Spanish and Latin American memory novels
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Hans Lauge Hansen
Abstract
The contemporary recuperation of the dark memory of civil wars and dictatorial pasts has led to a considerable alteration of the realist novel in the Spanish-speaking world. The memory of past violence and atrocity is a topic capable of arousing strong emotions and ethical engagement, and the sub-genre of the memory novel has emerged as one of the most popular in Spain as well as in Latin America. This new realist novel dedicated to the memory of violent pasts is characterized by its social commitment to pay tribute to the victims of repression and by the inclusion of non-fictional elements (docufiction, autofiction, novel without fiction, etc.), but there are also differences. This article takes its point of departure in the description of the Spanish memory novel as it has emerged since the turn of the century, with the aim of comparing its defining traits to the Latin American novel, primarily in relation to the concept of trauma. A hypothesis governing the article is that the Spanish memory novel is primarily oriented towards the cognitive creation of knowledge and truth authentication of the past, and uses emotion as a way to arouse compassion. The Latin American memory novel, on the other hand, mostly follows the narrative template of trauma literature in order to represent what is not expressible: the memory of the horrific experience itself. The article discusses how and to what extent differences in the memory cultures involved might explain such differences in the form of the novel.
Abstract
The contemporary recuperation of the dark memory of civil wars and dictatorial pasts has led to a considerable alteration of the realist novel in the Spanish-speaking world. The memory of past violence and atrocity is a topic capable of arousing strong emotions and ethical engagement, and the sub-genre of the memory novel has emerged as one of the most popular in Spain as well as in Latin America. This new realist novel dedicated to the memory of violent pasts is characterized by its social commitment to pay tribute to the victims of repression and by the inclusion of non-fictional elements (docufiction, autofiction, novel without fiction, etc.), but there are also differences. This article takes its point of departure in the description of the Spanish memory novel as it has emerged since the turn of the century, with the aim of comparing its defining traits to the Latin American novel, primarily in relation to the concept of trauma. A hypothesis governing the article is that the Spanish memory novel is primarily oriented towards the cognitive creation of knowledge and truth authentication of the past, and uses emotion as a way to arouse compassion. The Latin American memory novel, on the other hand, mostly follows the narrative template of trauma literature in order to represent what is not expressible: the memory of the horrific experience itself. The article discusses how and to what extent differences in the memory cultures involved might explain such differences in the form of the novel.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of illustrations xi
- Editors’ preface and acknowledgments xiii
- Note on translations, cross-references and documentation xv
- Introduction 1
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Chapter 1. Psychological pathways
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Core essay
- “Memories inwrought with affection” 29
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Case studies
- The interplay between emotion and memory 135
- Situations of sympathy 151
- The poetics of disgust in realist fiction 169
- Attunement 185
- Spanish and Latin American memory novels 201
- History and untold memories 217
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Chapter 2. Referential pathways
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Core essay
- Material matters 233
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Case studies
- Curating realism in a world of objects 271
- Caricature and realism 287
- Realism and allegory 303
- “Distance avails not” 317
- Toward affective realism 337
- Posthumanism and realism 351
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Chapter 3. Formal pathways
-
Core essay
- Dynamics of realist forms 367
-
Case studies
- Forms of realism in children’s literature 473
- Early theatrical realism on page and stage 489
- Poetry, Pessoa and realism 503
- The making of the historical narrative in the Swahili utenzi 519
- Photography and dissent in John Lewis’s graphic novel March 535
- The visions of John Ball 549
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Chapter 4. Geographical pathways
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Core essay
- Dialogic encounters 565
-
Case studies
- Varieties of theatrical realism after Ibsen 667
- Is there a notion of ‘realism’ in traditional China? 685
- Worlding of realism 703
- The real magic in Miguel Ángel Asturias’s magical realism 721
- Narrate or describe 737
- Realism in the colony 751
- Notes on contributors 763
- Index 767
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of illustrations xi
- Editors’ preface and acknowledgments xiii
- Note on translations, cross-references and documentation xv
- Introduction 1
-
Chapter 1. Psychological pathways
-
Core essay
- “Memories inwrought with affection” 29
-
Case studies
- The interplay between emotion and memory 135
- Situations of sympathy 151
- The poetics of disgust in realist fiction 169
- Attunement 185
- Spanish and Latin American memory novels 201
- History and untold memories 217
-
Chapter 2. Referential pathways
-
Core essay
- Material matters 233
-
Case studies
- Curating realism in a world of objects 271
- Caricature and realism 287
- Realism and allegory 303
- “Distance avails not” 317
- Toward affective realism 337
- Posthumanism and realism 351
-
Chapter 3. Formal pathways
-
Core essay
- Dynamics of realist forms 367
-
Case studies
- Forms of realism in children’s literature 473
- Early theatrical realism on page and stage 489
- Poetry, Pessoa and realism 503
- The making of the historical narrative in the Swahili utenzi 519
- Photography and dissent in John Lewis’s graphic novel March 535
- The visions of John Ball 549
-
Chapter 4. Geographical pathways
-
Core essay
- Dialogic encounters 565
-
Case studies
- Varieties of theatrical realism after Ibsen 667
- Is there a notion of ‘realism’ in traditional China? 685
- Worlding of realism 703
- The real magic in Miguel Ángel Asturias’s magical realism 721
- Narrate or describe 737
- Realism in the colony 751
- Notes on contributors 763
- Index 767
