Y. Llored, Juan Goytisolo. Le soi, le monde et la création littéraire - Novel and Narrative Prose

French Literature Reviews - 2026

Y. Llored, Juan Goytisolo. Le soi, le monde et la création littéraire
Novel and Narrative Prose

Yannick Llored, Juan Goytisolo. Le soi, le monde et la création littéraire. Villeneuve d'Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, coll. Lettres étrangères, 2009.

  • ISBN 13 (EAN): 9782757400890

Publisher's overview:

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the most prominent novels by Juan Goytisolo (Barcelona, 1931), namely Makbara, State of Siege (Paysages après la bataille), The Virtues of the Solitary Bird, Barzakh, La longue vie des Marx, and Et quand le rideau tombe.

This book highlights the profound dialogue the author maintained within his own writing, engaging with the Hispanic literary tradition as well as the cultural legacies of the West and the Arab-Muslim world. The study demonstrates how the critical dimension of the language of his novels embraces the issues and diversity of a tradition, reworking and rethinking it to confront contemporary ideological and cultural challenges, while furthering a radical exploration of the aesthetics of the novel.

Juan Goytisolo occupies a significant place in late twentieth-century literature, known for his departure from traditional narrative forms and his focus on the intersections between disparate cultural spheres. His work often reflects a preoccupation with the shifting boundaries of identity and the critical capacity of language to challenge established social and ideological frameworks. By situating his narratives within the broader context of the Hispanic tradition and its complex historical relationship with the Arab-Muslim world, Goytisolo contributes to a long-standing intellectual tradition of using the novel as a site for cultural and aesthetic interrogation.

This study examines the novels Makbara, State of Siege (Paysages après la bataille), The Virtues of the Solitary Bird, Barzakh, La longue vie des Marx, and Et quand le rideau tombe. It discusses the author's dialogue with the Hispanic literary tradition and the cultural legacies of the West and the Arab-Muslim world, while exploring the aesthetics of the novel and the critical dimension of his language. Readers interested in the development of modern Spanish prose and the mechanics of literary self-reflection may find this examination of Goytisolo's creative trajectory relevant.