94- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
Return of the native: literature from the regions
As Spain’s regions re-establish their identity, writers draw increasingly on
local colour for their novels. While often writing in a minority language,
many have found a wide audience in translation. Basque writer Bernardo
Atxaga (nom de plume of Joseba Irazu) has been among the most
successful. His work spans the genres but has garnered most interest
when dealing, objectively, with the Basque situation, notably inGizona bere
bakardadean(1993) andZeru horiek(1996). An earlier, markedly different
work,Obabakoak(1988), short stories set in the larger than life village of
Obaba, remains popular. Atxaga often translates his own work from Basque
into Castilian. In Catalonia, where regional literary awards are counted in the
hundreds, native scribbling is big business. Authors of note include Jesús
Moncada, who wrote about the harsh realities of small town life in times
past in novels likeCamí de sirga(1988). Nuria Amat, a Catalan writing in
Castilian, ponders an equally brutal mood in post-Civil War Barcelona in
El país del alma(1999). From Galicia, Manuel Rivas has authored a number
of acclaimed novels:O lápis do carpinteiro(1998), the haunting story of a
Republican’s imprisonment, put modern Galician literature on the
international map.
Doing aDa Vinci
In recent years Spain
has gone mad for the
religious thriller, initiated
by the huge success of
Dan Brown’sThe Da
Vinci Code(2003) in
translation. Here are
three homegrown efforts
that recently loomed
large in the Spanish
best-sellers list:
La hermandad de la
Sábana Santa(2004)
by Julia Navarro. The
discovery of a mutilated
body in Turin Cathedral
opens a thriller that
hooked Spaniards
before seducing the
US in translation as
The Brotherhood of the
Holy Shroud.El último catónby
Matilde Asensi (2004).
A nun leads the search
for the ‘true cross’,
following clues left by
Dante, in the first Asensi
novel to find translation
asThe Last Cato. This
one was actually
published in Spain
beforeThe Da Vinci
Code.La Cena Secreta(2004)
by Javier Sierra. The
closest Spanish novel to
Dan Brown’s book, based
on coded messages in
Da Vinci’s painting of a
famous dinner party, was
apparently done and
dusted beforeThe Da
Vinci Codefound print.
Either way, the book has
sold millions everywhere
asThe Secret Supper.