Señas de identidad

Señas de identidad ( Eng . Identity Marks ) from 1966 is one of the most famous and important works of Spanish literature and was written by Juan Goytisolo . However, publication was banned due to Spanish censorship, as the work directly related to the situation of the people under the General Franco regime . The novel was first published in Mexico, and only ten years later (after Franco's death) was it allowed to appear in Spain. This work is about Álvaro Mendiola, a man in his mid-thirties who works as a photographer and journalist. In 1963, after a collapse, he returned to his homeland (Spain) to recover after living in exile in France for eleven years. In Spain, the protagonist uses the quiet to organize his life. This leads him into a chaos of fragments of many stories. The aim of the search is to find out one's own identity (see German title: Identitätszeichen ). A goal that is doomed to fail.

background

The Spanish Civil War took place from 1936 to 1939, triggered by social, economic and religious reforms that provoked resistance from the old elites and rose up against the Republican government under the command of various national generals. At the beginning of April 1939, General Franco entered Madrid as the victor in the civil war, and the Republican government went into exile in France. In the years that followed, Franco installed a dictatorship under which much of the liberal reforms of the 1930s were reversed. Above all, the church and large landowners were strengthened, while the country was increasingly isolated in terms of foreign policy, which only changed with the beginning of the Cold War, when Franco was needed as a reliable bastion against communism and an arms and troop base. Many intellectuals had already gone into exile during the war, and with the consolidation of Francoist rule, more and more Spaniards, including many writers, left the country. Many exiles felt foreign and homeless in the receiving countries, which was reflected in many texts: the search for one's own identity when one lives between two cultures and is nowhere at home was just as much a topic as the hopes of one day returning can - what was tied to a policy change. In their writings, many referred to the achievements of the Second Republic, such as civil marriage, far-reaching educational reforms, property redistribution, and greater separation of church and state. The Second Republic was a point of reference for many writers, and they expressed their longing in the hope that after Franco Spain would become a democracy again and that they could return to their homeland.

action

In the first chapters of the novel Señas de identidad ( Eng : Identity Marks ), the past of the protagonist Álvaro Mendiola is reconstructed in many fragments with the help of recovered photographs or memorabilia from his parents' home in Spain. The reader is confronted with the mixture of retrospectives from Spanish history, in which the events of Álvaro's life are embedded.

Regarding the Spanish story in connection with the personal memories of the protagonist, both pasts show an image of chaos, uncertainty and fear, frustration, distancing and failure, which runs through the entire narrative. On the long path of his self-discovery, Álvaro Mendiola passes many historical events in the development of modern Spain, with which he no longer feels connected at the end of the story. For the autobiographical research, Álvaro returns a few days to the idyll of his parents' residence near Barcelona in order to be able to place the confused memories in the family history. In the beginning, memories of his great-grandfather's activities in Cuba in the 19th century, the time with the nanny Lourdes, his uncle César and Eulegio and his childhood with his old friends are mixed up. Then the protagonist recalls fragments of his studies with which the death of his professor Ayuso and the botched uprising of the students suddenly come back to life.

The second chapter focuses on Álvaro's student days, his Spanish friends and common ideals. The protagonist notices that he has failed to stand up for his ideals and to fight and that the death of his professor Ayuso represents a low point for this battle-hungry generation.

The third chapter takes place in Yeste, a place near Murcia, with which Álvaro associates important events in his career so far. First of all, it is the place where his father was shot by the Republican militiamen in 1936. The protagonist has now set himself the task of reproducing the events of this time in a documentary film. Yeste has also been a place of pre-revolutionary unrest, which is also associated with the outbreak of the Spanish civil war. The reader is confronted with a confusing structure, as this is concentrated on several time levels, which the author in no way arranged chronologically, but rather nested in one another: personal memories of the protagonist and a collage-like reconstruction of past events, mainly in the camera perspective, mix of the film. The confusion becomes perfect when Álvaro Mendiola merges the revolutionary episodes of 1936 and a feria with bullfighting in 1958. Another parallel between the two levels of time is drawn here when the torment and suffering of a bull are compared a little later with the murder of numerous Republicans in Yeste in 1936. In this chapter Álvaro's first doubts and the hopelessness of his search for totality already become clear, but the latter does not yet give up his project entirely.

In the fourth chapter, the narrative scope is expanded for the first time. Over time, the protagonist becomes aware of the freely chosen exile situation in France and its consequences, so that the confidence in his identity is fading in the following chapters. It becomes clear to Álvaro that the careers of his Spanish friends and his own résumé are becoming increasingly distant. The protagonist only receives information about his homeland via surveillance protocols from the secret police. Goytisolo sometimes quotes entire passages from the police protocols. Even some information about his friend Antonio, whose time in exile in his own country is fragmentarily juxtaposed with Álvaro's exile situation in Paris, cannot help the protagonist sufficiently in the search for his lost identity. Antonio, who was arrested by students in Barcelona due to a failed demonstration and sentenced to exile within Spain, is very envied by Álvaro for the fact that his identity has been preserved.

Considering the gaping gaps in his autobiography, Álvaro can hardly remember at the end of the fifth chapter in a dialogue with his partner Dolores whether he was an advocate of the Republican side or whether he fought for Franco.

The last three chapters of the novel describe the end of Álvaro's search for his identity, which unfortunately ends in frustration and the failure of the project. Álvaro Mendiola no longer seems to be able to maintain the illusion of personal success in reconstructing the many "signs of identity". He no longer feels part of the group of his former Spanish friends and, in his opinion, takes on the role of a stranger. The demonstrated maturity and, above all, the persistence (despite several setbacks) towards the pursued goals and ideals of his friends now make a frustrated and failed protagonist sink into self-doubt.

