O'Donoghue, SJR;
(2016)
Marcel Proust and the Spanish Novel of Memory.
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
Abstract
This thesis examines Marcel Proust’s (1871-1922) influence on how a number of Spanish novelists have written about the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and Franco’s dictatorship (1939-75) in the last seventy years. It seeks to demonstrate that a familiarity and engagement with À la recherche du temps perdu (1913-27) were instrumental in the genesis of some of the most significant milestones in Spanish literature since the civil war: Nada (1945) by Carmen Laforet; Señas de identidad (1966) by Juan Goytisolo; Volverás a Región (1967) and Una meditación (1970) by Juan Benet; El cuarto de atrás (1978) by Carmen Martín Gaite; Sefarad (2001) by Antonio Muñoz Molina; and Tu rostro mañana (2002-07) by Javier Marías. The thesis argues that an awareness of how Proustian themes and techniques are used by these Spanish authors enhances our understanding of the function of memory and literary creation in their work. It argues, moreover, that an appreciation of Proust’s pervasive influence on Spanish memory writing obliges a reexamination of certain shibboleths in Spanish cultural history. The thesis seeks to correct the misconception that Franco’s regime maintained a rigid stranglehold on imported culture that stunted the development of Spanish literature by preventing Spaniards from reading works considered an affront to National-Catholic sensibilities and by isolating Spain from narrative developments elsewhere in Europe following the Second World War. Furthermore, the thesis challenges the notion that Spanish authors’ treatment of their country’s past, their seemingly inescapable impulse to return generation after generation to the disturbing history of the civil war and Franco’s dictatorship, is a manifestation of first-hand or inherited trauma.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Marcel Proust and the Spanish Novel of Memory |
| Event: | University College London |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Proust, novel of memory, Franco, Spanish Civil War, influence |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1516085 |
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