About Postmodernism Adn Diaz Mas

8/19/2019 About Postmodernism Adn Diaz Mas

1/17

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Reading Postmodernism: The Fiction of Cristina Fernández Cubas, Paloma Díaz-Mas, and MarinaMayoralAuthor(s): Kathleen M. GlennSource: South Central Review, Vol. 18, No. 1/2, Spain Modern and Postmodern at the Millenium(Spring - Summer, 2001), pp. 78-93Published by: on behalf ofJohns Hopkins University Press South Central Modern LanguageAssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3190303

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2/17

Reading

ostmodernism:he

ictionf

Cristina

Fernandez

ubas,

aloma

iaz-Mas,

nd

Marina

Mayoral

Kathleen

M. Glenn

To

read

bout

ostmodernism

s to

realize

ow

problematic

phenomenon

t

is. Is

it

a

reaction

gainst

modernism

r an

extension

f

t,

rupture

r a reconsideration?

oes the

prefix

post-

mply

mere

emporalosteriority

r

ogical onsequence,

followingfterr followingrom? oesthe ermpostmodern

signal

opprobrium

r

approval?

Is

there

single

version

f

postmodernism

r does

ttake

arying

orms

n,

for

nstance,

he

fields

of

architecture,rt,

dance,

film,

iterature,

usic,

photography,

nd

heater?

I

incline

oward

he econd

f

achof

the

preceding

lternatives.)

nd what

onstitutes

ts essence?

Jean-Franqois

yotard

emphasizes

the

subversion

of

metanarratives,

rian

McHale

rgues

or

change

fdominant

thesis,

nd

Charles

encks

nd hab

Hassan,

espectively,

tress

doubleodingnd ndetermanenceindeterminacyimmanence).'

Fredric

ameson

laims

hat

ostmodernism

s characterized

y

suppression

f

depth,

waning

f

affect,

he

omnipresence

f

pastiche,

nd essential

riviality.

inda

Hutcheon,

ar

more

sympathetic,

ighlights

ts ronic

ialogue

ith he

ast.

Edmund

Smythroposes

series

f

features:

fragmentation,

iscontinuity,

indeterminacy,

lurality,

metafictionality,

eterogeneity,

intertextuality,

ecentring,

islocation,

udism.

And

Umberto

Eco, tongue

n

cheek,

eclares:

I

have

the

mpression

hat

['postmodem']

s applied odayoanythingheuser fthe erm

happens

o

like. '

The

present

ssay

ocuses

n

ndeterminacy

nd

on

parody

and

intertextuality,

ore

aspects

of

literary

postmodernism,

nd examines

ow

they

re

manifested

n

the

fiction

f hree

ontemporary

panish

riters:

ristina

ernAndez

Cubas

Arenys

e

Mar,

945-),

aloma

iaz-Mas

Madrid,

954-),

and

Marina

Mayoral

Mondofiedo,

942-).'

The

decision

o

study

women

riters

s

motivated

n

part

y

he

uery

Where

ave

All

The

Women

one?,

he

ubtitle

fthe

nitial

hapter

f

Patricia

Waugh's

eminine

ictions.4

ost f he ritics hohave tudied

literary

ostmodernism

ave

been

men,

nd

the

works

hey

ave

analyzed

ave

been

by

male

uthors,

hereby

endering

omen,

once

more,

nvisible.

teven

onnor,

or

xample,

ists

amuel

Beckett,

ohn

arth,

onald

Barthelme,

homas

ynchon,

on

C

South

entral

eview

8.1-2

Spring-Summer

001):

78-93.

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3/17

Kathleen

M.

Glenn

79

DeLillo,

William

urroughs,

eter

Handke,

talo

Calvino,

orge

uis

Borges,

Julio

CortUzar,

nd

CarlosFuentes

s

exemplars

f

the

postmodern

pirit.5

Conspicuously

bsent

re

henames

f

female

riters

nd

f

Spaniards

f

ither

sex.

The ndeterminacyhat sthehallmarkfpostmodernictions the esultf

basic

ncredulity

oncerning

aster arratives

nd

universallaims

or

ruth.

Postmodern

ntellectuals,

ully

ognizant

f

he ontradictionsnd ensions

f

he

present

ra,

re without

onfidence

n

Enlightenment

ationalism

nd

ogic

or

belief

n

a

coherent,

nified

elf nd a

single,

table

epresentation

f

reality.

Language

s no

onger

iewed

s

transparent;

igns

renot

nivalent;

tterances

do nothave

definitive

eaning.

hisdistrustf

metanarratives

nd

kepticism

about he

powers

f

reason

nd

language

re

fundamentalo the fiction

f

FernAndezubas.

The

protagonists

f

her

narratives

re unable

o

decipher

words,ctions,revents;ime ndagain atiocinationrovesnadequate. he

subtitle

f

recent

rticle

y

Janet

drez,

Narrative

nreliability

nd

he

Flight

from

Clarity,

r,

The

Quest

for

Knowledge

n

the

Fog,

underscores

he

uncertainty

hat

uffuses

ernAndez

ubas's

world.6

he second

uthor,

iaz-

Mas,

repeatedly

uestions

he

alidity

f

iterary

nd

historical

nowledge.

er

novel

l

suelio

e

Venecia

The

Dream f

Venice)

s

a

prime

xample

f

what

Hutcheon

erms

historiographic

etafiction,

hich

eflects

pon

ts

status

s

fiction

nd

exposes

he

fictionality

f

history.

Historiographic

etafiction

demonstrateshat

history,

ike

fiction,

onstructsts

object

nd is

inevitablypartial-bothncompletendbiased-in hatt snot n

objectiveecording

ut

constructionnd

nterpretation

f

past

events hat

eflects

he

ttitudef

the

historian

owardhis or

her

material.

Provisionality

nd

undecidability,

partisanship

nd even

overt

politics--these

re what

replace

he

pose

of

objectivity

nd

disinterestedness

hat

denies

he

interpretive

and.

mplicitly

evaluative ature

f

historical

epresentation. '7

ovels

ike

Salman

Rushdie's

Shame,

obert

oover's

he

Public

urning,

ndE. L.

Doctorow's

he

Book

f

Daniel

draw

ttentiono the

nstability

nd

provisionality

f historical

eaning

and heirwn

oubleness;

heyonjoin

he

resent

nd

he

ast,

he ictive

nd he

factual. oubleness,neffect,s basic oHutcheon'sefinitionf

postmodernism

as

complicitous

ritique,

simultaneous

nscription

nd

ubversionf

onventions

and

deologies,

fundamentally

arodic

rt.

Parody,

he

writes,

anges

rom

serious

riticism

o

playful

ockery,

rom

espectful

dmirationo

biting

idicule;

irony

s

its

major

hetorical

trategy,

nd t

s

doubly

oded

n

political

erms:

t

both

egitimizes

nd

ubverts

hat

whicht

parodies. 8

utcheon's

iscussion

f

parody

s

of

special

elevance

o

the

writing

f

Diaz-Mas nd

Mayoral,

hose

ironic

itation

f

certain

eneric

onventions,

eriod

tyles,

r

specific

orks

s

constant.

To

read

their

ictions

to

be

reminded,

t

every urn,f Eco's

observation

hat

books

lwayspeak

f

other

ooks, nd

verytory

ells

story

that

as

already

een

told. 9

Before

proceeding

further,

t

should be

noted

that

feminist s

a

very

questionable

erm

n

Spain,

nd

FernAndez

ubas,

Diaz-Mas,

and

Mayoral

resist

being

abeled

as

feminist

riters.

They

want

their

work

o be

taken

eriously,

valued

for ts

artistic

merit-not

or

hesex

of ts

author--and

ead

by

men nd





4/17

80

Southentral

eview

women

like.

