The Deteriorating Histories in the Public Everyday Space of Post-Francoist Barcelona.

Abstract

“The Deteriorating Histories in the Public Everyday Space of Post-Francoist Barcelona,” considers urban space as a network of fleeting signifiers related to memory, identity, and history. I demonstrate that, in the last three decades, as Spain transitioned from a dictatorship to a democracy, urban space has played a fundamental role as an ideological platform on which new collective social identities have been constructed. I analyze an array of cultural sources to show that while the local government prioritized a global economy and simultaneously constructed a marketable image of the city, the spatial transformations that follow—such as gentrification, mass tourism, and heightened security—have not only discarded the promises of local social democracy, but also rewritten and commodified history.

The introduction and first chapter lay out the theoretical and personal motives behind my dissertation, while the second chapter provides the historical background and includes a critical explanation of how Barcelona’s Post-Francoist international image was culturally manufactured. The second chapter deals with “spatial tactics”—spaces temporarily appropriated apolitically to meet basic needs. Drawing from Michel de Certeau’s book The Practice of Everyday Life, José Luis Guerín’s film En construcción, and my personal photography, I develop a theory of spatial tactics and support it with examples such as ATM nooks and storefronts used as bedrooms, abandoned lots as recreational areas, flower pots as benches, and construction sites as playgrounds. I argue that uncovering a spatial tactic not only disrupts the city’s image, but also reveals the non-fulfillment of a basic need, which can be brought to the forefront where political action is possible. The third chapter explores intellectuals who both criticize postmodern Barcelona and recreate a nostalgic “Old Barcelona.” I analyze passages from novels such as Vázquez Montalbán’s Carvalho detective series and El pianista, Xavier Moret’s El último hippy, and the essay “La destrucción de Barcelona” by Juan José Lahuerta. I suggest that the rapid dehumanizing transformations of the postmodern city are producing a nostalgic response. In the final conclusion I offer some suggestions as to what would need to occur in order to reverse the direction of historical and spatial destruction.