Juan Goytisolo
Encyclopedia
Juan Goytisolo is a Spanish
poet
, essayist, and novel
ist. He currently lives in a voluntary self-exile in Marrakech
.
and Luis are also well-known writers.
His father was imprisoned by the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War
, while his mother (Julia Gay ) was killed in the first Francoist air raid in 1938.
led him into exile in Paris in 1956, where he worked as a reader for Gallimard
. In the early 1960s, he was a friend of Guy Debord
. Breaking with the realism of his earlier novels, he published Marks of Identity (1966), Count Julian (1970) and Juan the Landless (1975). Like all his works, they were banned in Spain until after Franco's death.
Count Julian (1970, 1971, 1974) takes up, in an act of outspoken defiance, the side of Julian, count of Ceuta
, a man traditionally castigated as the ultimate traitor
in Spanish history. In Goytisolo's own words, he imagines "the destruction of Spanish mythology, its Catholicism and nationalism, in a literary attack on traditional Spain." He identifies himself "with the great traitor who opened the door to Arab invasion." The narrator in this novel, an exile in North Africa, rages against his beloved Spain, forming an obsessive identification with the fabled Count Julian, dreaming that, in a future invasion, the ethos and myths central to Hispanic identity will be totally destroyed.
, Emmanuel Berl
, and the philosopher Henri Bergson
. Monique Lange died in 1996. After her death, he is noted as saying their once shared Paris apartment had become like a tomb. In 1997 he moved to Marrakech
.
He is brother to José Agustín Goytisolo
and Luis Goytisolo, also writers.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, essayist, and novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist. He currently lives in a voluntary self-exile in Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
.
Background
Juan Goytisolo was born to an aristocratic family. He has claimed that this level of privilege, accompanied by the cruelties of his great-grandfather and the miserliness of his grandfather (discovered through the reading of old family letters and documents), was a major reason for his joining the Communist party in his youth. Two of his brothers José AgustínJosé Agustín Goytisolo
José Agustín Goytisolo Gay, , was a Spanish poet, scholar and essayist. He was the brother of Juan Goytisolo and Luis Goytisolo, also writers.- Biography :...
and Luis are also well-known writers.
His father was imprisoned by the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, while his mother (Julia Gay ) was killed in the first Francoist air raid in 1938.
Career
After law studies, he published his first novel, The Young Assassins, in 1954. His deep opposition to Generalísimo Francisco FrancoFrancisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
led him into exile in Paris in 1956, where he worked as a reader for Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard is one of the leading French publishers of books. The Guardian has described it as having "the best backlist in the world". In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1418 titles....
. In the early 1960s, he was a friend of Guy Debord
Guy Debord
Guy Ernest Debord was a French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationist International . He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.-Early Life:Guy Debord was born in Paris in 1931...
. Breaking with the realism of his earlier novels, he published Marks of Identity (1966), Count Julian (1970) and Juan the Landless (1975). Like all his works, they were banned in Spain until after Franco's death.
Count Julian (1970, 1971, 1974) takes up, in an act of outspoken defiance, the side of Julian, count of Ceuta
Julian, count of Ceuta
Julian, Count of Ceuta was a legendary Christian local ruler or subordinate ruler in North Africa who had a role in the Umayyad conquest of Hispania — a key event in the history of Islam, in which al-Andalus was to have a major role, and the subsequent history of what were to become Spain and...
, a man traditionally castigated as the ultimate traitor
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
in Spanish history. In Goytisolo's own words, he imagines "the destruction of Spanish mythology, its Catholicism and nationalism, in a literary attack on traditional Spain." He identifies himself "with the great traitor who opened the door to Arab invasion." The narrator in this novel, an exile in North Africa, rages against his beloved Spain, forming an obsessive identification with the fabled Count Julian, dreaming that, in a future invasion, the ethos and myths central to Hispanic identity will be totally destroyed.
Family
Juan Goytisolo was married to the publisher, novelist and screenwriter Monique Lange, a cousin of novelist Marcel ProustMarcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
, Emmanuel Berl
Emmanuel Berl
Emmanuel Berl was a French journalist, historian and essayist. He was born at Le Vésinet in the modern département of Yvelines, and is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris. In 1937 he married the singer, composer and film actress Mireille Hartuch; she had nicknamed him "Théodore"...
, and the philosopher Henri Bergson
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize...
. Monique Lange died in 1996. After her death, he is noted as saying their once shared Paris apartment had become like a tomb. In 1997 he moved to Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
.
He is brother to José Agustín Goytisolo
José Agustín Goytisolo
José Agustín Goytisolo Gay, , was a Spanish poet, scholar and essayist. He was the brother of Juan Goytisolo and Luis Goytisolo, also writers.- Biography :...
and Luis Goytisolo, also writers.
Works
Fiction
- Juegos de manos (1954).
- Duelo en el Paraíso (1955).
- El circo (1957). Part of the trilogy El mañana efímero.
- Fiestas (1958). Part of the trilogy El mañana efímero.
- La resaca (1958). Part of the trilogy El mañana efímero.
- Para vivir aquí (1960). Short stories.
- La isla (1961).
- La Chanca (1962).
- Fin de Fiesta. Tentativas de interpretación de una historia amorosa (1962). Stories.
- Señas de identidad (1966). Álvaro Mendiola trilogy.
- Reivindicación del conde don JuliánJulian, count of CeutaJulian, Count of Ceuta was a legendary Christian local ruler or subordinate ruler in North Africa who had a role in the Umayyad conquest of Hispania — a key event in the history of Islam, in which al-Andalus was to have a major role, and the subsequent history of what were to become Spain and...
(1970). Álvaro Mendiola trilogy. - Juan sin Tierra (1975). Álvaro Mendiola trilogy.
