüe 86 2.3. La teta y la luna 111 2.4. Ubú president o Los últimos días de Pompeya 130 Chapter 3: The Grotesque and Historical Memory 152 3.1. The Role of Historical Memory in the Transition to Democracy 153 3.2. Santa Perpetua 163 3.3. Balada triste de trompeta 182 3.4. Una, grande y zombi 203 Conclusion 230 Works Cited 233 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation marks the culmination of one academic journey and the beginning of a new one, and it was conceived and completed thanks to the support of my professors, colleagues, friends, and family in St. Louis (by way of New York and Chicago), Bloomington, Granada, and Los Angeles. Above all, to my parents, Thomas and Kathleen Warren: thank you for your love and your unwavering support of all my endeavors. To my longtime friend Jamal Miller, who has joined me on every adventure since the Fall of 2005 (even when we were separated by a ten-hour time difference): thank you for being a constant source of wisdom, encouragement, and laughter in my life. I studied with many excellent professors at Indiana University, yet two individuals were especially vital to my academic trajectory. To Emily Maguire, whose introductory Latin American literature course led me on a life-changing trip to the Dominican Republic: thank you for piquing my interest in the Hispanic world beyond the traditional language classroom, and for inspiring me to pursue an academic career. To Matthew Guterl, whom I met during that fateful trip to Santo Domingo: thank you for the professional and personal guidance you have given me at the different stages of my life, for teaching me not to be afraid of the popular, and for continuing to provide me with a voice of reason all these years later. I would have never written a dissertation on Peninsular cultural studies, let alone pursued a postgraduate degree in Spanish, had I not first fallen in love with the city of Granada. I am forever indebted to the many colleagues, roommates, and friends that I met during the two years that I lived in Spain. I would like to express my gratitude to the 2009-2011 staff of CEIP Antonio Marín Ocete in Alfacar—particularly Amaia Carrillo Fernández, Miguel Ángel Bailón Ballesteros, Mercedes Jiménez Jiménez, Ramón Benjumea Reina, Rosario Pinar Gálvez, Isabel Gutiérrez García, Lola Jiménez Pérez, José Luis Rubio Yáñez, Patricia Sánchez Rodríguez, Cristina Viciera García, Lydia González Ramírez, and Laura Varela Tristán—, who treated me like family from the first day we met. Thank you for your unparalleled generosity, for providing me with a wealth of knowledge on Spanish language and culture, and for greeting me with open arms (and a plate of jamón and a few cañas) during each of my subsequent visits. It is because of you that I love Spain. I am thoroughly grateful for the academic, moral, and financial support that I have received from the UCLA Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and I am indebted to all the vi professors with whom I have taken class and/or taught during these seven years. The four members of my doctoral committee have all been essential to my development as a scholar and teacher, and their enthusiasm, constructive feedback, and unique expertise and points of view were fundamental to the success of this project. To my mentor and dissertation director Maite Zubiaurre, whose wit, talent, and intellectual curiosity have inspired me since my very first graduate seminar at UCLA: thank you for your constant belief in my work, your patience, and your candor. Above all, thank you for consistently compelling me to go beyond my abilities, and to break out of my comfort zone in both my research and teaching. To John Dagenais, with whom I share the unique perspective of being a Midwesterner in Los Angeles that loves the Iberian Peninsula: thank you for providing me with many opportunities to fall in love with Spain all over again via teaching, and for introducing me to the city of Barcelona. To Jesús Torrecilla and Silvia Bermúdez: thank you for the encouragement and guidance that you have provided me over the past few years. In addition to the members of my committee, I would like to extend a special thank you to Roberta Johnson, whom I had the fortune of meeting during my initial weeks in Los Angeles, and who has served as a model of professionalism and collegiality ever since. To Maarten van Delden: thank you for setting the tone for my time in the Department and for your friendship, which has been one of the high points of the later years of my studies. To Jorge Martuano and Patricia Arroyo Calderón: thank you for your encouragement and your career advice. I would also like to express my gratitude to my friends and colleagues at UCLA, especially Alma Alvarado, Paul Cella, Isaura Contreras, Inês Dias, Vanessa Fernández, Magda Matuskova, Unai Nafarrate, and David Ramírez. It has been a privilege to work and study with you during these past seven years. To my beloved neighbors Núria Dordal Homs and Laia Brossa Brunet: thank you for answering my many questions on Catalan culture, politics, and language, and for exploring Barcelona and la Catalunya profunda with me. To Adrián Collado and Daniel Cooper, who accompanied me through every milestone of the doctoral program: thank you for your support and camaraderie, which was crucial during each seemingly impossible phase. Lastly, to Rafael Ramírez: thank you for your patience, your extraordinary eye for detail, and, most notably, your unwavering confidence in me, without which this work would not have been possible. vii VITA EDUCATION University of California, Los Angeles 2016 C. Phil. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures 2013 M.A. in Spanish Indiana University, Bloomington 2009 B.A. English (Honors), B.A. Spanish, B.A. American Studies Honors Thesis: ‘Either I’m nobody, or I’m a nation.’ Dominican-American Nationhood in Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao HONORS AND AWARDS 2014-2015 Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship. UCLA 2014 Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Fellowship. UCLA 2009 Department of English Honors Thesis Award. Indiana University, Bloomington 2007 Edward L. Hutton International Experiences Travel Grant for Summer Study Abroad in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Indiana University, Bloomington PUBLICATIONS “Memorializing Trauma: An Interview with John Patrick Thompson.” Mester 43 (2014-2015): 67-75. Co-conducted with Verónica García Moreno and Juan Jesús Payán Translation from Spanish to English (with Rafael Ramírez). Pere Gimferrer, “Death in Beverley Hills. V” [La muerte en Beverly Hills.