EL RELATO NEGATIVO DE LA TRANSICIÓN ESPAÑOLA Y SU PLASMACIÓN LITERARIA: UNA LECTURA SOCIOCRÍTICA DE EL JARDÍN COLGANTE, DE JAVIER CALVO

Resumen

En el presente artículo, llevaremos a cabo una lectura sociocrítica de la novela El jardín colgante de Javier Calvo. Esta novela aborda en su argumento la Transición española y, en parte a través del recurso al subgénero de la novela de espionaje, presenta desde la ficción una imagen negativa, violenta y descarnada de dicha Transición, entendida como una conspiración de las elites fundada en la violencia y en un pacto de olvido. A través del citado análisis sociocrítico, mostraremos cómo se inscriben ciertos elementos simbólicos de carácter antagónico en el dispositivo semiótico-discursivo de la obra y cómo a la postre estos muestran una visión de la Transición más problemática, ambigua y contradictoria de lo que podría parecer en una lectura superficial del texto, y revelan de forma inconsciente los principales conflictos conceptuales e ideológicos que la Transición aún genera.

In this article, we will carry out a socio-critical reading of the novel El jardín colgante, by Javier Calvo. This novel is about the Spanish Transition to democracy, and, partially based on the conventions of the spy novel as a subgenre, it builds a negative image of it. The novel presents the Spanish Transition as a conspiracy of elites based on violence and in a pact of oblivion. Through the aforementioned socio-critical analysis, we will show how certain symbolic antagonistic elements are inscribed in the semiotic-discursive device of the work, and also how they reveal a more problematic, ambiguous and contradictory view of the Spanish Transition than it might appear from a first reading, and also how they unconsciously expose the main conceptual and ideological conflicts that this period of the Spanish History still generates.

Abstract: In this article, we will carry out a socio-critical reading of the Javier Calvo’s novel El jardín colgante. This novel is set during the Spanish Transition to democracy, and, partially based on the conventions of the spy novel as a subgenre, it builds a negative image of it. The novel presents the Spanish Transition as a conspiracy of elites based on violence and in a pact of oblivion. Through the aforementioned socio-critical analysis, we will show how certain symbolic antagonistic elements are inscribed in the semiotic-discursive device of the work, and also how they reveal a more problematic, ambiguous and contradictory view of the Spanish Transition than it might appear from a first reading, and also how they unconsciously expose the main conceptual and ideological conflicts that this period of Spanish History still generates.