Imagining the metropolis: Constructing and resisting modernity in Madrid (1914-1936) Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Larson, Susan Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 12:50:08 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/283928 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of t>ie copy submitled. Broiien or indistinct print colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely aff^ reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g.. maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs irKluded In the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6' x 9" black and white photographic prints are availat>le for any photographs or yiustratkMns appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI (firectly to order. Bell & Howeil Information and Learning 300 North ZMb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA UMI" 800-521-0000 NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was microfilmed as received. 186-188 This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI IMAGINING THE METROPOLIS: CONSTRUCTING AND RESISTING MODERNITY IN MADRID (1914-1936) By Susan Larson Copyright © Susan Larson 1999 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College The University of Arizona 1999 UMI Nxunber: 9946846 Copyright 1999 by Larson, Susan All rights reserved. UMI Microfonn 9946846 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA « GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by SUSAN LARSON entitled IMAGINING THE METROPOLIS; CONSTRUCTING AND RESISTING HODERNITY IN MADRID (1914-1936) and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Ph.i»..»phy C (XO/u- =- ^/lb/g9 Malcolm A. Conpitelle Date S/^y ff * A ' Joan Gilabert Date Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. Dissertation Director Date Malcolm A. Conpitello 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission of extended quotation liom or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. / SIGNED: 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Those who have influenced this project are too numerous to count. I owe more than I can possibly express to my flnest and most inspirational teachers who have challenged me and given me every opportunity to do well. Cesar Puente, my teacher at Huron High School from 1983 to 1986 is without a doubt one of the most committed teachers I have ever known. His love of language and literature is infectious and 1 have never forgotten it. Reading Miguel de Unamuno in the original Spanish for his class was one of the most important experiences of my young life. Professor Mary S. Vasquez at Michigan State University, now of Davidson College, has also been a source of constant encouragement and ideas. Her passion for the time period studied here was not lost on this student, with whom she has been very generous with her time and energy. It would have been impossible to finish this project without the support of those who had the patience and good will to read and discuss my work with me. I am grateful for my long, enlightening, honest conversations with Professor Joan Gilabert about literature, the profession I have chosen and life in general. Professor Judith Nantell has been invaluable for both her meticulous attention to detail and ability to see the big picture. She is an exceptional reader and I cannot thank her enough for her encouraging words when I needed them the most. William Sherzer of Brooklyn College generously offered his time and expertise in the area of Spanish literature in the first third of the century and the city of Madrid. I greatly appreciate the careful, focused attention he has paid to my work. My dissertation director, Malcolm A. Compitello, has consistently and unselfishly offered me every possible opportunity to finish my graduate degree successfully. He has invested an extraordinary amount of time in my intellectual development and provided me with a constant stream of references, contacts, opportunities, rides, meals, and other extraordinary favors. Our working relationship has been and will continue to be a long and fruitful one. I hope to live up to the high professional expectations he has always had for me. I also need to thank Malcolm for sharing with me what is without a doubt his life's most important work—his family. The presence of Malcolm, Pat, Gina and Michael has been one of the most constant and stabilizing forces in my decidedly chaotic life as a student. We've been through many adventures together and seen each other through some of life's landmark events. Lastly, it is Marc Heft, with whom I have been able to share my life these past couple of years, who has been there time and time again to remind me of what is most important. 5 DEDICATION To the memory of my beloved grandfather Harold Larson, inhabitant of one of the world's great cities soon to be my new home. Farmer, boxer, sailor, welder, bus driver, doting grandfather—whetlier he knew it or not, the best weapons he wielded against the adversity and constant change in his life were love and joy. The lessons of his life and death have not been lost on those who remember him often and with great fondness. He would have understood perfectly what I have tried to get across in these pages. .And to .Madrid, the place where I feel most alive. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 8 ABSTRACT 18 CHAPTER I Towards a Theory of the Urbanization of Consciousness: How to Approach Urban Culture 1.1 What is Place? 19 1.2 Cerro Belmonte 20 1.3 Fritz Lang's Metropolis 22 1.4 What is Spanish Modemity? 27 1.5 How to Approach Urban Culture 33 1.6 Cultural Studies 37 1.7 The Frankfurt School and the Aestheticization of Politics 38 1.8 Antonio Gramsci and Cultural Resistance 41 1.9 Henri Lefebvre and the Urban Process 42 1.10 David Harvey and the Urbanization of Consciousness 44 CHAPTER II Capital, Culture and the Urban Process in Modern Madrid: Socio-Historical Context 2.1 The Crisis of the Parliamentary Monarchy, 1917-1923 66 2.2 The Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and the Fall of the Monarchy, 1923-1931 74 2.3 The Second Republic, 1931-1936 79 2.4 A Precarious Economic Base 82 2.5 The Rise of Organized Labor in Spain, 1910-1936 86 2.6 The Case of Urbanizing Madrid 92 2.7 Ideas and Ideologies Behind Attempts to Plan Modem Madrid 98 2.8 Madrid's Urban Planning, 1914-1936 104 2.9 Constructing Modemity: Architecture in Madrid 1914-1936 128 CHAPTER III Gender, Place and Culture in Madrid from 1900-1930: Entering Modemity with Carmen de Burgos 3.1 The "Nueva Mujer Modema" Enters the Public Sphere 145 3.2 Madrid 1900-1930: The Other Side of the City 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued CHAPTER IV Fashion and the Conunodification of the "New Woman'* in Madrid: Jose Diaz Fernandez's La venus mecanica 4.1 Women's Fashion in the 1920s 186 4.2 A Brief Biography 197 4.3 La venus mecanica 200 4.4 Formal Aspects of the Novel 201 4.3 Critique of Avant-Garde and Popular Culture in Madrid 217 4.4 The Politicization of Space 220 CHAPTER V Al Hollywood madrileno with Andr^ Carranque de Rios's Cinemat6£rafo; Madrid's Fledgling Film Industry and the End of an Era 5.1 Film and the Urbanization of Consciousness 232 5.2 Spain's Unique Film History 235 5.3 The Commodification of the Cinematic Image In and Of Madrid 238 5.4 The Impact of Cinema on Madrid's Built Environment 241 5.5 Cinematoerafo 247 CONCLUSION Modernity: An Incomplete Project 282 WORKS CITED 292 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS RGURE 1.1 Spanish Movie poster for Fritz Lang's Metropolis.