Date of Completion
5-1-2018
Embargo Period
12-28-2028
Keywords
Madrid, autobiographical writing, transatlantic studies, cultural studies, Peninsular Literature, Latin American Literature
Major Advisor
Ana María Díaz Marcos
Co-Major Advisor
Miguel Gomes
Associate Advisor
Gustavo Nanclares
Associate Advisor
Eduardo Urios–Aparisi
Field of Study
Literatures, Languages, and Cultures
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Open Access
Campus Access
Abstract
This project seeks to analyze the incorporation of the environment of Madrid into the study of autobiographical literature in the Hispanic world in the first three decades of 20th century. I propose that Spanish American and provincial Spanish writers who witnessed the turn of the century in Madrid constructed images of this city that became valuable tools for them to gain and accumulate symbolic capital in the pan-hispanic field of cultural production. I focus on how their descriptions of a social space played a role in the self-fashioning creations presented in Madrid’s literary market. The city was essential at least for two aspects of the autobiographical display. First, it made the protagonists of these narratives rediscover their own roots, by redefining their biographical and literary identity, and recreate their hometowns by way of contrasting urban and non-urban styles of living. Second, this representation is inserted in different discourses about post-colonial relations and cultural associations, which included criticism by Latin American writers to Madrid’s still provincial profile in contrast to other major cities of the Hispanic world, or polemical and failed attempts by European writers at anchoring again the lost center of the Transatlantic Hispanic culture in Madrid. In sum, these narratives promote different approaches to the study of the relations between the new great capitals and Latin American travellers while incorporating the countryside perspective of those who sought the opportunity of personal success inside their nation but outside the provinces. To achieve my objectives, I will study the narratives of three authors —Enrique Gómez Carrillo (born in Guatemala), Rufino Blanco Fombona (born in Venezuela) and Rafael Cansinos Asséns (born in Seville, Spain)—who lived during the same time period in this city.
Recommended Citation
Martín Pérez, Ángela, "The Modern Self on Display. The Milieu of Madrid in Autobiographical Literature. 1898-1930." (2018). Doctoral Dissertations. 1806.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/dissertations/1806