Memory And Identity In The Narratives Of Soledad Puertolas

Download or read book Memory and Identity in the Narratives of Soledad Puértolas written by Tamara L. Townsend and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2014-09-09 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Narratives of contemporary Spanish writer Soledad Puértolas (1947-), inducted into the Real Academia Española in 2010, depict the psychological struggles of the individual in postmodern democratic European society. Puértolas’s realist style emphasizes storytelling and character portrayal, and her urban middle-class characters seek satisfying interactions with others and a sense of purpose. Memory aids characters in their quest for meaning and identity, and their use of memory reveals their self-perception and outlook on life. This book maps four ways in which Puértolas’s narratives use memory to approach the fundamental problem of the individual’s search for purpose and identity. Some characters are burdened by memory in certain texts, especially Días del Arenal (1992) and Burdeos (1986). Reflection upon a painful self-defining memory affects their present mood and behavior. For some, this burden causes them to withdraw or to act irresponsibly; others accept and overcome the scars of the past. A second type of character takes an escapist approach to memory, as seen in Queda la noche (1989).Their nostalgic retreat indicates a restless dissatisfaction with the present. In a third type of memory, a secondary character provides the organizing force behind a protagonist’s reminiscences, often an extroverted foil to highlight the protagonist’s introspective nature. Memory of the relationship motivates the protagonist to mentally order his or her own life through the life review process; Una vida inesperada (1997) and La señora Berg (1998) provide examples. Finally, in the amnesic mode, Puértolas departs from realism to experiment with different forms of amnesia, as in La rosa de plata (1999) and Si al atardecer llegara el mensajero (1995). Memory loss highlights the centrality of memory to personhood and identity, while at the same time it draws attention to the inadequacy of memory to explain the totality of existence.

Download or read book Women’s Narratives and the Postmemory of Displacement in Central and Eastern Europe written by Simona Mitroiu and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-15 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the different mechanisms and forms of expression used by women to come to terms with the past, focusing on the variety and complexity of women’s narratives of displacement within the context of Central and Eastern Europe. The first part addresses the quest for personal (post)memory from the perspective of the second and third generations. The touching collaboration established in reconstructing individual and family (post)memories offers invaluable insights into the effects of displacement, coping mechanisms, and resilience. Adopting the idea that the text itself becomes a site of (post)memory, the second part of the volume brings into discussion different sites and develops further this topic in relation to the creative process and visual text. The last part questions the past in relation to trauma and identity displacement in the countries where abusive regimes destroyed social bonds and had a lasting impact on the people lives.

Download or read book Contemporary Spanish Short Stories written by Jean Andrews and published by Bristol Classical Press. This book was released on 1998-03-26 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of short stories by 12 contemporary Spanish writers. The settings vary from the exotic to the historical and the fantastic. Each story follows the theme of a traveller or travellers, who, in the course of the story become lost to reality in some way.

Download or read book Mother and Myth in Spanish Novels written by Sandra J. Schumm and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2011 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Remembering the forgotten mother is a major theme in Myth and Mother in Spanish Novels and reflects the current interest in the recuperation of historic memory in Spain. The novels in this study feature mature protagonists who recall their mothers as a way to define their own identities and to nullify the fictional matricide prevalent in post-war Spanish novels; this twenty-first-century fiction highlights the haunting presence of the mother and begs comparison with myth.

Download or read book Women in Contemporary Spain written by Anny Brooksbank Jones and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume gives access to debates in Spanish women's studies.

Download or read book Spanish Women Writers and the Essay written by Kathleen Mary Glenn and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Never before has a book examined Spanish women and their mastery of the essay. In the groundbreaking collection Spanish Women Writers and the Essay, Kathleen M. Glenn and Mercedes Mazquiarán de Rodríguez help to rediscover the neglected genre, which has long been considered a "masculine" form. Taking a feminist perspective, the editors examine why Spanish women have been so drawn to the essay through the decades, from Concepción Arenal's nineteenth-century writings to the modern works of Rosa Montero. Spanish women, historically denied a public voice, have discovered an outlet for their expression via the essay. As essayists, they are granted the authority to address subjects they personally deem important, discuss historical and sociopolitical issues, and denounce female subordination. This genre, which attracts a different audience than does the novel or poem, allows Spanish women writers to engage in a direct dialogue with their readers. Featuring twelve critical investigations of influential female essayists, Spanish Women Writers and the Essay illustrates Spanish women writers' command of the genre, their incorporation of both the ideological and the aesthetic into one concise form, and their skillful use of various strategies for influencing their readers. This fascinating study, which provides English translations for all quotations, will appeal to anyone interested in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Spanish literature, comparative literature, feminist criticism, or women's studies.

Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: