Diss. Abstract: *Sex, drugs, and self-destruction: Reading decadence and identity in Spain's youth narrative*

Klodt, Jason Edward
Degree Date:
2003
Advisor:
Colmeiro, Jose F.
School:
Michigan State University
Keyword(s):
Manas, Jose Angel
Jose Angel Manas
Etxebarria, Lucia
Lucia Etxebarria
Loriga, Ray
Ray Loriga
Santos, Care
Care Santos
Sex
Drugs
Self-destruction
Decadence
Identity
Spain
Youth narrative
Publication title:
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses

*Sex, drugs, and self-destruction: Reading decadence and identity in
Spain's youth narrative*
by /Klodt, Jason Edward/ , Ph.D., Michigan State
University, 2003, 203 pages; AAT 3115990

*Abstract (Summary)*

The novels of young Spanish authors such as JosÈ ¡ngel MaÒas, LucÌa
EtxebarrÌa, Ray Loriga, and Care Santos portray a hedonistic lifestyle
of alcohol and drug abuse, casual sex, random violence, and thrill
seeking. This narrative's sudden popularity and subsequent critical
controversy pose the question of how to approach Spain's youth narrative
of the 1990s, the so-called "Generation X." Due to its foundations in
North American commodification, this thesis problematizes the term
"Generation X" and seeks to redefine Spain's youth narrative. This study
proposes an alternate term, the Novels of Disaffection, to more
accurately reflect their origin in Madrid's "movida" of the late 1970s,
the self-indulgence of contemporary Spanish youth, and its project of
postmodern identity (as defined by Zygmunt Bauman). Spain's Novels of
Disaffection frame identity as a liability, antithetical to youth's
immersion in simulacra and the culture of spectacle. Youth's identities
are radically unstable which precipitates a downward spiral into
self-destruction. Thus while the Novels of Disaffection apparently
celebrate youth's hedonism--reflecting its popular and critical
perceptions as a risque and subversive literature--simultaneously their
portrayal of protagonists' depravity, lack of communication, and
interpersonal disconnect serve to indict contemporary Spanish youth culture.