Proquest Dissertations
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Imn u Ottawa {.'University cmiadienne Canada's university FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES u Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES L'Universite canadienne Canada's university Jordon Tronsgard AUTEUR DE LA THESE / AUTHOR OF THESIS Ph.D. (Spanish) GRADE/DEGREE Department of Biology FACULTE, ECOLE, DEPARTEMENT / FACULTY, SCHOOL, DEPARTMENT Re(writing the Spanish Civil War: The Ironic Collision of Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Fantasy in Four Novels at the New Millennium TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS Rosalia Cornejo-Parriego DIRECTEUR (DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE/ THESIS SUPERVISOR CO-DIRECTEUR (CO-DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS CO-SUPERVISOR Fernando De Diego-Perez Joerg Esleben Luis Martin-Estudillo (University of Jorge Carlos Guerrero Iowa) Gary W. Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Re)writing the Spanish Civil War: The Ironic Collision of Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Fantasy in Four Novels at the New Millennium Jordan Tronsgard Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the PhD degree in Spanish Modern Languages and Literatures Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Jordan Tronsgard, Ottawa, Canada, 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-61250-7 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-61250-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada 11 Table of Contents (Re)writing the Spanish Civil War: The Ironic Collision of Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Fantasy in Four Novels at the New Millennium i Table of Contents ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 The Civil War at the Turn of the Millennium: From Politics to the Novel (or Vice-Versa) 1 Writing and Re-writing the Civil War: A Literary Panorama , 24 Theorizing Tension: Irony in History, Fiction, and Ethics 40 Prologue to Chapters 1 and 2 - The Ironic Acknowledgment of Self: Approaching Metafiction in Soldados de Salamina and Mala gente que camina 57 Chapter 1 - From "True Tales" to True Fictions: Reading and Writing the Civil War in Soldados de Salamina 67 1.1 jOtro maldito estudio sobre Soldados de Salaminal 67 1.2 "Relato real" vs. Novel: "Cercas" vs. Cercas 75 1.3 "Literariness" of the War 82 1.4 Toward an Ethics and Politics of Memory: The Case of Miralles 91 1.5 The Intertextual Dialogue of Soldados de Salamina: Novel and Film 102 Chapter 2 - Looking for History in all the Write Places: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Politics in Mala gente que camina 108 2.1 The Politics and Poetics of Benjamin Prado 108 2.2 Crafting and Subverting the Illusion of Reality 120 2.3 "Truth" in Fiction (in Fiction [in Fiction])? 129 2.4 The Ethical/Political Debate: Many Voices, One Message 141 Prologue to Chapters 3 and 4 - Tracing the Impossible Dialogue: Approaching Fantasy in El lapiz del carpintero and Rabos de lagartija 154 Chapter 3 - From the Ghostly to the (Ironic) Nostalgia: El lapiz del carpintero 167 3.1 El lapiz del carpintero: Heroes, Ghosts, and Memory on the Margins 167 3.2 Ironic Acknowledgement of Textuality 172 3.3 The Painter's Ghost 177 3.4 Ironic Nostalgia 184 Chapter 4 - Fantasy and Postmemory in Rabos de lagartija 202 4.1 Marse Returns to the Barrio in Rabos de lagartija 202 4.2 David's Spectral World 214 4.3 Postmemory and the womb 229 Conclusion 248 Notes 255 Works Cited 285 Ill Abstract The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) constitutes one of the most definitive events of twentieth-century Spain, leaving the nation with a complex legacy of memory and silence. After decades of censorship under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and the self- censorship of the Transition to democracy, the Civil War has exploded with visibility and profitability in the literary realm at the turn of the millennium. This dissertation explores the intersection of historical memory, with its inherent ethico-political considerations, and the postmodern destabilization of authority in four novels from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Chapters one and two examine the blurring of generic lines between fiction and non-fiction in Soldados de Salamina (2001) by Javier Cercas and Mala gente que camina (2006) by Benjamin Prado, while chapters three and four deal with the juxtaposition of reality and fantasy in El lapiz del carpintero (1998) by Manuel Rivas and Rabos de lagartija (2000) by Juan Marse. Each of these texts is self-aware with regard to memory and textuality, depicting how the traumas of war and postbellum oppression are recovered, negotiated, and reconstructed in the present, not as a function of personal experience, but rather through their various narratives. The central element of this dissertation lies in its treatment of the way in which irony, a leitmotiv of each novel, frames the self-consciously literary approach to history. These texts employ the ambivalent properties of irony in order to establish points of tension between seemingly paradoxical poles, with regard to what is remembered and how it is remembered, without rejecting either premise. In essence, the irony behind these narratives allows them to suggest that Spain's violent past is both absolutely necessary and determinative, and wholly inaccessible without its mediated, and thus problematic, traces in the present. IV Acknowledgements The research and writing of this dissertation has been both highly demanding— academically, intellectually, emotionally—and highly rewarding. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize those who have helped keep the latter from being overwhelmed by the former. First and foremost, I would like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Rosalia Cornejo- Parriego. Her guidance came from a sincere enthusiasm for my project and my personal development as a scholar and teacher. She was challenging and encouraging, patient and persistent. From the genesis of this dissertation to its completion, her knowledge and emphasis on critical thinking have been indispensable tools as she always pushed to get the best out of me. Despite her many responsibilities of family, research, and teaching, I always felt that my project and I were genuine priorities. I have learned much over the past four years, and for that there is nobody to whom I am more indebted than her. Muchas gracias, Rosalia. I am very grateful to the other members of my thesis committee, Dr. Fernando De Diego and Dr. Ofelia Ferran. Thank you for your time, comments, questions, and suggestions. The benefit of multiple perspectives on the development of my dissertation has been invaluable. I would like to express my gratitude to the University of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario. Without the financial support provided by the Admission and Excellence Scholarships and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, I would not have been able to complete my doctoral studies. I would also like to thank the members past and present of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures who have helped me navigate the logistics and administrative side of completing a Ph.D.: Manon Lavallee-Pratte, Harry Kisoka, Catherine Bernard, Sylvie Theriault, Michelle Sigouin, and Dr. Juana Liceras. Writing a dissertation is by nature solitary work. Therefore, I give special thanks to my fellow graduate students for their camaraderie and friendship. We can all relate to the rigours of research and writing; the many coffee breaks, lunch breaks, dinners, drinks, and parties were welcome distractions. In particular, I would like to thank the following for their support at various times over the past four years: Diana (and Phil), Alberto, Susie, Cristina, Candice, and Claudia. I am extremely grateful for the encouragement of my family. My parents have always defended my decision to be a "professional student" with love and positivity. For that, and for instilling in me the importance of "using my brain," I thank you. I would also like to express my gratitude to Kirsten, Chris, Taylor, Quinten, and Spencer; and Devin and Liz. I am very fortunate to be able to count my siblings as friends; thanks for the laughs.