Bulletin of Hispanic Studies

Men in Crisis: Pornographic Images in Quim Monzó’s Fiction

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (2016), 93, (5), 549–566.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.2016.33
Language
English
Pages
18

Abstract

Drawing on feminist theory and masculinity studies, this article analyses one novel and four short stories by Catalan author Quim Monzó – Benzina (1983), ‘El regne vegetal’ (1980), ‘Pigmalió’ (1993), ‘La mamà’ (2001) and ‘Dos rams de roses’ (2001) – to show how the presence of pornography in these works highlights the characteristic inadequacies of Monzó’s male characters against the values of hegemonic masculinity. Pornography in this body of texts also reflects the tensions between high and mass culture and the conflict between aesthetic and political interpretations of art in Monzó’s literary project. Although analyses of Monzó’s narrative from the perspective of gender and sexuality are still rare, this article claims that critical debates in these fields are essential to understand Monzonian fictional masculinities. My main aim is to demonstrate that the influence of pornography on Monzó’s fiction is intimately related to one of the central tensions of this author’s literary production, namely, the representation of hegemonic masculinity in crisis.

Con las herramientas teóricas de la crítica feminista y los estudios sobre masculinidades, este artículo analiza una novela y cuatro cuentos del autor catalán Quim Monzó –Benzina (1983), ‘El regne vegetal’ (1980), ‘Pigmalió’ (1993), ‘La mamà’ (2001) y ‘Dos rams de roses’ (2001)– con el propósito de mostrar cómo la presencia de la pornografía en las obras mencionadas actúa como indicio de las deficiencias de los personajes masculinos frente a los parámetros de la masculinidad hegemónica. La pornografía tal y como aparece en los textos seleccionados también refleja las tensiones entre la alta cultura y la cultura de masas, así como el conflicto entre las interpretaciones estéticas y políticas del arte en el proyecto literario de Monzó. Si bien las perspectivas de género y la sexualidad aún son poco frecuentes en los estudios sobre Monzó, este artículo defiende que los debates críticos surgidos de estos campos son esenciales para entender las masculinidades monzonianas. Mi principal objetivo es demostrar que la influencia de la pornografía en la ficción de Monzó está estrechamente ligada a una de las tensiones centrales de su obra, concretamente la representación de la masculinidad hegemónica en crisis.

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COLOM-MONTERO, GUILLEM