All

hree

esist

eing elegated

o

what

hey

allthe

ghetto

f

literature

y

nd or

omen.

n

1995

nterview,

iaz-Maseclared:

In

general,

women ho

write

n

Spain

ike obe

considered

riters,

hat

s to

say,

writers

who rewomen.

..

It

annoys

e

o

be

considered

girl

who

writesnd

s,

thereforeeterminedbyher ex]. Logically,hefact fbeing woman

determines,

s does

eing panish,

professor

f

iterature,

iving

n

Vitoria..

but

don'tike ohave

t

onsidered

he ominant

actor,

or o like ohave

my

work

egarded

s that f

woman howritesnd

ohave

t,

s a

result,

udged

differently

han he

work

f

man. '

lleging

hat

eminist

ritics

ry

o

force

writing

y

womennto

specific

ramework,

ernindez

ubas

as

sed

he

mage

of

corset:

Theres a

corset,

nd

heyry

o

force

ur exts

nto

t.

It s ike

one-sizeorset

hat

as

o

fit ll

of

s,

nomatterow

at rhow

hin.

Mayoral

has

expressed

imilar

entiments,

s have

most

ontemporarypanish

omen

authors. he nsuingages eed iaz-Mas'srotestnd xploreheworkf

three

escritores

ue

on

mujeres

writers

ho

re

women).

At a conference

eld

n

Spain

n

1998,

ernAndezubas

poke

f

her

fascination

ith

ords

nd ecalledhats

a childhe oved

omake

p

rossword

puzzles.

Forms

fcommunication

igure

rominently

n

her

narratives,

ith

their

etters,

igns,

oded

messages,

mbroidery,

nd

arvings.

anguage

s

a

major

heme

n

the irst

tory

he

wrote,

La ventanael

ardin

The

Garden

Window).

A

tale

of calculated

ndeterminacies,

mbiguities,

nd

gaps,

t

problematizes

he

elationship

etween

igns

nd heir

eferents.

henarrator's

attemptso make ense fhisexperiencereroutinelyrustrated,ndwe, he

readers,

re

eft

with

text hats

decidedlypaque.

The

peningaragraphs

plunge

s nto

worldf

ncomprehensible

anguage

nd

nexplicable

ehavior.

The

nameless

arrator

ecalls

is irst

eeting

ith

omds,

hen

he

oy lipped

him note

whose

ords

ere

written

n

concentricircles

ather

han

arallel

lines:

Cazuela

irada,

Tines

visones.

ruces

agartos.

a

noche

ra cre

unque

as ucarachas

llorasen.

s

Olla.'4

[Angry

asserole,

Soot

r

minks.

rossesr izards.

he

night

as crid

ven

hough

heockroaches

wept.

ore

Pot.]

Since

messages

resumably

re

ntended

o

communicate,

e

attempt

o

make

senseof this

ne and

may

e

inclinedo assume

hat Cazuela irada s

the

heading

nd Olla the

ignature

f

a

peculiar

missive.We are told hat

ince





5/17

Kathleen

M.

Glenn

81

Tomms

as

suffering

romn

ear

ilment,

henarratoras unable o

speak

with

him,

nd heir

interview

ook

lace

n

silence,

hroughhalf-open

indow.

A

silent nterviews

something

f

a

paradox,

ndthe

uxtaposition

f the

words

entrevista

interview;

een

unclearly)

nd

ventana

ntreabierta

34;

window

thatsajar) alls ttentionothresholdsnd othingshatreneitherhis or hat

(half-open

nd,

iterally,alf-seen).

epetition

f he erb

parecer

to

eem,

o

look,

o

appear)

nduse of

phrases

uch

s

I

had

he

mpression,

it

urprised

me,

I

sensed,

I

interpreted,

I

thought

understood,

nd

I

couldn't

understand

mphasize

hat he arrator

s

giving

s his

mpressions

nd

elling

s

how

hings

eemed o him.

As

if

onstructionsnd

qualifyinghrases

at least)

furthernderscore

he

ubjectivity

nd

possible

aselessness

f

his

assumptions.

Throughout

he

story

e tries o

decipher

hat ccurs

round

im,

nd his

conjectures,

urmises,

ypotheses,

nd

suspicions

onsistentlyrovewrong.

At

one unctureedecides hatTomis'sparentsreeitheruitemadortryingo

conceal

omething

rom

im,

uch

s

the fact

hat

hey

ave

disposed

f

their

son

n

some

hideous

ashion,

nly

o

have o

acknowledge

hat

e

s

mistaken:

Butonce

again

was

wrong

40).

His

persistent

isreading

f events

nd

behavior

nderscoreshe

difficulty,

f

not

mpossibility,

f

successful

ecoding.

The

explanations

e

is

givenby

his hosts re

never

atisfactory,

nd

any

knowledge

e

attainss

provisional

r

ncomplete:

The

xplanation

idn't

atisfy

me,

I

couldn'tknow with

certitude,

nd

the

two

of

us

began

to

understand

39,

42,

44).

Interrogatives

roliferate

n

La

ventana

el

ardin,

nd

near he tory'snd he uestionWhatwashappening?s followedive imes

by Why

..

?,

with

hewords

ritten

n

capitals

n theirast

ccurrence

49-

50).

None

f he

ueries

eceives

n

answer.

The

sketchbook

n

which

Tombs

writes

nd

draws s a

collection f

incongruities :

Sentences

otally

evoid f

meaning

ere

huffled

ogether

n

an

extraordinary

ashion,

reaking

very

ype

fknown

ule.

On occasion he

yntax

seemed to me

to be

correct,

ut the

result

was

always

the same:

incomprehensible

42).

Tomrs ses

strange

anguage

hat

ighlights

emantic

instability.

is

indecency,

good,

nd

illness,

or

nstance,

orrespond

o

he

narrator'swindow, sneeze, nd pencil ox, ndTombsndhisparentso

by

he

names f

Pot, poon,

ndBroom.

Linguistic

igns,

e

are

reminded,

re

arbitrary,

s

are

he

onventions

f

writing.

t he

nd f La

ventanael

ardin,

a

cab

driver's

asual

referenceo

Tomais

s

PoorLittle ot

51)

indicates

familiarity

ith

nd

acceptance

f the

supposedly

rivate

anguage

f

the

household

he

narrators

fleeing.

he

denouement

fferseither

esolutionor

clarification

ut

nstead

n

intensificationf

the

onfusion

elt

y

narrator

nd

readers.

nasmuch

s

the

formers our

only

ource f

information

nd

he

alternates

etween

eing

affled

nd

being

wrong,

here

s

no

way

o

distinguish

between hats fact nd whats theproductfanoverlyctivemagination.

Even f

we

could

etermine

hat

he

acts

re,

we

sense

hat

heir

eaning

ould

elude s.

The

narratorf

La

ventana

el

ardin

escribes

ombs's

anguage

s

MINE

subject

o

rules

hat

were

oreign

o

me

44,

emphasis

dded).

That

which

s

other,

ifferent,

r

alien

plays

n

important

ole n

La

Florde

Espafia

The





6/17

82

South

entral

eview

Flower

f

Spain),

narrativehat

oregroundsroblems

f

communication

nd

decoding,ontradictory

vidence nd

confusingigns,

nd

the

nsufficiency

f

reason.

The

opening

entence,

ith ts

slanginess,

xaggeration,

nd

inguistic

play,

stablisheshe

one

orwhat ollows:It was

freezing

old;

was

walking

upanddown hemain treetndwondering,s usual,what hehell wasdoing

there,

n

city

whose

anguage

s

ncomprehensible

nd

where

t

gets

ark t

3:00

PM

and

you

don't ee a

soulon

the

treetsfter

:00. '

As she

walks

p

and

down,

he arrator

appens

pon

store

ituated

n

n

alley.

