Lexington Books Becoming and Consumption: The Contemporary Spanish Novel

Becoming and Consumption uses the Spanish novels Alivio rapido;Veo, veo; Amor, curiosidad, prozac, y dudas; and Los placeres de Anastasia to explore the relationships between globalization, consumption, and economies of experiences that yield innovative ways to reexamine and recreate female subjectivity. While the four contemporary Spanish female writers-Susana Plane, Silvia Grijalba, Gabriela Bustelo, and Lucia Etxebarria-maintain distinct personal narratives, there exists a commonality among their work. Through consumption, the protagonists of these authors' works navigate a multiplicity of images and codes in their journey of becoming an active female subject, an agent with the potential to enact change and evolve. Bosse provides insight into the feminist philosophy and identity politics found in contemporary Spanish novels. Review This is possibly the very first book exploring the connections among contemporary Spanish narratives by women, theories of consumption, and the formation of female subjectivity. Dr. Candice Bosse reads novels by Lucia Etxebarria, Gabriela Bustelo and Silvia Grijalba vis-à-vis Braidotti's feminist theory and contemporary theories of consumption, exhibiting a truly impressive command of theoretical discourses as well as well-argued and convincing readings of the texts under scrutiny. In doing so, she focuses on the ways in which different novels articulate the process(es) through which female identity is constructed, emphasizing in particular the positive aspects of consumption in the development of female subjectivity.--Francisca Lopez, associate professor of Spanish, Bates College Becoming and Consumption is a hugely innovative study of the current trends in Spanish literature. One of very few scholarly analyses to approach contemporary peninsular culture as a response to theories of consumption, it is the first to analyze women's writing through this particular lens. As such it offers an insightful and refreshing approach to a corpus of important recent novels by female authors, thus making it an indispensable work for scholars and students working with fiction from Spain or women's letters in a wider context.--Shelley Godsland, senior lecturer, University of Birmingham, England Becoming and Consumption: The Contemporary Spanish Novel is a highly innovative study of the process of constructing modern female subjectivity within the patterns of globalization and the youth cultures of consumption, as seen in the novels of contemporary Spanish women writers. It shows a solid theoretical framework as well as an insightful analysis of the works of a new generation of women authors, who until now have not received enough critical attention. This book will be required reading for those interested in the new directions in contemporary Spanish women's writing.--Jose F. Colmeiro, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Michigan State University About the Author Candice Bosse is visiting assistant professor in the Department of Romance Languages, Bowdoin College.