Myth and History in the Contemporary Spanish Novel

by Jo Labanyi

Overview

Since the Civil War, Spanish novelists have produced a noteworthy body of fiction. In this book, Jo Labanyi provides detailed textual analysis of six of the most important novels to have been written during this period: Martin-Santos' Tiempo de silencio, Benet's Volverás a Región, Marsé's Si te dicen que caí, Cela's San Camilo, 1936, Juan Goytisolo's Reivindicación del conde don Julián, and Torrente Ballester's La saga/fuga de J.B. The focus on myth as a response to history is intended as a corrective to archetypal myth criticism, and stresses the variety of ways in which Spanish novelists have resorted to myth, and the need to relate their use of it to the historical context of Francoist ideology. The book also raises important general issues about the ways in which fiction, as a form of mythification, relates to the real world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521288460
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/03/2011
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. The historical uses of myth; 2. Myth and Nationalist Spain; 3. Fiction as mask Tiempo de silencio; 4. Fiction as echo: Volverás a Región; 5. Fiction as corruption: Si te dicen que caí; 6. Fiction as release: San Camilo, 1936, Reivindicación del conde don Julián, La saga/fuga de J.B; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.