Affective Cartographies of the Financial Crisis; Textual Emotionality in Contemporary Spanish Poetry
Subject Area
Spanish Peninsular Studies
Abstract
It is well-known that the 15M and other Spanish factions of the global wave of protest movements against financial powers have inspired, and at the same time drawn from, a vast literary production throughout the last decade. From the perspective of Affect and Emotion studies, this paper analyzes poems from Isabel Pérez Montalbán, an example of the trend known as poetry of critical consciousness, and Pablo García Casado, often framed within the so-called dirty realism. My work contests and denies a common generalization in the field: the alleged detachment of the most recent Spanish poetry with regard to contemporary socio-political issues; conversely, it brings to light the accuracy of certain pre-crisis poetry at predicting and anticipating the devastating effects of neoliberal policies throughout Europe. Furthermore, this study pays attention to the mobilizing potential of texts that, beyond the mere exposition or denouncement of the state of affairs, are able to extrapolate the personal dimension of the financial crisis’ drama (unemployment, evictions, etc.) to the socio-political sphere. In the context of the still ongoing crisis, and through the aforementioned politicization of realities previously relegated to the private sphere (be it due to the victims’ fear or shame), the poems studied possess the potentiality of arousing an empowering empathy and indignation in a historically-situated reader. Pérez Montalban’s and García Casado’s texts generate and strengthen collective consciousness, allowing for a transition from the I to the We and the subsequent enrichment of the community’s social-affective network.
Brief Bio Note
Alberto López Martín received his PhD in Spanish Literature and Culture from Florida State University, specializing in contemporary Iberian poetry. He is currently a visiting professor at Davidson College.
Keywords
Spanish Peninsular Studies, Iberian Contemporary Poetry, Emotion Studies, Cultural Politics, Social Activism
Location
Room 218
Presentation Year
March 2017
Start Date
3-24-2017 2:55 PM
Embargo
10-19-2016
Recommended Citation
Lopez Martin, Alberto, "Affective Cartographies of the Financial Crisis; Textual Emotionality in Contemporary Spanish Poetry" (2017). South East Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures (SECCLL). 61.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/seccll/2017/2017/61
Affective Cartographies of the Financial Crisis; Textual Emotionality in Contemporary Spanish Poetry
Room 218
It is well-known that the 15M and other Spanish factions of the global wave of protest movements against financial powers have inspired, and at the same time drawn from, a vast literary production throughout the last decade. From the perspective of Affect and Emotion studies, this paper analyzes poems from Isabel Pérez Montalbán, an example of the trend known as poetry of critical consciousness, and Pablo García Casado, often framed within the so-called dirty realism. My work contests and denies a common generalization in the field: the alleged detachment of the most recent Spanish poetry with regard to contemporary socio-political issues; conversely, it brings to light the accuracy of certain pre-crisis poetry at predicting and anticipating the devastating effects of neoliberal policies throughout Europe. Furthermore, this study pays attention to the mobilizing potential of texts that, beyond the mere exposition or denouncement of the state of affairs, are able to extrapolate the personal dimension of the financial crisis’ drama (unemployment, evictions, etc.) to the socio-political sphere. In the context of the still ongoing crisis, and through the aforementioned politicization of realities previously relegated to the private sphere (be it due to the victims’ fear or shame), the poems studied possess the potentiality of arousing an empowering empathy and indignation in a historically-situated reader. Pérez Montalban’s and García Casado’s texts generate and strengthen collective consciousness, allowing for a transition from the I to the We and the subsequent enrichment of the community’s social-affective network.
