Isolation, Loss of Innocence, Gender, and Trauma in Ana María Matute's Primera memoria and Juan Goytisolo's Señas de identidad
Novelists Juan Goytisolo (Barcelona, 1931) and Ana María Matute (Barcelona, 1926) represent some of the best writers that emerged in 20th century post-civil war Spain as part of the literary group known as the "generation of the 50s." The writers, who came of age during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), evoke similar themes in their works: isolation, loss of innocence, gender identity issues and political trauma. By focusing on the these themes, I will demonstrate the wide-reaching effects of the Spanish Civil War on the writer's masterpieces: two semi-autobiographical novels. Matute's Primera memoria (1959) chronicles the adolescence of a young girl and her cousin during the Spanish Civil War. Goytisolo's Señas de identidad (1966) tells the tale of a young male protagonist who leaves Spain to be exiled in France and Morocco. I will demonstrate that Matute and Goytisolo used their novels to protest the fascist regime of General Francisco Franco and gave a voice to a generation of Spaniards traumatized by the violence of the war.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations