Beyond the metafictional mode : directions in the modern spanish novel

166 Pages·1984·12.513 MB·English

by  Robert C. Spires

STUDIES IN ROMANCE LANGUAGES: 30
John E. Keller, Editor
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BEYOND THE
METAFICTIONAL MODE
DIRECTIONS IN THE
MODERN SPANISH NOVEL
Robert C. Spires
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
Copyright© 1984 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre
College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky
Historical Society, Kentucky State University,
Morehead State University, Murray State University,
Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University,
University of Kentucky, University of Louisville,
and Western Kentucky University.
Editorial and Sales Offices: Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0024
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Spires, Robert C.
Beyond the metafictional mode.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
I. Spanish fiction-20th century-History and criti
cism. 2. Fiction-Technique. I. Title.
PQ6144.S648 1984 863'.64'09 84-7565
ISBN 978-0-8131-5469-5
To Jeffrey R. and Leslie Ann
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Contents
Preface 1x
Introduction: The Metafictional Mode
1. Violations and Pseudo-Violations: Quijote, Buscon,
and "La novela en el tranvia" 18
2. Fiction on a Palimpsest: Niebla 33
3. Codes versus Modes: Locura y muerte de nadie and
La novia del viento 45
4. Rebellion against Models: Don juan and Orestes 58
5. Process as Product: Juan sin Tierra 72
6. Reading-into-Being: La colera de Aquiles 89
7. Product Preceding Process: El cuarto de atrds 107
Afterwords 125
Notes 129
Bibliography 141
Index 149
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Preface
Although my interest in metafiction was inspired by contemporary
novels, when I began this study I found I had to establish some
kind of historical view before attempting to deal with present-day
metafictional works. As others have already pointed out, the term
metafiction invaded our critical vocabulary around 1970, yet the
textual strategies involved in turning fiction back onto itself can be
traced to at least the sixteenth century. The discrepancy between
the earlier examples of what we now call metafiction and the recent
coining of the term perhaps can be explained by the complemen
tary evolution of textual strategies and reader expectations. That
is, the opposition between the first expression of the mode and the
expectations of readers was so great that a long process of reception
was required. But just as the initial readings were continued and
enriched through further receptions from generation to generation,
so the strategies fed on one another. The whole process has culmi
nated, from our present perspective, in the current obsession with
novelistic self-commentary. This book, then, chronicles such an
evolutionary process in the Spanish novel from the beginning of the
seventeenth century up to the 1980s; it analyzes the development of
the metafictional mode into the recent self-referential Spanish
novel.
The sources for my theoretical/critical project are somewhat
eclectic, and, although there is probably a predominance of names
associated with structuralism and semiotics, they include repre
sentatives of poststructuralism and hermeneutics. The references
in the text identify who these people are, yet two theorists whose
ideas have been fundamental to my own thinking deserve to be
singled out here: Gerard Genette and Felix Martinez Bonati. I
have included in the bibliography some works not directly quoted
but whose imprint may be detected in my commentaries. I should
also note that in all likelihood I have failed to recognize the
contribution of others merely because their ideas have now become