Spanishness In The Spanish Novel And Cinema Of The 20th 21st Century

Spanishness in the Spanish Novel and Cinema of the 20th-21st Century is an exploration of the general concept of “Spanishness” as all things related to Spain, specifically as the multiple meanings of “Spanishness” and the different ways of being Spanish are depicted in 20th-21st century literary and cinematic fiction of Spain. This book also represents a call for a re-evaluation of what being Spanish means not just in post-Franco Spain but also in the Spain of the new millennium. The reader will find treatments of some of the crucial themes in Spanish culture such as immigration, nationalisms, and affiliation with the European Union as well as many others of contemporary relevance such as time, memory, and women studies that defy exclusivist and clear-cut single notions of Spanishness. These explorations will help contextualize what it means to be Spanish in present day Spain and in the light of globalization while also dissipating stereotypical notions of Spain and Spanishness.

The first few minutes of a film orient the viewer, offering cues for a richer, more nuanced reading. With this premise, the author provides many insights into the history of Spanish language film, encouraging an enhanced understanding of the Spanish/Hispanic canon commonly taught in courses on film. The author explores El espíritu de la colmena (1973), La historia oficial (1985), Fresa y chocolate (1994), El crimen del padre Amaro (2002), Abre los ojos (1997), Te doy mis ojos (2003) and Carlos Saura’s flamenco trilogy—Bodas de sangre (1981), Carmen (1983) and El amor bruno (1986), among others.

Reflecting on a series of ethical and moral questions significant to contemporary Spanish culture, Cristina Sánchez-Conejero analyzes several issues related to sexuality in gender as they're portrayed Spanish film.

Historical Dictionary of Spanish Cinema covers Spanish cinema, its treasures its constant attempts to break through internationally, reaching out towards universal themes and conventions, and the specific obstacles and opportunities that have shaped the careers of filmmakers and stars. This book contains a chronology, an introduction, an appendix and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 200 cross-referenced entries on titles, movements, filmmakers and performers, and genres (such as homosexuality, nuevo cine español or horror). This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Spanish cinema.

Across a broad spectrum of media, markets, and national contexts, self-reflexivity continues to be a favored narrative mode with wide ranging functions. In this book Amago argues that, in addition to making visible industry and production concerns within the film text, reflexive aesthetics have a cartographic function that serves to map the place of a film (geographic and cultural) within the global cinemascape, and thus to bring into sharper relief images of the national. Focusing on films in the contemporary Spanish context that in some way reflect back on themselves and the processes of their own production, that purposefully blur the distinction between reality and fiction, or that draw attention to the various modes of cinematic exhibition and reception, Amago proposes ways in which these movies can be employed to understand Spanish national cinemas today as imbedded within a dynamic global system.

The book explores post-Franco Spanish film’s tacit or explicit, but always resolute, essays from 1975 to 2000 to make over Spain’s national, in fact post-national, identity.

A History of Spanish Film explores Spanish film from the beginnings of the industry to the present day by combining some of the most exciting work taking place in film studies with some of the most urgent questions that have preoccupied twentieth-century Spain. It addresses new questions in film studies, like 'prestige film' and 'middlebrow cinema', and places these in the context of a country defined by social mobility, including the 1920s industrial boom, the 1940s post-Civil War depression, and the mass movement into the middle classes from the 1960s onwards. Close textual analysis of some 42 films from 1910-2010 provides an especially useful avenue into the study of this cinema for the student. - Uniquely offers extensive close readings of 42 films, which are especially useful to students and teachers of Spanish cinema. - Analyses Spanish silent cinema and films of the Franco era as well as contemporary examples. - Interrogates film's relations with other media, including literature, pictorial art and television. - Explores both 'auteur' and 'popular' cinemas. - Establishes 'prestige' and the 'middlebrow' as crucial new terms in Spanish cinema studies. - Considers the transnationality of Spanish cinema throughout its century of existence. - Contemporary directors covered in this book include Almodóvar, Bollaín, Díaz Yanes and more.

This edited collection analyzes the tensions, contradictions, contributions, and new horizons generated and/or imposed by Netflix within Spain’s audiovisual culture. This book provides invaluable insight into how Netflix—first in its role as distributor and then as content creator—has changed the audiovisual landscape in Spain. It discusses how Netflix challenges the traditional method of categorizing film and television output by nationality while also examining how Spain is presented to other countries through the Netflix catalog and questioning what its chosen output—light comedies, mystery/thrillers, narco-fiction, and crime—means for Spain’s national brand. With chapters addressing themes such as reproducibility, pan-Europeanism after Brexit, gender representation, identity, and globalization, this book explores how—under the influence of Netflix—Spain is transitioning from an importer of audiovisual content to a center of export. This book will appeal to students and scholars of Film and Media Studies, Hispanic and Iberian Studies, and Spanish with a specific interest in Spanish film, television, media, and culture, as well as global media industries.