Isolation, Loss of Innocence, Gender, and Trauma in Ana María Matute's Primera memoria and Juan Goytisolo's Señas de identidad
type: CreativeWork
description: 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.
abstract: 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.
author: Lopez, Ricardo
language: en_US
date published: 2011
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:46:41Z
provider: University of Nevada - Reno
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Nevada, Reno

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11714/466