Monument o monstre. La memorialització de Rodoreda com a cos absent/present

Abstract

This article draws on Jacques Derrida’s notion of the spectre from Specters of Marx (1993) to examine the process of patrimonialization and simultaneous invisibiliza­tion of certain aspects of Mercè Rodoreda’s work and personal life, focusing on a selec­tion of the commemorative acts organized for the centenary of her birth in 2008. It sit­uates the spectre in relation to Memory and Feminist Studies, paying particular atten­tion to Jo Labanyi’s (2000; 2002) recasting of this concept for the analysis of Spanish cultural production and Angela McRobbie’s (2011) critique to postfeminism’s ghosting of the feminist agenda at the turn of the 21st century. My analysis explores the socio­political and cultural dimension of domestic, natural and visual environments. Firstly, it looks at the ways in which the history of the Senyal Vell, the first house in Romanyà de la Selva where the author lived on her return from exile, has been narrated, arguing that they exemplify the dynamics of selection and appropriation in processes of cultural transmission and commemoration. Secondly, my analysis follows the literary routes drawn around the village and the choice of texts related to the suggested locations, not­ing the repeated omission of her unfinished novel La mort i la primavera. Finally, I draw the study to a conclusion through discussion of the portrayal of Rodoreda in the poster for the play Un dia. Mirall trencat, adapted and directed by Ricard Salvat in 2008, where the author is represented as a witch-like master puppeteer.