Realizaciones posmemorísticas desde la perspectiva de género y el transatlantismo en los umbrales del siglo XXI

Abstract

The corpus for this thesis consists of the novels Lo real (2001) by Belén Gopegui, El corazón helado (2007) by Almudena Grandes and Demasiados héroes (2009) by Laura Restrepo, as well as the documentary films Papá Iván (2000) by María Inés Roqué and Los rubios (2003) by Albertina Carri. In the first chapter, I analyze Restrepo’s novel using the concept of postmemory, as coined by Marianne Hirsch and as discussed in relation to Argentina by Beatriz Sarlo. I also stress the way the paternal image is constructed through what Nelly Richard calls “language scenes,” i.e., representations made up of various media (that favour the visual) that serve to exorcise the trauma resulting from parental loss. In the final portion of this chapter, I look at representations of the New Man (Hombre Nuevo) and how this notion is problematized. The second chapter is dedicated to El corazón helado. Using José María Naharro Calderón’s theoretical framework, I examine themes of exile among Spanish emigrants in France. More specifically, I look at postmemory processes among the children and grandchildren of direct victims of the Spanish Civil War; the process of intergenerational transfer between certain female characters; and how these two types of processes pertain to preserving the memory of victims of reprisal under the Franco regime. In the third chapter, focused on the novel Lo real, I draw on psychoanalytic concepts such as the emotional field and intergenerational trauma to examine the protagonist’s identity process. Moreover, I reflect on Jean Baudrillard’s notion of “simulacrum” in order to explore the many identities this character assumes. Subsequently, I examine the role of the female characters as guardians of memory. In the fourth and final chapter, I revisit the three novels through comparative analysis while integrating the two documentaries. The analysis is structured according to three transatlantic tropes proposed by Ricardo Gutiérrez Mouat: 1) a melancholic view of history, 2) post-memoristic policies in post-dictatorial societies, and 3) postmodern disenchantment. Ultimately, I insist on the importance of female agency both in revolutionary militancy and in the construction of postmemory linked to feminist issues; in doing so, I propose an additional trope, which incorporates these themes.