Postmodernity in Spanish Fiction and Culture

Yaw Agawu-Kakraba is an associate professor of Spanish at the Pennsylvania State University-Altoona College. A graduate of the University of Ghana, he holds a PhD from Cornell University. He is author of Demythification in the Fiction of Miguel Delibes and numerous articles on contemporary Spanish narrative and culture.

• INTRODUCTION: TOWARDS A THEORETICAL EXPLORATION OF POSTMODERNITY IN SPAIN CHAPTER I: THE POSTMODERN SELF AND LIFESTYLE IN POSTMODERNITY: THE MOVIDA PHENOMENON CHAPTER II: DESENCANTO WITHIN THE MATRIX OF POSTMODERNITY CHAPTER III: DOWNWARD MOBILITY, DISQUIET, AND NIHILISM: POSTMODERNITY IN SPAIN AT THE EDGE OF THE MILLENNIUM CHAPTER IV: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? THE ALLEGORICAL PARADIGM OF SPANISH SCIENCE FICTION AND THE POSTMODERNIZED SPANISH CULTURE

Yaw Agawu-Kakraba sets out to demonstrate how postmodernity is a concept that can be applied not only to the Spain of the 1980s but also to the Spain of the twenty-first century. He extends the definition of postmodernity to encompass works that display not only the techniques of postmodernism but also its political and ethical ideology. Moving through very Spanish concepts such as movida, pasotismo and desencanto, he attempts to reveal a profound postmodernity in contemporary letters, particularly in the works of Villena, Falcon, Umbral, Manas and various science fiction writers of the past decade. His goal is to analyze 'what really constitutes postmodernity within the Spanish context.' The book is a serious look at an important matter, is written with conviction and good close readings of the texts to offer a new window into contemporary Spanish literature and culture.