The ilde

f he

ign

that

angs

ver he ntrance

o La Flor

de

Espafia

s

not he

ustomaryraceful

diacritical

ark

ut

an

exaggerated,

xcessive

ine,

clumsily

dded

to an

innocentnd

defenceless

(121),

nd shortircuit

akes tblink

n andoff

beforet

disappears

ompletely.

he

narrator

hen tares

nto he

isplay

indow

until er

reathteams

p

the

lass

o such

n extent

hat

othing

s

visible.

The

verbs olook, osee,todistinguish,ndtoperceive boundnFernAndezubas's

writing,

ut

seeing--even

when it

is

unhampered-does

ot

lead to

understanding.

Verbal

nd

non-verbal

ignifiersroliferate

n

La

Florde

Espafia,

nd the

narrator

nthusiastically

hrows erself

nto

mis)interpretation

f them.

The

rolling

f

n

eye,

facial

xpression,gesture,

hair

tyle,

n articlef

lothing:

all are

grist

or ermill.

Narrativerasure

s

frequent

s

she

umps

oconclusions

and then

as to backtrack

nd

rectify

arlier

tatements,

ut hedoes

not earn

from er

rrors.

Moments

fter

ondering

f

hehas

made nother

istake,

he

congratulateserselfnher resumedharpness:[I] realized'd hit henailon

the head.

I

congratulated

yself

n

my

cleverness

127).

The

narrator's

character-impetuous,

xuberant,

ndobsessive-and

er ituationre

essential

to the

story.

A

teacher

f

Spanish

n

an

unspecified

candinavian

ity,

er

profession

nd thefact

hat he s

exercising

t

n a

foreign

ountry

ake

her

especially

ensitiveo

nuances f

anguage.

When

he

s

informedhat

osita,

proprietor

f

La Flor

de

Espafla,

s

very

ndisposed

nd

will e absent

romhe

shop

or everal

months,

he

puzzles

ver

henews

nd

worries

tas

if twere

linguistic

one.

The dea

that

osita

s

desperately

rying

o

get

id f

her

never

occurs othenarrator,or oes herealize hat he nformationhathe tores

going

o

expand

ts

delivery

ervices

meanto

discourage

er

nnoying

isits.

The

narrator

nitially

ssumes

hatRosita

must

ave

once had

a

memorable

vacation

n

Spain

nd,

ntoxicated

y

iberal

mounts

f un

nd

angria,

ecided

to

surround

erself

ith

hings panish

n

returning

o herhomeland.

Wrong.

Rosita s

a

fellow

paniard,

stranger

n

strange

and,

ike he arrator.

he

wo

women re

mirror

mages

f one

another.

Rosita

s laconic

nd the

narrator

loquacious;

ne,

we are

told,

s

physically

nattractive

nd

the

other-judging

fromer iaisons ith

men-more

ppealing

o

the

ye;

one s

portrayed

s

dull

and

acking

n

personality,

he thers

lively

nd

full

f

pirit.

he

narrator

inds

herself

rresistibly

rawn

o

the

hop

nd

ts

owner,

nd

her ventual

ecision

not

to return

o

Spain,

s she

had

planned,

ut

to remain

n Scandinavia

s

motivated

by

the desire

notto

separate

rom

erother

elf

Doubles

call attention

o

inner

conflict

nd

to the

fluidity

f

the

elf,

nd

doubling

ccurswith

lmost

bsessive

frequency

n

FernAindez

ubas's

fiction.

C. F.

Keppler

otes hat

he

relationship





7/17

KathleenM

Glenn

83

betweenhe elves

s

basically

neasy

nd

fraught

ith

ension;

ne

ofthe

wo

selvess

nvariablytronger,

ontrols

vents,

nd

pursues

he ther,

sthe

arrator

does

Rosita.'6

The

dynamic

f elf

ndothers

played

ut n additional

ays

n La Flor

de

Espaila. A them ersusus mentalityrevailsmonghemembersfthe

tightly-knit

panish

olony,

ho ffirmheirwn

dentityy ooking

own

n

the

locals.

The

narrator's

ountrymen

o

not

esitateo voice

heir

ontempt

or

he

snowy

orth,

ven

hough

hey

rethere

y

choice nd

show

no

inclination

o

return

o their omeland.

lthough

he

narrators

annoyedy

her

ompatriots'

attitude,

he is notabove

referring,

alf n

est

and half

n

earnest,

o

the

pronounced

igantism

f the

aboriginals,

s

if

the

natives

elonged

o

a

primitive

ribe.

Thomas

ocherty

as observedhat

hediscoursef

postmodemisms,

in

a

sense,he iscoursef he

eriphery.

t accords

reater

pace

othe

marginal,

o

that

which s

other,

nd

t decentershe

enter.'

he

problem

f

otherness,

which

as assumed

uch

prominence

uring

he

postmodern

eriod,

ften

oes

hand n

handwith

eflections

pon

he

olitics

f

mperialism.

ssues f

dentity,

otherness,

nd

mperialism

re

nterwoven

n

Fernandez

ubas's

much-studied

1985

novel,

which s

an

example

f

postmodern

ndeterminacy,

arody,

nd

intertextuality.19

he

front

over

f

El

aho

de

Gracia

(The

Year of

Grace)

reproduces

fragment

f

Howard

yle's

painting

arooned,

hich

ortrays

lone

figurelumpedna beach.Thefragmentsreplicatednminiaturentheback

over,

nd

the

doubled isual

mage

nticipates

he

verbal

mages

he

ext

will

ffer.20

l afo

de

Gracia

resents

ultiple

nstancesf

doubling.

rock

s

a

double

f

Daniel,

nd

both

re

versions

f

other

iterary

reations.

t

first

ight,

Daniel

nd

Grock

ppear

obe

diametrically

pposed.

heformers

an

attractive

young

x-seminarian,

ersed

n

Latin,

Greek,

nd

theology

ut nnocentf

the

ways

of

the

world,

ho s

shipwrecked

n

an

island

hat s

contaminated

ith

anthrax.

rock

s an

elderly,

lliterate,

nd

urly

hepherd

ho

has

been

horribly

disfigured

y

the

disease.

The

description

fhis

almost

nhuman

oice,

ilated

pupils,ndshufflingaitbringsomindVictor rankenstein'sreation. he

monsters

a

grotesque

eflection

f

Frankenstein,

s

Grocks of

Daniel,

who

n

turn

s an

nversionf

Daniel

Defoe's

Robinson

rusoe.

Hutcheon

escribes

arody

s

a

repetition

ith

ritical

istance,

hich

marks

differenceather

han

imilarity.

Parodic

rtboth

deviates rom

n

aesthetic

norm

nd

ncludes

hat

orm

ithin

tself

s

backgrounded

aterial. V

obinson

Crusoe

s

the

rimary

ackgrounded

extwith

which

l

ano

de

Gracia

lays

nd

whose

lements

t

ronically

nverts.

efoe

hose

s the

etting

or

is

narrative

an sland

ear he

mouthf

he

Orinoco

iver.

Although

ot

tropical

aradise,

t

offeredrusoebundantame ndfruit,ndhewasable oplantropsnd ame

wild

goats,

who

provided

im

with

milk.

The

Spanish

riter,

ernAndez

ubas,

looks

to

the

Northern

emisphere

nd an

island

off

he

coast

of

Scotland or

her

setting.

t

is

a

desolate

pot,

having

een

used

as a

testing round

or

iological

warfare,

ore

locus

horribilus

han locus

amoenus.22

Whereas

rusoe

was

an

eminently

apable

and

practical

ndividualwho

busily

set

about

sowing

and

harvesting,

uilding

hut,

nd

making

lothes

nd

furniture,

aniel

does

not





8/17

84

Southentraleview

exhibithe ame

nterprise,

elf-reliance,

r

ngenuity,

nd

when is ffortstraft-

making

ail,

e

curses he ncrediblekill f

fictional

astaways

nd

wishes heir

authors

onfined

o

hell.

