Abstract

Abstract:

Venezuelan writer Juan Carlos Méndez Guédez's novel Una tarde con campanas (2004) narrates the circumstances that led an undocumented Venezuelan family to move to Spain. Through the analysis of the novel, this article explores the creation of a subaltern, reterritorialized, and transcultural new urban space, a consequence of a large migrant presence in Madrid. My article identifies existing bridges and literary interrelations between both shores of the Atlantic Ocean and acknowledges migrant literature as a growing genre in Spain. This transatlantic investigation also addresses some fundamental concepts of migrant literature such as multiple representations of the Atlantic subject; the (re)construction of the colonial scene; the hybridization of the Spanish language and its cultures; the effects of deterritorialization and reterritorialization as a consequence of migration, diaspora, exiles and avant-gardes; and the significance of writing from abroad. Identifying a series of commonalities among novels written after Una tarde con campanas, I consider this novel to be the precursor of a migrant literature subgenre written by Latin American authors living in Spain. This article aims to contribute to the current literary dialogue that establishes Latin American narrative within a globalized context.

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