Graham Greene’s Narrative in Spain: Criticism, Translations and Censorship (1939-1975)
This volume provides a detailed description of the literary contact between Graham Greene and Franco’s Spain. Part I describes the most significant political events that affected the Spanish book industry under this regime, with the first chapter offering an account of the methods of control created to exercise authoritative influence over the cultural scene. Part II explores critical studies of Greene’s artistic output in Franco’s Spain, and the second chapter investigates literary critics’ evaluations of the author as published in the national press, magazines and journals, as well as in the prologues, introductions and prefaces to his books. Parts III and IV study the role played by the book industry in the reception of the writer in Spain, as well as the obstacles it faced at the censorship office. Accordingly, chapters three to six provide the names of the publishers and booksellers who attempted to disseminate his work throughout the country. Using the censorship files, these chapters measure with great precision publishers’ interest in Greene’s works, and establish the power Franco’s censorship wielded over the reception of his literature in Spain. The final section of the book brings together a number of significant conclusions developed throughout this study. As such, Graham Greene’s Narrative in Spain provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the roles played by national literary criticism and the book industry in the reception of the author’s works in Franco's Spain, as well as of the influence exerted by the regime throughout the whole publishing process.
Mónica Olivares Leyva is Assistant Professor in the Department of Modern Philology at the University of Alcalá (Alcalá de Henares, Madrid), where she is a member of the research group Literatures and Culture in English. She has written different papers and book chapters about the reception of twentieth-century British writers in Franco’s Spain.
“Placed within the context of reception studies, this book examines the critical responses to Graham Greene’s work in Spain, and looks at documents from the censorship files under Franco’s regime to explore the path followed by Greene’s fiction in this country during the twentieth century. Among the many valuable assets of Monica Olivares’s comprehensive study are its painstaking research and important findings. Particularly interesting is, for instance, the analysis of the reception of Greene’s The Power and the Glory and the references to the Catalan translations of a great number of novels in the 1960s. This volume makes a significant contribution to Greene studies in particular and reception history in general.”
Alberto Lázaro
Professor of English Literature, University of Alcalá
“Grounded in painstakingly detailed archival research and authored with a literary sleuth’s keen eye, Graham Greene's Narrative in Spain: Criticism, Translations and Censorship (1939-1975) is a thrilling reconsideration of Greene’s life and legacy within a country that he visited many times and greatly admired. Mónica Olivares’s new book is rewardingly detailed, and her account of Greene’s reception history in Spain exudes subtlety, sympathy, and verve. Highly recommended!”
Darren J. N. Middleton
Professor of Religion, Texas Christian University; co-editor of Dangerous Edges of Graham Greene: Journeys with Saints and Sinners
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