There

s

also

a

pronounced

ifference

etween

riday

andGrock.Theformer

s

a

comely

andsome

ellow,

erfectly

ell

made,

f

some wenty-sixears, ocile, ardworking,nd oyal. 23rock,ntheother

hand,

s

[a]

fickle

riday

nd

tyrant

ho

urns aniel nto is

ervant,

aking

him

arry

oads

f

firewood

n

his

back.24

rock's

most

rized ossession

s

an

ancient

ible,

nd he

obliges

aniel o read

loud,

night

fter

ight,

rom

he

eighthhapter

f he ook

f

Daniel. TheBible s not source

f onsolation

or

Daniel,

s itwasfor

rusoe,

or

oes

t erve s a vehicle or

onversion;

ather,

t

becomes n

nstrument

f

oppression.

t s

by

hreatening

ot

o

read hat

aniel

is able oextract-concessions

rom

he

hepherd

nd

hange

is wn

ole

romhat

of lave o

companion,

rom

astaway

oScheherazade.

Crusoe,whobuilds miniaturempirenhis sland nd civilizes noble

savage,

s the

quintessential

mperialist

nd

colonizer,

ast

n

theheroic

mold.

Daniel,

owever,

ever

ttains

o

heroism,

nd

his sland

s a

wretched

lot

n

the

ocean,

nhabited

y

being

who

s lessthan oble.

Although

rock

nsistshat

the

sland

elongs

o

him

nd hat

aniel

s

an

ntruder,

aniel

egards

imself

s

educated,

nlightened,

ivilized,

nd

in

everyway superior

o

the

primitive,

backward,

irty

ative

ho,

s

other,

s a

compendium

f

negative

ualities.

Here

gain

we

see

a

them

ersus

us,

or

more

reciselyyou

ersus

me,

mentality,

ut

ernAndez

ubas

estabilizes

he

pposition.

t

one

point

aniel,

in fit frage,tones,icks,ndbeats odeath neof hemangyheephatoam

the sland.Beneath

he eneer

f

ivilization

here

eats

savage

eart,

nd fter

months

n

he

sland

aniel,

ike

Grock,

s

dirty,

nkempt,

nd

disfigured.

y

the

novel's

nd,

he

wo

ook o

much like

hat ne

s mistaken

or

he

ther,

nd

Grock

s shot

n

place

of

Daniel.

The distinction

etween

ivilized

nd

uncivilized

an,

olonizer

nd

olonized,

asternd

lave,

uperior

nd

nferior

is

blurred.

atherineellver

asobserved

hat l aho de Gracia

sa

subversion

of traditional

ites

f

passage

nd

their

attern

f

separation,

nitiation

nd

reintegration.25

aniel s

not

nriched

ut

lighted

y

his sland

xperience,

nd

even

hough

ereturnso

ociety,

eappearsnhappyithhat ecision.nfact,

on

sleepless

ights

e ikes

o

magine

hat e

s

back

nwhat enow hinks

f

s

a

peaceful

nd

tranquil

sle,

reunited

ith nd curled

p

besidehis

faithful

friend. 26

The

concern

with

linguistic

nd

epistemological

roblems

hat

is

so

characteristic

f

Fernandez

ubas's

fictionlso

appears

n El afo de

Gracia.

Communication

etween

aniel

nd Grocks

difficult,

or

he atter

peaks

rudimentary

nglish

prinkled

ith

xpressions

n

Gaelic,

ndvision-in

oth

he

literalndfigurativeense-is obstructedy

the

fog

hat lankets

he

sland.27

Like

many

f

Fernndez

Cubas's

other

arrator-protagonists,

anielfindshat

recourse

o

reasondoes

not

guarantee

omprehension.

is

years

n the

seminary

have

not

prepared

im

for

he xternal

orld,

nd he describes

is

youthful

elf

s

inexperienced,

ingenuous,

infantile,

nd

innocent. 28

Moreover,

he

interprets

ife

n

terms

f what

he has

read,

sing

books s his

guide.

His

dreams

of adventure

have been nourished

y stories

about the

seventeenth-century





9/17

Kathleen

M.

Glenn

85

buccaneer

enry organ,

obertouisStevenson's

im

awkins,

ules

erne's

Captain

Nemo,

nd

Edgar

Allen

Poe's Arthur

ordon

ym.

The mixture

f

historicalndfictional

igures

s

indicativef

Daniel's

endency

o confuse

ife

and

iterature.

The three extsustexaminedre an expressionf thepostmodernpirit.

Absolutes ave

yielded

o a crisis fconfidence

nthe

ossibility

f

certainties,

and

the

notion

hat he world an

be

rationallyomprehended

as

been

invalidated.

haracters

xist

n

a

state f

perennial

onfusion.

heir,

s

well

s

our,

desire

for

knowledge

nd

understanding

s

frustrated.

Words

are

indecipherable,

ehavior

nexplicable,

nd

questions

nanswerable.he self

s

fragmentary,

ultiple,

luid.

Through

he

use

of

parody,

iterary

raditions

re

incorporated

ut

lso

challenged.

Ironic

ereading

f

iterature

nd ts

onventions

s

also

central

o

the

iction

f

Paloma

Diaz-Mas.2

In shorttories s wellas

novels,

he

plays

with

he

discoursesnd

registers

f

earlier

iterary

orms,

ouncing

ackground

nd

foreground

exts ff

ne another.

Her

writingives

he ie to

the

harge

hat

postmodernism

s

merely nostalgic

eturno

the

past;

t

s,

nstead,

n ironic

dialogue

ith

t,

critical

evisiting.

nd

n

typicallyostmodern

ashion,

iaz-

Mas

show

ow

roblematic

nowledge

f he

ast

s.

A

professor

f

Golden

ge

iteraturet

the

Universidad

elPais

Vasco,

he

has

commented

n

her

creative

riting

n

several

nterviews,

nd

her

remarks

substantiatenesmade yEcoandHutcheon.na 1987 onversation,iaz-Mas

voiced er

onviction

hat

increasingly

e

writebout iterature...

One

of

he

constants

f

present-day

iteratures

rony,

he

umorous

ision f

eality. '30

en

years

ater

henoted

owhard

t s to nvent

nything

ew

n

iterature:

At

present

t

s

very

ard

o

find

new

heme,

new

motif.

What

we

are

doing

s

revisiting

nd

referring

o

motifs

nd

hemes

rom

earlier

iterature...

I

want

o

tell

story

..

and

nevitably

here

is

interference

rom

iterary

orks nd

uthors

ho

n

one

way

r

anotherave old imilartories,ave reatedimilarhemes. et's

say

hat am

writing

eneath

he

weight

f

ll

those

nfluences,

nd

what

often

o

s treat

hose

nfluences

ronically,

hat

s,

utilize

certain

rony

n

hose

itations

r

references.3

Diaz-Mas

went

n

to

observe

hat s a

literary

istorian

he

s beset

y

doubts

regarding

he

eracity

fher

econstructions

f

the

past.

Her

comment

hat

ur

way

f

hinking,

ttitudes,

nd

relationship

ith

whatever

e

study reatly

ffect

whatwe earn

xposes

he

ubjectivity

f

objectivity,

n

llusory

oncept.

his

is illustrated

n

El

sueflo e

Venecia,

hich

resents

series

f

representations

f

thepast ndshowshow, neach nstance,he historiannterpretsventsn

accord

with

is

own

iew

nd

presents

ifferent

facts.

Hutcheon

tates hat

e

know

he

past

through

he

textual

races

t

has

left

s

(documents,

rchives,

photographs,ilms,

rchitecture,

aintings,

nd

iterature),

nd these

racesre

always

pen

o

nterpretation.32

paintinglays

key

ole

n

Diaz-Mas'snovel

about

mis)representation

nd

mis)interpretation.