The sixth chapter begins with the description of the first meeting between Álvaro and his partner Dolores. Despite the differences in their political family backgrounds (Dolores's parents are Republicans, Álvaro supporters of Franquism ), the two appear inseparable, she accompanies him on his travels and almost takes away this feeling of imperfection on a personal level. But the love and permanent relationship with her is not as strong and constant as the protagonist had hoped for. When Dolores is supposed to have an abortion carried out in a Geneva clinic because Álvaro does not want to have a child, the first cracks in this so far rather stable love affair develop. A little later the protagonist collapses and realizes in the clinic that his identity is hopeless.

In the next chapter, Álvaro is confronted with the fact that he has finally lost the roots of his home country Spain. The alienation from this country and the betrayal of its political and personal ideals, as well as the abandonment of his former friends, has already proceeded irrevocably. His exile situation in France is compared, for example, with the living and working conditions of Spanish emigrants or so-called “ guest workers ”, who are repeatedly exposed to discrimination and disadvantages. Álvaro is also abroad as a stranger and experiences the same treatment, so to speak, from the native French.

The eighth chapter of the story takes place on a viewpoint of Montjuich . Álvaro feels like one of the other tourists and perceives his surroundings through one of the binoculars there. Some statements or exclamations in different languages of the numerous visitors and the montage-like combination with some excerpts from information brochures and city guides for foreign tourists follow. Álvaro remembers the many people who were mistreated and killed during the civil war for a. fought for their right to free will. The protagonist views the omnipresence of the streams of visitors rather critically, as these now shape modern Spain, with which he can no longer establish any connection. In view of what has become of his former homeland over the years of his absence, he comes to the regrettable realization that the only thing that still connects him to Spain is the Spanish language .

Narrative style and structure

Juan Goytisolo uses a narrator in the 2nd person singular for his story, who speaks to someone he is speaking to. It seems like a newspaper in which thoughts, feelings and memories are expressed. There is no single narrative instance because many different voices and people are used to report on what happened. There is no omniscient narrator.

The book also contains passages in the 3rd person to express a certain objectivity. Various reports and observation protocols serve to draw a vivid and conceivable picture. However, the reports are a bit confusing because the reader cannot find out the identities of the people until the end. This narrative style is meant to depict the confusion of both Álvaro and the Spaniards during the Franco regime. The use of the jumps in the storytelling, prolepses and analepses , leads to the reader being able to perceive the disoriented and unsettled situation better. Goytisolo controls the story by focusing on the protagonist and his memories. This presents us with an uncertain, chaotic and emotion-heavy flashback .

At first glance, it seems to the reader that there is no chronological order because many passages contain analepsis and prolepsis. In addition, the narrative perspectives , the places, the people and the times change. Nevertheless, each chapter has a motif that should guide the reader. This leitmotif relates to a specific point in the protagonist's past and tells of its importance and how it affected the formation of identity. However, if you read some passages of the book more often and thereby gain a deeper understanding, you will recognize a certain chronology. The described confusion that the author creates is desired in order to present an authentic flashback.

The language in the book is used to provide an authentic account of what happened in Franquism and exile . In addition, Goytisolo uses a “ lenguaje nuevo, virulento y anárquico ”, with which he wants to break away from the rigid Spanish language and show reality. Ironic passages shed light on both the suppressive activities of the Franco regime and the anger and confusion of the people during this formative period.

Progressive Alienation and the Importance of Exile

Exile brought alienation because you mostly lived in another city and felt separated and removed from your homeland and its culture. Although life in exile was possible without oppression and multiple rights, Álvaro feels alien and lonely. The reader notices that a change is taking place on his part, which sharpens the path of searching for himself.

The reasons for the alienation are the lack of integration in the foreign country and the loss of the feeling of really "feeling Spanish " and thus to stand up for the Francoist regime. Álvaro Mendiola cannot share his fear of loss with his friends, who, despite the numerous problems, have stuck to their ideals and developed. This exclusion and the regret of having left friends and not being able to support them while they fought for their ideals against the regime and lived in a limited way, puts a great strain on the people in exile.

This non-identification with the homeland Spain, the history and culture (apart from the language) as well as the non-participation in the life of friends and the loss of the goals that were once shared, favors the failure of the protagonist Álvaro Mendiola in search of his own lost identity .

The author Juan Goytisolo himself lived a large part of his life in exile. It can therefore be said that his work has autobiographical roots.

literature

Juan Goytisolo: Señas de identidad. El libro de bolsilla. Biblioteca de autor. Alianza Editorial. Madrid 2005, ISBN 8420638293 .
Juan Goytisolo: Examen de conciencia. Spanish conscience research. Edition Langewiesche-Brandt (1968).
Hector R. Romero: La evolución literaria de Juan Goytisolo. , Florida 1979.
G. Sobejano, M. Durán, JC Curutchet: Juan Goytisolo. Espiral figuras, Madrid 1975.
Inger Enkvist, Ángel Sahuquillo: Los múltiples yos de Juan Goytisolo- un estudio interdisciplinar. Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, Almería 2001.
Michael Ugarte: Literatura española en el exilio. Un estudio comparativo. , Madrid 1999.
Volker Roloff, Harald Wentzlaff-Eggebert: Article on Juan Goytisolo: Señas de Identidad. The Spanish novel from the Middle Ages to the present. Schwann Bagel, Düsseldorf 1986.