- Makbara (1980).
- Paisajes después de la batalla (1985).
- Las virtudes del pájaro solitario (1988).
- La cuarentena (1991).
- La saga de los Marx (1993).
- El sitio de los sitios (1995).
- Las semanas del jardín (1997).
- The Marx Family Saga (1999).
- Carajicomedia (2000).
- State of Siege (2002).
- Telón de boca (2003).
- A Cock-Eyed Comedy (2005).
Essays
- Problemas de la novela (1959). Literature.
- Furgón de cola (1967).
- España y los españoles (1979). History and politics.
- Crónicas sarracinas (1982).
- El bosque de las letras (1995). Literature.
- Disidencias (1996). Literatura.
- De la Ceca a la Meca. Aproximaciones al mundo islámico (1997).
- Cogitus interruptus (1999).
- El peaje de la vida (2000). With Sami NairSami NairSami Nair is an Algerian-born French political philosopher who coined the term "codevelopment". A specialist on migration movements and their socio-political effects, he advised the government of Lionel Jospin from 1997–1999, and the European Parliament until 2004...
. - Landscapes of War: From Sarajevo to Chechnya (2000).
- El Lucernario: la pasión crítica de Manuel AzañaManuel AzañaManuel Azaña Díaz was a Spanish politician. He was the first Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic , and later served again as Prime Minister , and then as the second and last President of the Republic . The Spanish Civil War broke out while he was President...
(2004).
Others
- Campos de NíjarNíjar-External links: - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía - Diputación Provincial de Almería...
(1954). Travels, journalism. - Pueblo en marcha. Tierras de ManzanilloManzanillo, CubaManzanillo is a municipality and city in the Granma Province of Cuba.It is a port city in the Granma Province in eastern Cuba on the Gulf of Guacanayabo, near the delta of the Cauto River...
. Instantáneas de un viaje a Cuba (1962). Travels, journalism. - Obra inglesa de Blanco WhiteJoseph Blanco WhiteJoseph Blanco White, born José María Blanco Crespo , was a Spanish theologian and poet....
(1972). Editor. - Coto vedado (1985). Memoir.
- En los reinos de taifaTaifaIn the history of the Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.-Rise:The origins of...
(1986). Memoir. - AlquiblaQiblaThe Qiblah , also transliterated as Qibla, Kiblah or Kibla, is the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays during salah...
(1988). TV script for TVE. - EstambulIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
otomano (1989). Travels. - Aproximaciones a GaudíAntoni GaudíAntoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Spanish Catalan architect and figurehead of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works reflect his highly individual and distinctive style and are largely concentrated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, notably his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família.Much of Gaudí's work was...
en CapadociaCappadociaCappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
(1990). Travels. - Cuaderno de SarajevoSiege of SarajevoThe Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People's Army besieged Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 during the Bosnian War.After Bosnia...
(1993). Travels, journalism. - ArgeliaHistory of AlgeriaThe history of Algeria takes place in the fertile coastal plain of North Africa, which is often called the Maghreb . North Africa served as a transit region for people moving towards Europe or the Middle East, thus, the region's inhabitants have been influenced by populations from other areas...
en el vendaval (1994). Travels, journalism. - Paisajes de guerra con ChecheniaFirst Chechen WarThe First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
al fondo (1996). Travels, journalism. - Lectura del espacio en Xemaá-El-FnáDjemaa el FnaJamaa el Fna is a square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter . The origin of its name is unclear: Jemaa means "congregational mosque" in Arabic, probably referring to a destroyed Almoravid mosque...
(1997). Illustrated by Hans Werner Geerdts. - El universo imaginario (1997).
- Diálogo sobre la desmemoria, los tabúes y el olvido (2000). Conversation with Günter GrassGünter GrassGünter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...
. - Paisajes de guerra: Sarajevo, Argelia, PalestinaPalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Chechenia (2001). - Pájaro que ensucia su propio nido (2001). Articles.
- Memorias (2002).
- España y sus EjidoEjidoThe ejido system is a process whereby the government promotes the use of communal land shared by the people of the community. This use of community land was a common practice during the time of Aztec rule in Mexico...
s (2003).
Literary Prizes
- 1985: EuropaliaEuropaliaEuropalia is a major international arts festival held every two years to celebrate one invited country’s cultural heritage. Europalia was established in Brussels in 1969, and from the beginning Europalia was designed to be a multidisciplinary cultural festival....
Prize for Literature - 1993: Nelly Sachs PrizeNelly Sachs PrizeThe Nelly Sachs Prize is a literary prize given every two years by the German city of Dortmund. It is named after the Jewish poet Nelly Sachs and includes a cash award of €15,000...
- 2002: Octavio Paz Prize
- 2004: Juan Rulfo PrizeJuan Rulfo PrizeThe Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature, created in 1991, is awarded to writers of literature from Latin America or the Caribbean who write in Spanish, Portuguese, French, or English, or to writers from any part of America who write in Spanish...
for Latin American and Caribbean Literature - 2008: National Prize for Spanish Letters
External links
Official Page- Scourge of the New Spain, an article on Goytisolo from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Interview with Goytisolo from the Center for Book Culture
- Juan Goytisolo at the complete reviewComplete reviewcomplete review is a literary website founded in March 1999. It is best known for reviews of novels in English translation, in particular drawing attention to otherwise neglected contemporary works from around the world, but there are also reviews of classics, non-fiction, drama and poetry...
- bibliography, evaluation, and links - Fernanda Eberstadt, The Anti-Orientalist, The New York Times MagazineThe New York Times MagazineThe New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
article, April 16, 2006 - Juan Goytisolo, Voltaire and Islam, El País, 4 May 2006
- Juan Goytisolo, La historia se escibe en la plaza El País, 14 February 2011