10/17

86

Southentraleview

El sueho

de

Venecia

s

prefaced

y

an

allegorical

assage urportedly

rom

Esteban

illegas's epuiblica

el

Desengarfo

1651;

Republic

f

Disillusionment).

It

relates

owa

beautifulutblind

maiden, ruth,

uided

y

her

nseparable

companion,

rror,

ifts

he

olden

and

n

the

anks

f he

iver f

History.

he

sieveused,Memory,s madeofa coarsemesh hat etainsarge,worthless

pebbles

nd

llows

mall

uggets

f

gold

o

slip

hrough.

he

llegorympresses

upon

s that

memory

s

selective

nd

unreliable

nd hat he ruthf

history

ludes

us. The

anguage

nd esson

re

o

baroque

hat,

ronically,

t east ne ritic

as

taken

n

and

believedhat his

pocryphalassage

was authentic.

uestions

f

authenticity,egitimacy,

nd

orthodoxy

re

omnipresent

n

the

nsuinghapters,

which

lay

with he

anguage,

hemes, otifs,

haracters,ituations,

nd

tructure

associated

ith

articular

ypes

f

writing.

lthough

t

s

possible

o

identify

specific

ntertexts

Lazarillo

e

Tormes

The

Lifeof Lazarillo

e

Tormes];

a

vidadelBusc6nTheLife ndAdventuresfDon Pablo heSharper];artas

marruecas

[Moroccan

Letters];

Misericordia,

nd

Fortunata

y

Jacinta,

for

example),

he

target

f

Diaz-Mas's

parody

s

less

individual

orks

han

he

discourse

nd

onventions

f he

enres

owhich

hey

elong.34

ears efore co

and

his

recognition

hat

he

already

aid

contextualizes

hat

we

say

and

do,

Mikhail

akhtin

bserved

hat

speaker

s

never

he irsto alk bout

he

opic

f

hisor her

discourse.

Gary

Morson nd

Caryl

merson,

n

their

xegesis

f

the

Russian

hinker's

ork,

oint

ut

hat

hen

we

speak,

we

respond

o

something

spoken

eforend

we

take

standn

relation

o

earlier tterancesbout

he

opic.

The way we sense thoseearlierutterances-as ostileor sympathetic,

authoritative

r

feeble,

ocially

nd

temporally

lose

or

distant-shapes

he

content

nd

style

f whatwe

say. 35

n

their

iscussions

f

types

f

discourse,

Morson nd

Emerson

uote

Bakhtin

o

the ffect

hat uthorsan

use

someone

else'sdiscourse

or heirwn

urposes

by nserting

new

emantic

ntentionnto

a discourse

hich

lready

as,

and

which

etains,

n

intention

f

its

own. 36

When

hey

onstruct

n

utterance

o that

he

oice f

he ther

s

heard

o sound

within

heir

wn,

he

result

s

double

oicing,

haracteristic

f

El

sueho

de

Venecia.

Chapterutilizes numberf he ormulaef he icaresqueenre,ncluding

first-person

utobiographical

arration

y picaro

ho

ooks

ack n

his ife

nd

recounts

is

ervice ith

variety

fmasters

nd

his

wakening

o he

ealities

f

the

world.

Diaz-Mas's

icaro

s known

s

Pablo

de

Corredera,

aking

is

name

from

he

treet

here

e

grows

p.37

At

age

tenPablo

ntershe ervice f

a

beautiful

nd

wealthy

ourtesan,

ofia

Gracia

e

Mendoza,

ithwhom

e

falls

n

love.

When

e s fifteen

nd

he

s

thirty,

ablo

marries

is

mistress

nd

he wo

pose

for

portrait

hat

eappears

n

ubsequent

hapters

nd

undergoes

series

f

transformations

long

the

way,

being

mutilated,

etouched,

nd

reinterpreted

according

othe

point

fview fthosewhobeholdt. Asoriginallyainted,t

depicts

ablo,

dressed

ike

gentleman,

tanding

ehind

he eatedGracia

nd

resting

nehand

n

her houlder.

El sueflo

de

Venecia

s

populated

y

characters

ho

because of their

ender,

sexual

orientation,

ace,

religion,

lass,

economic

tatus,

rofession,

r

age

are

marginalized:

icaros,

eggars,

omosexuals,

lacks,

ndianos

Spanish

migrants





11/17

Kathleen Glenn

87

who

eturno

Spain

fter

aking

fortune

n

the

New

World),

nd

hildren

ho

are

ofunknown

rigin

r

the

roduct

f ncest.

Gracia-female,courtesan,

nd

ofJewish

ncestry-is

riply

ex-centric.

hapter

features

foreigner

ho

s

convincedhathe is

immenselyuperior

o

the

objects

f

his

gaze,

be

they

membersf hendigenousopulationrhisEnglishmanservant.ltimately,e

is

bested

y

he

atter

nd,

ail

etweenis

egs,

eturns

o

England.

Set ome 50

years

fterhe

irst,

his econd

hapter

lays

with

he

onventions

of

pistolary

iction

nd

utilizes

he

iewpoint

f

foreigner

ho omments

n

the

peculiarities

f

he

ountry

e s

visiting.

ord

Alfred

ston-Howard

inds

pain

a

strange

nd

barbarous

and

where he roads

re

barely

assable,

he

nns

wretched,

nd

he ouses

ithout

nglish

omfort

r

French

legance.

Apropos

f

the

monastery

f

Santo

omingo

e

Silos,

he

remarks,

never

ad

seen uch

n

accumulation

f

berrations,

o

many

monstrosities

ll

lumped

ogether. 3

een

throughisdisdainfulyes,he ativesre rremediablythernd ittleetterhan

savages,

hereas

e s

a

highly

ivilized,

roper,nglish

entleman--who

roves

tobe

supercilious,

ypocritical,

nd

thief.

Unwittingelf-exposure

s

a

trait

f

much

pistolary

iction,

pistles

eing

evealing

ortraits

f

he

oul.

Lord

Aston-

Howard's

igurative

lindness

s

showcased

n

his

etter

f

2

April

808,

wherein

he

affirmshat

othing

ver

happens

n

Spain

nd

the

people

re

ncapable

f

heroic

ction,

his

xactly

ne

month

eforehe

May

2

uprising

hat

nitiatedhe

War

f

ndependence.

t

s

not

urprising

hat e

misreadshe

ortrait

f

he

irst

chapter.

t

hangs

n he

ouse

f

his

Madrid

osts,

ho

re

descended

rom

racia

and

nordinately

roud

f he ncestor

hey

roclaim

obeof llustriousnd

pure

blood.

The

English

ord,

n

nveterate

hilanderer,

s

taken ith

racia's

eauty

and

believes hat

heman

who

tands ehind

er

s her

on.40

etters

ommonly

transform

xperience

atherhan

eflecting

t

with

idelity,

nd

his

s

borne

ut

y

Aston-Howard's

orrespondence.

hat

nd

how

he writes

s

shaped y

his

addressees,

nd

he

carefully

ailors is

remarks

o

fit ach

f

hem.4'

s a

result,

the

alue f

his

etters

s

historical

ocumentss

almost

onexistent.

hey

how

not

mpartiality

nd

omprehension,

ut

rejudice,

ack

f

understanding,

nd ven

deliberate

istortion.

The

third

hapter

eals

with

ventshat

ranspire

uring

he

eign

f

sabel

I

and

re

recounteds

if

by

nineteenth-century

ealist

riter,

uch s

Benito

P6rez

Gald6s.

The cast f

characters,

ictional

nd

historical,

s

large,

nd

part

f

the

action

s

set

n

house n

Pez

Street,

ormerly

he

esidence

fGracia

e

Mendoza

and

he

mansion

here

ord

Aston-Howardas

guest

uring

is

tay

n

Madrid.

