Description
- Abstract:
- This dissertation analyzes historical novels written in Spain and the Spanish peripheries (Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia) in the last fifteen years, focusing on how the texts interpret the Spanish Civil War and its legacy, and how they formulate images of the nation and of cultural identity. Historians and political scientists such as Benedict Anderson have long theorized that memory of a shared past fosters national community. Through textual analysis informed by studies of memory and nation, this dissertation argues that Spanish interpretations of the past frequently ignore the country's pluricultural reality by excluding the peripheral nations. This study proposes a critical approach that acknowledges the coexistence of national memories, suggesting that writers of peripheral cultures, in which cultural identity is a pressing question, are exceptionally-well positioned to investigate the influence of the past in shaping the nation. The study first addresses the meta-fictional structures Spanish novels of memory – those that narrate the past from a present-tense perspective – employ in discovering the past, analyzing their implications on the how they represent Spain. Next, by bringing to light how literary and non-literary texts of memory represent the past in the Basque County, the dissertation shows that "centralistic” Spanish understanding of the Franco legacy do not always retain their relevance in the peripheries. Finally, the dissertation compares memory novels of the three peripheries, demonstrating the relevance of their use of narrators of double identity. <br/> Examined texts include works by leading authors in Castilian Spanish, Basque, Catalan, and Galician: Bernardo Atxaga, Jaume Cabré, Javier Cercas, Koldo Izagirre, Anjel Lertxundi, José María Merino, Benjamín Prado, Suso de Toro, and Kirmen Uribe.<br/>
- Notes:
- Thesis (Ph.D. -- Brown University (2013)
Access Conditions
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- Collection is open for research.
Citation
Colbert, David A.,
"Memory of the Peripheries: Narrative Constructions of History in Contemporary Spanish, Basque, Catalan, and Galician Novels"
(2013).
Hispanic Studies Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0RR1WJS
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Hispanic Studies Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations for the Hispanic Studies department....