Gender, Non-Human Agency and New Ruralism in Contemporary Iberian Fiction and Nonfiction

Since the economic crisis of 2008, written narrative from the Iberian Peninsula (both fiction and nonfiction) has exhibited a noted turn toward what could be best described as New Ruralism. This dissertation explores representations of rural space in Iberian contemporary fiction and creative nonfiction in order to answer a number of questions: How has the representation of rural space in Spain changed since the nineteenth century? How do the authors and their works rethink the rural sphere in Spain? Why is rethinking rural space important during our current climate crisis? This dissertation analyzes the works of four authors –Irene Solà, Gabi Martínez, Hasier Larretxea, and María Sánchez– who have taken part in this cultural phenomenon. More specifically, these four authors have written on the importance of finding a ‘third way,’ that is, an alternative way to living during the Anthropocene. Their works help to break down multiple dichotomies such as male/female, human/non-human, myth/history, urban/rural and fiction/nonfiction to destabilize a polarizing hegemonic culture which can be described as anthropocentric, androcentric and patriarchal. They portray rural space as a place of resistance to the dominant economic model of infinite growth and progress. The works of these four authors use rural space as a point of departure for transforming current cultural paradigms. In other words, they propose that rural space and rural ways of being can teach us about caring for the earth. At the same time, the four authors emphasize the importance of not falling back into patriarchal systems which, since antiquity, have been prevalent in the Iberian countryside. The conceptual framework of this dissertation draws on the philosophies of Donna Haraway (the Chthulucene), Bruno Latour (the Terrestrial), and Arturo Escobar (the Pluriverse), who have written extensively on finding a ‘terrestrial’ way of being on a damaged planet.

Embargo status: Restricted until 06/2174. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left.