A

portion

f

he

amiliar

painting,

ow

arkened

ith

ge,

has

been

ut

way;

he

remaining

ection

hows

woman

nd

mysterious,

isembodied

and

hat

ests

on

her

houlder.

he

reductionn

ize s

more

ronounced

n

chapter

,

where

e

discoverhat fragmentf he aintingasbeen luedo he ndersidef small

table.

The

hild

who

s

the

main

haracterf

his

hapter

iscerns

blond

woman

dressed

n

blue,

with

white

ove

erched

n

her

houlder,

nd

elieves

he

mage

to

be

that f

the

Virgin

ary.'42

he

Jewish

racia as

been

ransformednto

Christian

con.

The

final

hapter,

ntitled

Memoria

Memory),

s a

report

y

n

art

istorian

on

a

canvas

ound

n

the

undersidefa

table.

He

describes

he

tate f

the





12/17

88

South

entral

eview

canvas,

ts

estoration,

nd

his

painstaking

esearch

ntots

rigins

nd

history.

s

a

result

f

his

nvestigations,

e deduces

hat he ove

wasnot

art

f

he

riginal

work ut

late

addition

esigned

o

disguise

feminine

and

esting

n

the

shoulder

f

the

woman

n

the

portrait.

he

subjects,

ccording

o the

historian,

wereRufinaeAlfarachendher ister na,whosemage asnot een reserved

in

the

painting.

e informss

that

Ana

became

hemistress

f the

Conde

de

Villamayor,

ho

et

her

p

n

a

house

n Pez Street.

he

mug,

edantic

xpert

rejects

s

preposterous

he

hesis

dvanced

y

nother

rt

istorian,

ho

dentifies

Ana

with

he

famous

ourtesan

racia

e

Mendoza.

He concludes

ith

he

following

tatement:

Whoknows

f

some

day

fortunate

iscovery

ill

permit

us

to

knowwhatwas

the

ate

fthe

young

Ana],

n

the ame

manner

hat

he

fortuitous

inding

f he

icture

hat

s

the

bject

four

tudy

as

permitted

s-

with

he

cientific

eans

tour

isposal-to

econstruct

ompletely

nd

ruthfully

thepreviousistoryfthegirl ndher amily. 43isresearchasbroughtim

near

o

and

yet

o

far

rom

he

ruth,

nd

t s

particularly

ronic hat

e

dentifies

the

igure

issing

romhe

ortrait

s

a womannddismisses

s absurd

he

dea

that

na

nd

Gracia

reone

nd

he

ame

erson.

xhaustive

esearch,

xtensive

data,

nd

careful

easoning

ave

ed

to

mistaken

onclusions.

he

expert-as

untrustworthy

s was

LordAston-Howard--offers

ot

n

objective

ecording

f

the

ast

ut n

nterpretation

n

which

e s

guided

y

Error. n

her

onversation

with felia

errnn,

iaz-Mas

lluded

oher

considerable

kepticism

ith

egard

to our

possibility

f

reconstructing

istory

ruthfully. 4

hat

thoroughly

postmodernkepticismnformsl suellode Venecia.The novel xposes he

fictionality

f

authoritative

ersions

f he

ast

nd

problematizes

henotion

f

historical

nowledge.

t demonstrates

hat

he

ast

s

nevitably

re)constructed

n

terms

f

he

resent

nd

onsciously

r

unconsciously

istorted.

Like

Diaz-Mas,

Marina

Mayoral

s

fond

f

parodying

iterary

onventions,

nd

intertexuality

s

a

major ngredient

f

herfiction.

Notably

clectic,

t weaves

together

isparate

oices,

styles,

nd

registers;

tilizes

narrative

trategies

borrowed

rom he

detective

ovel,

euilleton,

othic,

nd

romance;

nd

mixes

high

ulture

ith

pop.45

reatures

f

differing

ntological

tatus

oexist,

s

purely

fictional

eings

ub houlders ith eal-worldistoricaligures,ayoral lays

walk-on

oles,

ndcharacters

ppear

n

more

han

nebook.

Such

violations

f

the

boundaries

etween

eal nd

fictional

orlds,

etween

ne

textnd

nother,

are

typically

ostmodern.

ayoral's

a

inica

ibertad

The

Only

Freedom)

exemplifies

ostmodern

extual

ractices.

he

novel ereads

he

ast

with

rony

and

spoofs

iterary

liches

ven

s

it relies

pon

hem,

hereby

llustrating

he

complicitous

ritique

hat utcheon

onsiders

asic

o

postmodernism.

The

headings

hat

ntroduce

nd comment

pon

each

chapter

f La

inica

libertadre

reminiscent

f

those

ound

n Don

Quijote.

On

the ne

hand,

hey

give

eaders

n deaofwhatstofollownd timulatenterest;nthe ther,hey

make

fun f

this

uspense-generating

unction.

he tone

of Cervantes's

eadings

is

often

gently

mocking,

s in Of

the

good

success

whichthe valorous

Don

Quixote

had

in the

most

terrifying

nd

never-to-be-imagin'd

dventure

f

the

wind-mills

nd

That

gives

an

account

f

things

which

you'll

know

when

you

read

t '6

Mayoral,

oo,

employs

n

ironic,

t

times

elittling,

one nd

slightly





13/17

Kathleen .

Glenn

89

anachronistic

anguage

n

her

1982

novel,

ointing

ut he

ngenuousness

f

her

narrator

nd

making

isparaging

emarks

bout

he atter's

ork.

Chapter

4

s

billed s:

Adisagreeablencident

(a

threatr n

ttempted

urder?)

ends

pdisturbing

he

eace

f

Cotomelos,

urning

he

narrator

ntohe

enter

f

sordid

ntrigue.espite

uch

privileged

ituation

nd he

nvaluablessistancef

her

reat-

aunts,

he

arrator

till oesn't

nderstand

he

meaning

Ofwhat

s

happening

eforeer

eyes.47

The

heading

or

hapter

undercuts

oth he

eracity

nd

he

meritf

he

tory

t

introduces,escribinghattorys:

A

Marginal

Hi)Story,

Which

oes

ot

ertain

o a

Brafla,

pun

out

f

ossip

nd

he

ales f ervants

nd ommonolk

(Hi)Story

ithout

oundation

r

mpartial

witnesses:

on-essential

nd

(probably)

discardable.48

Mayoral's

eliberately

xcessive

hapter

eadings,

ike

those

f John

arth's

LETTERS,

mphasize

he

ictiveness

fher

ext.49

Postmodern

arratives

requently

hematizeheir

ictionality,

eflectingpon

r

laying

aretheir

wn

creationnd

incorporating

elf-commentary.

a

uinica

libertad

oregrounds

cts

of

writing

nd

reading.

Etelvina,

he

narrator-

protagonist,

as

been sked o

write

familyistory.

naive

nd

nexperienced

author,

he s

at a

loss

s

tohow

o assess

he

eliability

f

her

ources

nd

finds

herself

verwhelmed

y

n excess

f

nformation,

uch

f t

passed

own

rom

generationogeneration.ven yewitnessestimonyroves nreliable,ecause

each

person

as

differentiew f

what

ook

lace.

Pluralism

nd

polyphony

re

characteristicf

Mayoral's

arrative

orld,

n

which

ontradictory

ersions

f

events re

uxtaposed

ithoutne

being

ingled

ut s the

true

ersion,

nd

number

f

voices

make

hemselves

eard.

t

s a

world hat

verflowsith

tories,

storytellers,

nd

formsf

telling,

here he

boundaries

etween

ife

nd

art

re

fluid,

nd

ntertextual

eferences

bound. n La

mnica

ibertad.

hese

ange

rom

ancient

allads o

modem

allet,

rom

opular

music o

classical,

rom

panish

literatureo

French

o

English.

