The Spanish Case for Europe. The Power of Cultural Identity

Europe has not been for Spain an easily assumed identity, a home within which Spaniards could find accommodation. Yet, for the first time in modern history, Spain has become fully integrated in the political and economic system of Europe and it functions within it as a strong and dedicated partner. Paradoxically, this new order has developed simultaneously with the increasing assertion of the local nationalities. I propose that the current political and cultural situation in both Europe and Spain has created the appropriate conditions for an extensive reexamination of the conventional European/Spanish paradigm. That is so because the circumstances on both ends of the relation have changed and, for the first time, both sides not only desire but they need the reconstruction and redefinition of a relation that has been destructive for both parts. What Francisco José de Goya, Julián Sanz del Río, and Manuel Azaña, among others, conceived as a nearly impossible and illusory task can now become a reality. From Francisco Zurbarán, El Greco and Pedro Calderón de la Barca to Federico García Lorca, Luis Buñuel and Pablo Picasso, the various manifestations of its culture have been Spain’s unquestioned achievement. This cultural continuum is the most promising entryway for Spain in the Heimat of Europe. I also propose that the issue of the various historical nationalities within Spain can be approached from the perspective of what Andrzej Stasiuk calls the “private histories” of the minorities of Europe. In the last part of the article, I study Spain’s transcontinental identity. Without ignoring the legitimate issues raised by private narratives, I suggest that the country’s full insertion in the global reality and its immersion in realities that are beyond its own will lead to the contextualization of the internal national divide and the emergence of new and more productive approaches towards its resolution

Historia circular y nueva temporalidad en «El otoño del patriarca» de Gabriel García Márquez.

Sin resume

La cultura del entretenimiento y la novela española del siglo XXI

This work reviews the most noteworthy Spanish novels of 2003. The article offers up a review of each novel, taking into account different thematic and formal aspects. Along with authors of large literary trajectories, readers will discover other who, through the sheer quality work alone, will delight them.Se repasan las novelas españolas más sobresalientes publicadas durante 2003. Se hace una crítica de cada una de ellas, atendiendo a distintos aspectos, tanto temáticos como formales. Junto a autores con una larga trayectoria literaria, aparecen otros noveles que sorprenden por la calidad de sus obras

El canon en la literatura

Mi study examines the concept of canon in literature and its influence in the delimitation and specifìc analysis of literary studies. I propose that the canon is a way of organization of the elements in a definite artistic parcel which appear at first without order and coherence. It is an artificial and subjetive construction that imposes on the dates of the objective artistic reality which precede it. Its purpose is double: the order but also the evaluative legislation about the literary fact. Law and order about what, without them, would apparenlly be the magma of non-estructured and unwrought aesthetic facts. In spite of the advantages that the concept of canon has offered, its convenience and utility have been controverted in the two last decades, especially since the eclosion of postmodernist epistheme. In relation to the canon, I ìnvestigate the concept of generation and its limitations to textual analysis. With Kuhn, Vattimo and Stanley Fish as theoretic starting point, I elaborate an anticanonic theory and I illustrate it with practical examples from contemporary spanish novel and other present cultural facts.Mi estudio examina el concepto de canon en literatura y su influencia en la delimitación y análisis específico de los estudios literarios. Propongo que el canon es un modo de organización de los elementos de una parcela artística concreta que se presentan en un principio sin orden ni coherencia. Es una construcción artificial y subjetiva que se impone sobre los datos de la realidad artística objetiva que la precede. Su propósito es doble: la ordenación pero también la legislación evaluativa en torno al hecho literario. Ley y orden sobre lo que, sin ellos, sería aparentemente el magma de los hechos estéticos no estructurados y en estado bruto. A pesar de las ventajas que el concepto de canon ha ofrecido, su conveniencia y utilidad ha quedado cuestionada en las dos últimas décadas sobre todo a partir de la eclosión de la episteme posmoderna. Con relación al canon, investigo el concepto de generación y sus limitaciones para el análisis textual. A partir de Kuhn, Vattimo y Stanley Fish como punto de partida teórico, elaboro una teoría anticanónica y la ilustro prácticamente con ejemplos de la novela española contemporánea y otros fenómenos culturales actuales

El canon en la literatura

Mi study examines the concept of canon in literature and its influence in the delimitation and specifìc analysis of literary studies. I propose that the canon is a way of organization of the elements in a definite artistic parcel which appear at first without order and coherence. It is an artificial and subjetive construction that imposes on the dates of the objective artistic reality which precede it. Its purpose is double: the order but also the evaluative legislation about the literary fact. Law and order about what, without them, would apparenlly be the magma of non-estructured and unwrought aesthetic facts. In spite of the advantages that the concept of canon has offered, its convenience and utility have been controverted in the two last decades, especially since the eclosion of postmodernist epistheme. In relation to the canon, I ìnvestigate the concept of generation and its limitations to textual analysis. With Kuhn, Vattimo and Stanley Fish as theoretic starting point, I elaborate an anticanonic theory and I illustrate it with practical examples from contemporary spanish novel and other present cultural facts.Mi estudio examina el concepto de canon en literatura y su influencia en la delimitación y análisis específico de los estudios literarios. Propongo que el canon es un modo de organización de los elementos de una parcela artística concreta que se presentan en un principio sin orden ni coherencia. Es una construcción artificial y subjetiva que se impone sobre los datos de la realidad artística objetiva que la precede. Su propósito es doble: la ordenación pero también la legislación evaluativa en torno al hecho literario. Ley y orden sobre lo que, sin ellos, sería aparentemente el magma de los hechos estéticos no estructurados y en estado bruto. A pesar de las ventajas que el concepto de canon ha ofrecido, su conveniencia y utilidad ha quedado cuestionada en las dos últimas décadas sobre todo a partir de la eclosión de la episteme posmoderna. Con relación al canon, investigo el concepto de generación y sus limitaciones para el análisis textual. A partir de Kuhn, Vattimo y Stanley Fish como punto de partida teórico, elaboro una teoría anticanónica y la ilustro prácticamente con ejemplos de la novela española contemporánea y otros fenómenos culturales actuales