Despotic Bodies and Transgressive Bodies: Spanish Culture from Francisco Franco to Jesus Franco (SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian Thought and Culture)

Examines crucial moments of transition in Spanish culture and society during both dictatorship and democracy.

Focusing on Spanish culture and society in the second half of the twentieth century, Despotic Bodies and Transgressive Bodies traverses a variety of disciplines: literature, film studies, cultural studies, feminist theory, and history, to examine crucial moments of cultural transition. Beginning with an analysis of the period of autarky Spain s economic, cultural, and ideological isolation under Francisco Franco s regime Pavlovi then explores the tumultuous passage to capitalism in the late 1950s and 1960s. She follows this by revisiting the complex political situation following Franco s death and points out the difficulties in Spain s transition from dictatorship to democracy. Combining a strong theoretical background with a detailed study of marginalized texts (La fiel infanter a), genres (the Spanish comedy known as the comedia sexy celtib rica), and film directors (Jes s Franco), Pavlovi reveals the construction of Spanish national identity through years of cultural tensions.

the intellectually titillating nature of Pavlovi s book will certainly leave readers desiring to view even more despotic and transgressive bodies. Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies

Pavlovi s study of the Spanish national body politic is a truly original reading of contemporary Spanish culture and cinema. Her framing of Spanish cultural production between the body of dictator Francisco Franco, displayed as a form of public spectacle, and the disruptive cinematic bodies deployed in the career of B-film director Jes s Franco is a brilliant move that sets the stage for a profound revision of recent Spanish history. Kathleen Vernon, University at Stony Brook, State University of New York