Spectral Spain - Haunted Houses, Silent Spaces Traumatic Memories in Post Franco

Spectral Spain examines the Gothic haunting motif in post-Franco Spanish literature. With a theoretical framework in memory and trauma studies, and a particular emphasis on the inclusion of women's voices, this book is the first to provide an in-depth study of spectrality and haunting in the Gothic literature of contemporary Spain. Through close readings of eleven main texts, the author examines haunting as the perfect motif for Spanish authors to portray the tension between modernity and the imposition of a monocultural, nationalised tradition throughout the twentieth century - noting not just the trauma of the civil war and resulting dictatorship of Franco, but also the continuing and widespread disenchantment during and after the Transition. Through its references to the contemporary debate surrounding historical memory, Spectral Spain demonstrates the relevance of the Gothic in Spanish literature, and the continued ghostly returns of the past in the socio-political anxieties of the present.

About the author

Dr. Heidi Backes is an associate professor of Spanish at Missouri State University, where she specializes in contemporary Spanish fiction, with her latest research focusing on the neo-Gothic movement in Spain.

Product details

• Authors: Heidi Backes
• Publisher: University of Wales Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.05.2024
• EAN: 9781837721269
• ISBN: 978-1-83772-126-9
• No. of pages: 272
• Series: Gothic Literary Studies
• Subjects: Guides > Self-help, everyday life > Family; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Post, Education, European History, Spain, Heidi, Gothic, Franco, Fiction, LITERARY CRITICISM / Gothic & Romance, LITERARY CRITICISM / European / Spanish & Portuguese, houses, Haunted, Silent, Spaces, Traumatic, memories, Backes, Literature: history and criticism, HISTORY / Europe / Spain, Spectral