Insupportfhis rgumenthat

ostmodernism

ecognizes

hathe

ast

annot

be

destroyed,

or

ts

destruction

ould

ead

to

silence,

utmust

nstead

e

revisited

ith

rony,

co

compares

he

ostmodern

ttitude

o that

f

man

who

loves cultured

oman

nd

ealizes

hat e

cannot

ay

o

her,

I

love

you

madly,

because

e

knows

hat he

knows-and

hat he

knows

hat

e

knows-that

uch

phrase

as

already

een

used

by

Barbara

artland.

What

e

can

do is

say,

As





14/17

90

South

entral

eview

Barbara artland

ould

ut

t,

love

you

madly.

He

thus ucceeds

n

declaring

his ove

and n

avoiding

alse nnocence.

oth

heman

nd

the

woman,

co

concludes,

re

onsciously

nd

pleasurably

laying

he

ame

f

rony.5o

ayoral

adopts

similar

trategy.

professor

f literaturet Madrid'sUniversidad

Complutense,he s wellversedn iteraryistorynd raditionndrealizes hat

elements

f hat raditionan

be

incorporated

ffectively

nto

ontemporary

exts

if

the

proper

ote-ironic, istanced,

layful-is

truck.Tone

is

crucial

n

Mayoral's arodic

eworking

f

many

f the

taples

f

the

fueilleton,

uch

s

melodramatic

lot,

liffhanging

pisodes,

yperbolic

anguage,

nd

arge

oses

f

sentiment. ll

are

simultaneouslyncorporated

nd

challenged

n

what s for

Hutcheon

typicallyostmodern

esture

hat

ignals

ifferencet theheart

f

similarity. 2

propos

f

an

especially

xaggeratedpisode

n Dar la

vida

y

el

alma,

To

Give

One's

Life nd

oul)

he arrator

emarks:

I

have

weaknessor

melodramaticituationshatwould ivegoosebumpsomostmodemwriters,

because he

danger

f

falling

eadlong

nto hefueilletons

obvious.Eduardo

Mendoza

ikes

hem

oo nd

he

resolveshem

s

did

Gald6s,

ntroducing

n ronic

counterpoint

hat estrains

he

emotion

nd

keeps

t from

ipping

ver

nto

sentimental

xcess.

..

Without

ronic

ounterpoint,

t's

easy

to

lapse

nto

ridiculous

ffectation.

he

quotation

nderscores

henarrator's

ondnessor

and

defense

f melodrama

nd

the

fueilleton

s well

as

her

warenessf

the

dangers

hey

ntail.

It

also

calls attention

o

the

elf-consciousness

hat s a

constant

f

Mayoral's

iction.

A distrustftotalizingxplanationsndmetanarratives,challengingf the

notion hat

he world

an

be

rationally

omprehended,

kepticism

egarding

univocal

meanings

nd

fixed

dentities:ll

characterize

he

postmodern

ra.

Historical

nowledge

nd the

possibility

f

objective

ruthre

problematized.

Different

ngles

fvision

nd

voices

lash,

nstead f

harmonizing.

raditional

forms

nd

ulturalonventions

re

ncorporated

ut lso

challenged.

he

past

s

revisited

ith

rony,

s we

have

een

n

he

iction

f

Fernandez

ubas,

iaz-Mas,

and

Mayoral.

On

the hreshold

f

new

entury

nd new

millennium,

t

s

appropriate

o

lookforwardt what

may

eas well s back twhat asbeen.Hassan ffirms

that

modernism

nd

postmodernism

re

not

eparated

y

an Iron

Curtain

r

a

Chinese

Wall

..

[and eriods]

ust e

perceived

ntermsoth f

ontinuity

nd

discontinuity. 45

utcheon,

n

comparable

ashion,

rgues

hat

ostmodernism

s

dependent

pon

nd

independent

rom

the

modernism

hat oth

historically

preceded

t nd

iterally

ade

t

possible.

One

evolved

nto

he

ther.

his,

suspect,

s

what

will

happen

ith

whatever

ies

beyond

ostmodemism.

onzalo

Navajas

detects

igns

of a

new

era,

whichhe calls

neomodern.

t

is

distinguished,e alleges, y a reconstitutionf the selfand valorization

f

personal

xperience,

reater

ttention

o

eroticism,

specially

emale

roticism,

the

entrality

f

procedures

rawn

rom he

inemanddetective

iction,

nd

a

renewal

f

nterest

n

classical

lements

f

narration,

uch

s

plot

nd

description.

The

writing

f

many

f he

neomoderns,

ccording

o

Navajas,

s less

negative

n

outlook

han

s

that f

heir

redecessors,

nd t s

no

onger

onditioned

y

recent

events

f

Spanish

istory

e.g.,

he

ivil

war).56

rtistic

lhanges,

f

ourse,

o

not





15/17

Kathleen

M.

Glenn

91

neatly

oincide

with

emporal

ivides,

nd

only

imewill

tell whether

he

features

avajas

numeratesonstitute

new sthetic.

n

any

ase,

heyuggest

a

shift

f

mphasis

ather

han dramatic

upture.

NOTES

1.

Jean-Frangoisyotard,

he

Postmodern ondition:

Report

n

Knowledge,

rans.

Geoff

Bennington

ndBrianMassumi

Minneapolis: niversity

f

Minnesota

ress,

984);

Brian

McHale,

Postmodernist

iction

(London:

Methuen,

987);

Charles

Jencks,

ost-Modernism:

he

New

Classicism n

Art

nd

Architecture

New

York:

Rizzoli,

1987);

Ihab

Hassan,

ThePostmodern

urn:

Essays

n Postmodern

heory

nd Culture

Columbus:

hioState

University

ress,

987).

2. Fredric

ameson,

ostmodernism,r,

The

Cultural

ogic ofLate

Capitalism

Durham:

Duke

University

ress,

1991);

Linda

Hutcheon,

Poetics

of

Postmodernism:

istory,

heory,

iction

(NewYork:Routledge, 988); Edmund .Smyth,d.and ntro.,ostmodernismndContemporary

Fiction

London:

Batsford,

991),

9;

Umberto

co,

Postscript

o The Name

of

the

Rose,

trans.

WilliamWeaver

San

Diego:

Harcourt,

984),

65.

3. The

discussion f

some of

the

texts

hosen

for

tudy

here

represents

rethinking

f

my

earlierworkon

them. See

my

Gothic

ndecipherability

nd

Doubling

n

the Fiction

f Cristina

Fernandez

ubas,

Monographic

Review/Revista

onogrdfica (1992):

125-41;

Reading

nd

Rewriting

l suerlo e

Venecia,

omance

anguages

Annual

(1996):

483-90;

Marina

Mayoral's

La

uinica

ibertad:A

Postmodern

arrative,

n

Estudios n

homenaje

Enrique

Ruiz-Fornells,

d.

Juan

ernindez

im6nezt al.

Erie:

ALDEEU,

1990),

267-73.

4. Patricia

Waugh,

eminine

ictions:

Revisiting

he

ostmodern

London:

Routledge, 989).

5.

Steven

onnor,

ostmodernist

ulture:

n ntroductiono

Theories

f

the

Contemporary,

d

ed. Oxford: lackwell, 997),129. Connor's istmightwellhave ncludeduchSpanishwriterss

Eduardo

Mendoza,

Javier

Marias,

Antonio

Mufioz

Molina,

nd

Carmen

Martin

aite,

n

addition

o

FernAndez

ubas,

Diaz-Mas,

nd

Mayoral.

6. Janet

rez,

Cristina

ernfndez

ubas:

Narrative

nreliability

nd

the

Flight

rom

larity,

or,

The

Quest

for

Knowledge

nthe

Fog,

Hispan6fila

22

1998):

29-39.

7.

Linda

Hutcheon,

he

Politics

fPostmodernismLondon:

Routledge,

989),

74;

see also 62-

92.

