I specialize in 20th and 21st Century Peninsular literature with a focus on narrative texts written by women of the postwar era. Specifically, I have worked with novels by Esther Tusquets, Carmen Martín Gaite, and Ana María Matute. In my Master’s thesis, I explored the role of female protagonists in the works of these three authors and their need to create metaphysical and physical refuges in an effort to escape adulthood. In order to understand the process of maturation particular to these main characters, I also investigated the fairy tale tradition that is so prevalent in those as well as many other contemporary Spanish novels by women writers.
As a doctoral student, I continued researching the recurrence of fairy tales in Matute’s works which eventually led to my dissertation titled “Other Worlds, Other Words: Fantasy in Ana María Matute’s Recent Novels,” which explores the mode of fantasy as it relates to her three most recent narrative texts: La torre vigía (The Watchtower 1971), Olvidado Rey Gudú (The Forgotten King Gudú 1996), and Aranmanoth (Aranmanoth 2000). I am particularly fascinated by this fantasy trilogy because it represents a radical departure from the realist fiction for which she became so renowned. In each novel, the roots of modern fantasy can be traced to fairy tales, the gothic and chivalric novel, the epic and myths. I discuss what makes these stories modern, what they have to say about contemporary reality through fantasy, and the reasons why Matute chose this mode over realism.
I am curious about these fantasy novels because there has been a notable rise in the popularity of fantasy in literature and cinema over the last decade. Movies like Lord of the Rings have spawned a slew of films based on fantasy. These include Eragon, Alice in Wonderland, The Golden Compass, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Journey to the Center of the Earth—and they are not just for children. Even adults attest to delighting in J.K. Rowling’s series of Harry Potter books and movies. Perhaps this phenomenon is due to our need for diversion and escape to other worlds, or other realms, in which time is not necessarily discernible, but I believe that fantasy offers more than mere diversion.
In my research, I turn to several critics who deal with fantasy theory, such as T. A. Shippey and Slavoj Žižek, in an effort to show the strategies that fantasy literature offers. Essentially we find that fantasy novels, which take place in an Other World in an unknown time, allow us to contemplate our own existence and engage us in discussions on contemporary reality and society. I explore many other strategies of fantasy and discuss how Matute’s works can be interpreted through these various lenses.
My research can easily translate to the classroom by examining how elements of fantasy can reflect reality, especially in apocalyptic and millennial novels. But this topic is not limited to literature—even films such as El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth 2006) show how an Other World can parallel our own. I hope to inspire students with my research by exploring these contemporary texts and films.
