The Moderns Time, Space, and Subjectivity in Contemporary Spanish Culture

by Smith, Paul Julian

• ISBN13: 9780198160014
• ISBN10: 0198160011
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book offers a radically new account of the rich and varied culture of contemporary Spain. It focuses on three intellectuals who chronicle contemporary life (including journalist Francisco Umbral); three filmmakers who engage with the many nationalisms of the Spanish state (Victor Erice,Bigas Luna, and Julio Medem); and three crucial topics that are expressed in many media (the replaying of history, the rise and fall of the city, and the practice of everyday life). Ranging from the ethnographic photography of Cristina Garcia Rodero to the high tech architecture of SantiagoCalatrava and from the hyperrealist painting of Antonio Lopez to the neo-flamenco dance of Joaquin Cortes, this book is also the first to draw on theorists of the intellectual field, the production of space, and the arts of bricolage (Pierre Bourdieu, Henri Lefebvre, and Michel de Certeau). Refutingthe charge that contemporary Spanish culture is trivial or superficial, this book argues that it is fully engaged in the aesthetic and historical project of modernity.

Author Biography

Paul Julian Smith is Professor of Spanish, University of Cambridge

Table of Contents

List of plates	xi
Introduction: Time, Space, Subjectivity	1	(8)
Part I. Time
Modern Times: Francisco Umbral's Chronicle of Distinction	9	(14)
Between Metaphysics and Scientism: Rehistoricizing	23	(19)
Victor Erice
Transcending Time	23	(9)
Cinematography, Performance, Scriptwriting	32	(10)
Cross-Cut: Replay	42	(33)
The Resurrection of History	42	(5)
The Future in the Past: Cristina Garcia Rodero and Rafael Moneo	47	(12)
Insubstantial Stories: La Cubana and Alvaro Pombo	59	(10)
The Forest of Forgetting	69	(6)
Part II. Space
Social Space and Symbolic Power: Fernando Savater's Intellectual Field	75	(14)
Between Land and Language: Locating Bigas Luna	89	(19)
Local History, Local Space	89	(8)
Spatializing Time	97	(11)
Cross-Cut: City	108	(27)
The Production of Urban Space	108	(4)
The Evacuated City: Juan Goytisolo and Antonio Lopez	112	(9)
Healing the Urban Wound: Santiago Calatrava and Manuel Castells	121	(9)
From Flow to Rhythm	130	(5)
Part III. Subjectivity
Back to Front: Alberto Cardin's Queer Habitus	135	(11)
Between Heaven and Earth: Grounding Julio Medem	146	(16)
Postnational Subjects	146	(7)
Formal Dislocations	153	(9)
Cross-Cut: Gypsy	162	(28)
The Subject of Everyday Life	162	(4)
Preserving the Proper: Carlos Saura's Carmen and Chus Gutierrez's Alma Gitana	166	(8)
Changing their Times: Ketama and Joaquin Cortes	174	(8)
From Strategy to Tactic	182	(8)
Conclusion: Chronicles of Seduction	186	(4)
Filmography	190	(3)
Bibliography	193	(10)
Index	203