Beyond the metafictional mode : directions in the modern spanish novel PDF
Preview Beyond the metafictional mode : directions in the modern spanish novel
STUDIES IN ROMANCE LANGUAGES: 30 John E. Keller, Editor This page intentionally left blank BEYOND THE METAFICTIONAL MODE DIRECTIONS IN THE MODERN SPANISH NOVEL Robert C. Spires THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Copyright© 1984 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. Editorial and Sales Offices: Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0024 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Spires, Robert C. Beyond the metafictional mode. Bibliography: p. Includes index. I. Spanish fiction-20th century-History and criti cism. 2. Fiction-Technique. I. Title. PQ6144.S648 1984 863'.64'09 84-7565 ISBN 978-0-8131-5469-5 To Jeffrey R. and Leslie Ann This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface 1x Introduction: The Metafictional Mode 1. Violations and Pseudo-Violations: Quijote, Buscon, and "La novela en el tranvia" 18 2. Fiction on a Palimpsest: Niebla 33 3. Codes versus Modes: Locura y muerte de nadie and La novia del viento 45 4. Rebellion against Models: Don juan and Orestes 58 5. Process as Product: Juan sin Tierra 72 6. Reading-into-Being: La colera de Aquiles 89 7. Product Preceding Process: El cuarto de atrds 107 Afterwords 125 Notes 129 Bibliography 141 Index 149 This page intentionally left blank Preface Although my interest in metafiction was inspired by contemporary novels, when I began this study I found I had to establish some kind of historical view before attempting to deal with present-day metafictional works. As others have already pointed out, the term metafiction invaded our critical vocabulary around 1970, yet the textual strategies involved in turning fiction back onto itself can be traced to at least the sixteenth century. The discrepancy between the earlier examples of what we now call metafiction and the recent coining of the term perhaps can be explained by the complemen tary evolution of textual strategies and reader expectations. That is, the opposition between the first expression of the mode and the expectations of readers was so great that a long process of reception was required. But just as the initial readings were continued and enriched through further receptions from generation to generation, so the strategies fed on one another. The whole process has culmi nated, from our present perspective, in the current obsession with novelistic self-commentary. This book, then, chronicles such an evolutionary process in the Spanish novel from the beginning of the seventeenth century up to the 1980s; it analyzes the development of the metafictional mode into the recent self-referential Spanish novel. The sources for my theoretical/critical project are somewhat eclectic, and, although there is probably a predominance of names associated with structuralism and semiotics, they include repre sentatives of poststructuralism and hermeneutics. The references in the text identify who these people are, yet two theorists whose ideas have been fundamental to my own thinking deserve to be singled out here: Gerard Genette and Felix Martinez Bonati. I have included in the bibliography some works not directly quoted but whose imprint may be detected in my commentaries. I should also note that in all likelihood I have failed to recognize the contribution of others merely because their ideas have now become
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