The Dynamics of Masculinity in Contemporary Spanish Culture

This volume addresses how the construction of masculinities is experiencing a structural transformation which goes beyond existing theory. This book amalgamates original close readings of texts, films, and television series, which have not been widely considered by critics, such as Sin tetas, no hay paraíso and Ocho apellidos vascos and recent cultural production treating the Spanish recession, with strikingly original new perspectives on much-studied cultural texts, such as Los girasoles ciegos, Paracuellos, and the early films of Pedro Almodóvar. These films, documentaries, plays and narratives seek to unsettle the Spanish preconceptions of what means to be a man, boldly reinstating a pluralistic model of contemporary Spanish manhood.

This collection of essays explores cultural phenomena that are shaping masculine identities in contemporary Spain, asking and striving to answer these compelling questions: what does it mean to be a man in present-day Spain? How has masculinity evolved since Franco’s dictatorship? What are the dynamics of masculinity in contemporary Spanish culture? How has hegemonic masculinity been contested in cultural productions? This volume is comprised of sixteen essays that address these very questions by examining literary, cultural and film representations of the configurations of masculinities in contemporary Spain. Divided into three thematic units, starting with the undermining of the monolithic Francoist archetype of masculinity, continuing with the reformulation of hegemonic masculinity and finishing with regional emergent masculinities, all of the volume´s essays focus on the redefinition of Spanish masculinities. Principal themes of the volume include alternative families, queer masculinities, performative masculinities, memory and resistance to hegemonic discourses of manliness, violence and emotions, public versus private masculinities, regional masculinities, and marginal masculinities. This exploration not only produces new insights into masculinity, but also yields nuanced insights into the recuperation of memory in contemporary Spain, the reconfiguration of the family, the status of women in Spanish society, and regional identities.