Luis García Montero's Quedarse sin ciudad: The City as Phoenix in Post-Dictatorial Spain
Location
Science Center, A254
Document Type
Presentation
Start Date
4-26-2013 2:45 PM
End Date
4-26-2013 3:45 PM
Abstract
We can cross borders without moving. Luis García Montero's 1994 prose poetry collection Quedarse sin ciudad (To Be Left Without City) addresses the emotional obstacles of living in a city that undergoes rapid cultural change, forcing the poet to be "a foreigner in his own desire, in his own city." It is a loving ode to Granada, Spain, at the same time that it catalogs the jarring, painful palimpsest of memory. I explore the dichotomies expressed in Quedarse sin ciudad and their function as a narrative of the sociopolitical evolution of Spain in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, paying special attention to García Montero's feminization of the city and his use of prose poetry to illustrate the sense of duality that dominates this collection.
Recommended Citation
McAdams, Alice, "Luis García Montero's Quedarse sin ciudad: The City as Phoenix in Post-Dictatorial Spain" (04/26/13). Senior Symposium. 32.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/seniorsymp/2013/presentations/32
Major
Comparative Literature; Hispanic Studies
Advisor(s)
Ana Cara, Comparative Literature
Sebastiaan Faber, Hispanic Studies
Project Mentor(s)
Sebastiaan Faber, Hispanic Studies
Bernard Matambo, Creative Writing
April 2013
Luis García Montero's Quedarse sin ciudad: The City as Phoenix in Post-Dictatorial Spain
Science Center, A254
We can cross borders without moving. Luis García Montero's 1994 prose poetry collection Quedarse sin ciudad (To Be Left Without City) addresses the emotional obstacles of living in a city that undergoes rapid cultural change, forcing the poet to be "a foreigner in his own desire, in his own city." It is a loving ode to Granada, Spain, at the same time that it catalogs the jarring, painful palimpsest of memory. I explore the dichotomies expressed in Quedarse sin ciudad and their function as a narrative of the sociopolitical evolution of Spain in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, paying special attention to García Montero's feminization of the city and his use of prose poetry to illustrate the sense of duality that dominates this collection.
Notes
Session II, Panel 8: Requiems, Refusals, and Retreats: Studies in Spanish-language Literature (a bilingual presentation)
Moderator: Sebastiaan Faber, Professor of Hispanic Studies
Full text thesis available here.