Utopias, Dystopias and Heterotopias: The Coming of Age in Post-Civil War Spain in Almudena Grandes’ El lector de Julio Verne

Abstract

In 2012 Almudena Grandes published El lector de Julio Verne, the second instalment of her Episodios de una guerra interminable series. This work offers the reader a unique view of post-Civil War Spain from the perspective of young Nino who lives in the Andalusian village of Fuensanta de Martos in the Province of Jaén. Through this character, Grandes explores the conflictive world that developed under the Franco regime and how Nino attempts to make sense of the institutionalized oppression and cruelty that dominate his world. In a narrative style reminiscent of Lazarillo de Tormes, a mature Nino guides the reader through his adolescent world from barracks to libraries, gristmills to anti-Fascist homes where he recalls the people, events and ideas that moulded his personality and political ideology. Fundamental to this novel is the development of the aforementioned heterogeneous spaces and places. Within this setting, Nino encounters varying manifestations of utopic models that contribute to his coming-of-age experience.