Graduation Year

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Granting Department

Spanish

Major Professor

Manuel Sosa-Ramírez, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Carlos J. Cano, Ph.D.

Committee Member

María Esformes, Ph.D.

Keywords

Intertextuality, Postmodernism, Fiction, History, Spain

Abstract

This thesis explores the relationships between reality and fiction on Arturo Pérez-Reverte's novels about Captain Alatriste. Four out of six novels about this character will be discussed and the analysis of this work will focus on how the author uses historical data and fiction not only to promote a new narrative in Spain, but also as a way to re-evaluate and challenge history. The texts which are analyzed in this thesis, El Capitán Alatriste, Limpieza de sangre, El sol de Breda and El oro del Rey center around a common main character who depicts a Spanish soldier in the Seventeenth Century.

This thesis analyzes the works from a postmodern historical point of view and evaluates the reference of the novels in relation to the literature of the Golden Age. The analysis of the intertextuality of Pérez-Reverte's narrative can be found within this paper as well as an investigation of his approach to postmodernism through a historical point of view.

The thesis is divided in three sections. The first section covers an overview of Pérez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste novels and his interpretation of the Spanish Golden Age. Section two explores the postmodern expression of Pérez-Reverte's works through the conception of the historical novel. This section is based on the interpretations of Umberto Eco and Jean François Lyotard. The latter part of the thesis examines the mix between fiction and history and studies the author as a Spanish contemporary writer who uses a particular narrative to represent social, political and cultural changes of Spain during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.

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