Subjects in transition : (counter)culture as critique of Spanish democracy (1976-1986)
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Since the onset of the ongoing economic and political crisis in Spain, there has been increased scrutiny on the period of consolidation of Spanish democracy, known as the Transition. My project contributes to this dialogue that problematizes the dominant memory of the Spanish Transition, which having been shaped most notably by the hegemonic "end of history" narrative, remembers the process and resulting political culture as a triumph of Western liberal democracy. However, beyond being a critique of the Transition, this project unearths a social critique contemporary to the historical moment (1976-1986) found in the period's (counter)cultural production. I argue that as reform took precedence over rupture with the Franco regime, political contestation was displaced into culture primarily through cinema, music, and the boom of underground media texts and comics. My analysis of the production and consumption of these more immediate forms of cultural expression in the urban centers and peripheries of Barcelona, Madrid, and Bilbao demonstrates how this culture constituted a necessary part of subject formation for a new generation unable or unwilling to speak the language of negotiation and consensus. In doing so, I assert that beyond the transformation of social mores through the well-documented hedonism and individualism of the late 1970s to mid 1980s youth culture in Spain, what remains relevant today is how, in the absence of a more participatory democracy, subjects during the Transition tackled the aesthetic problem of inserting art into everyday life as a form of agency. To conclude, I explore how—given the current state of uncertainty of Spain's constitutional and cultural consensus, as well as of Western liberal democratic consensus in general—the specter of the Transition and a new perspective on its counterculture may inform the rethinking of political subjectivity and representation in the present.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2017 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Tahmassian, Lena |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures. |
| Primary advisor | Resina, Joan Ramon |
| Thesis advisor | Resina, Joan Ramon |
| Thesis advisor | Barletta, Vincent |
| Thesis advisor | Rocha, Marília Librandi |
| Advisor | Barletta, Vincent |
| Advisor | Rocha, Marília Librandi |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Lena Tahmassian. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2017. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2017 by Lena Tahmassian
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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