Note: Conversations with the writer Óscar Esquivias: life, work and thought.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35588/ayr.v7i1.7056Keywords:
conversations, Spanish Civil War, irony, Óscar Esquivias, forgiveness, reconciliationAbstract
This note is an account of two conversations with Óscar Esquivias, author of short stories and novels such as Inquietud en el Paraíso (2005), La ciudad del Gran Rey (2006), and Viene la noche (2007). The first conversation took plane in Burgos (Spain), the writer's hometown, and the other in Madrid where he currently resides. The purpose was to understand the author's ideas about these three novels and learn about his notions on ethical issues that, according to the interviewer, are problematized in the texts through irony (Hutcheon, 1994), more specifically, forgiveness (Derrida, 2001) and reconciliation (Cento Bull & Hansen, 2016), linked to Spain's troubled past, which includes the Civil War (1936–39) and the dictatorship of General Franco (1939–75). According to the interview, the trilogy is the result of a narrative that became three novels inspired by Dante, Cervantes, and Jules Verne. Regarding the ethical issues connected to Spain's troubled past, the writer does not see many possibilities but emphasizes the importance of never losing hope for the future.
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References
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