Hutcheonnotes

that

neither he

realization

hat

historical

nowledge

s

provisional

nd

indeterminate

or he

questioning

f

the

pistemological

nd

ontological

tatus

f

historical

fact

s

limited

o

postmodernism,

ut

both are less

frequent

uring

he

modernist

eriod

Poetics

of

Postmodernism,

8).

8. Linda

Hutcheon,

Theory

fParody:

The

Teachings

f

Twentieth-Century

rt

orms

New

York:Methuen,985),15-16,25;Politics fPostmodernism,01.

9.

Eco,

20.

Hutcheon

rites,

n

a

similar

ein,

hat it

s

only

s

part

f

prior

iscourses

hat

ny

text

derives

meaning

nd

significance Poetics

of

Postmodernism,

26).

On

the

concept

of

intertextuality,

ee

Roland

Barthes,

mage,

Music,

Text,

rans.

tephen

Heath

New

York:

Hill &

Wang, 1977),

and

Michael

Riffaterre,

Intertextual

epresentation:

n

Mimesis

as

Interpretive

Discourse,

ritical

nquiry

1

1984):

141-62.

10.

Ofelia

Ferrin,

La

escritura la

historia.

Entrevista

on

Paloma

Diaz-Mas,

Anales de

la

Literatura

spairola

Contempordnea

2

1997):

339.

11.

Vicente

Carmona,

effrey

amb,

Sherry

elasco,

and

Barbara

ecchi,

Conversando

on

Mercedes

Abad,

Cristina

Fernindez

ubas

y

Soledad

Punrtolas:

Feminismo

literatura

o

tienen

nada

que

ver, '

Mester 0

(Fall

1991):

162.

12. MarinaMayoral,etteroauthor,3 June 996.

13.

Cristina

Fernindez

Cubas,

Congreso

nternacional

e

Narrativa

spafiola

n

Lengua

Castellana,

oledo,

6

May

1998.

14.

Cristina

ernindez

ubas,

La

ventana el

ardin,

n Mi

hermana

lba

y

Los

altillos

de

Brumal

Barcelona:

usquets,

988),

33.

Unless

otherwise

oted,

ll

translationsre

my

wn.

15.

Cristina

ernmndez

ubas,

La

Flor

de

Espafla,

n El

dngulo

del

horror

Barcelona:





16/17

92

South

entraleview

Tusquets,

990),

119.

16. C.

F.

Keppler,

The

Literature

f

the Second

Self

Tucson:

University

f

Arizona

Press,

1972),

32.

17.

Fernindez

ubas,

La Flor

de

Espafia,

20.

Emphasis

dded.

18.

Thomas

Docherty,

d. and

intro.,

ostmodernism: Reader

(New

York: Columbia

University

ress,

993),

445.

19. See Catherine

.

Bellver,

El aho de Gracia andthe

Displacement

fthe

Word,

tudies n

Twentieth

entury

iterature 6

1992):

221-32;

Julie

leue,

The

Epistemological

nd

Ontological

Implications

n Cristina

Fernandez

Cubas's

El aho de

Gracia,

Monographic

Review/Revista

Monografica

(1992):

142-56;

John

.

Margenot

II,

Parody

nd

Self-Consciousness

n Cristina

Fernandez

ubas's El

afo

de

Gracia,

Siglo

XX/20th

entury

1

1993):

71-87;

Robert .

Spires,

Disempowerment

nd

Knowledge:

El

anio

de

Gracia,

in Post-Totalitarian

panish

Fiction

(Columbia:University

f Missouri

ress,

996),

156-72.

20. This front-back

epetition

s

typical

of the books

published

n

Tusquets's

Colecci6n

Andanzas,

ut

n

no

other ase

is

it

s

fitting

s it s here.

21. Hutcheon,heory fParody, ,44.

22. For

discussion

f

the

worhetorical

opoi,

ee

Margenot,

2-73.

23. Daniel

Defoe,

Robinson rusoe nd

Other

Writings,

d. James utherland

New

York:

New

York

University

ress,

977),

165.

24. Cristina ernindez

ubas,

El

aiio

de Gracia

Barcelona: usquets,

985),

119.

25. Catherine

.

Bellver,

El

aifo

de Gracia: el

viaje

como

rito

de

iniciaci6n,

aper

read at

Fourth onference

n Academic

rograms

broad nd

nternational

tudies,

isbon,

3

July

989.

26. Fernindez

ubas,

El aho de

Gracia,

184.

27.

Fog

is

a

recurrent

henomenon

n

Fernandez

ubas's fiction.

See,

in

particular,

Con

Agatha

en

Estambul,

n

Con

Agatha

en Estambul

Barcelona:

Tusquets,

1994),

171-233,

and

Perez's

Cristina

Fernandez

ubas:

Narrative

nreliability.

28. Fernindez ubas,El anio eGracia,15, 181,29, 31,52..

29. For

an overview

f

her

work,

ee

Margaret

.

W.

Jones,

La obra

de Paloma

Diaz-Mas,

Alaluz

27

(Primavera 995):

73-86. On

El

suenio

e

Venecia,

ee

Judith

rinkwater

nd

John

Macklin,

Keeping

t

n the

Family:

ecretHistories

n

Paloma

Diaz-Mas's

El

sueio

de

Venecia,

Bulletin

f

Hispanic

tudies

5

(1998):

317-29.

30.

Maria Luz

Di6guez,

Entrevista

on

Paloma

Diaz-Mas

(febrero

e

1987),

Revista

de

Estudios

Hispanicos

2

1988):

79-80.

31. Rosalia

Cornejo-Parriego,

Entrevista

on

Paloma

Diaz-Mas,

Letras

Peninsulares

10

(Winter 997-98):

482.

32.

Hutcheon,

olitics

fPostmodernism,

8,

81.

33. Ferrin,33.

34. For

a

study

f antecedent

exts,

ee Mercedes

Mazquiarin

de

Rodriguez,

Parody

nd the

Truth

f

History

n Paloma

Diaz-Mas's

El

sueiio

de

Venecia,

etrasPeninsulares

(Spring

995):

7-25.

35.

Gary

Saul

Morson

nd

Caryl

Emerson,

ikhail

akhtin:

reation

f

a Prosaics

Stanford:

Stanford

niversity

ress,

990),

137.

36.

Ibid.,

150.

37. Corredera

aja

de San

Pablo

is situated

n the MadridbarriowhereDiaz-Mas

lived

for

some

hirtyears

Ferrin,

32).

38. Hutcheon

efines

he

ex-centric

s

those

who

re

marginalized

y

a dominant

deology,

and she considers

arody

o be

their

mode

Poetics of

Postmodernism,

5).

See Drinkwater

nd

Macklin nDiaz-Mas's privilegingf heunorthodoxr llegitimate.

39. Paloma

Diaz-Mas,

El

suehlo

e

Venecia

Barcelona:

Anagrama,

992),

54,

59.

40.

Actually,

his

may

be

true,

or

Diaz-Mas

slyly

hints hat

Gracia s Pablo's

mother.At

any

rate,

Oracia's

marrying

youth

who s

half

her

ge

is

echoed n

Aston-Howard's

usting

fter

girl

young

nough

o be

his

daughter

nd

in

chapter

)

the

ndiano's

wedding girl

who s

his

daughter.

IThe

ast

two

situations

older

man

+

younggirl)

reverse

hat

f

chapter

(older

woman

+

young





17/17

Kathleen .

Glenn

93

boy).

41.

See Janet urkin

ltman,

pistolarity:

pproaches

o a Form

Columbus:

hio

State

University

ress,

982),

0.

42.

On

the

utobiographical

asisof

chapter

,

see

Fernin,

32-33. This

hapter

as

the

startingointfwhat iaz-Masriginallyonceivedsano

Documents

About Postmodernism Adn Diaz Mas