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Abstract

This article discusses the themes of the three novels of Luisa Etxenike: El ángulo ciego (Blind Spot, 2009), Absoluta presencia (Absolute Presence, 2018), and Aves del Paraíso (Birds of Paradise, 2019). The novels form a trilogy on ETA terrorism, and each novel is dedicated to a different emotion caused by this violence: fear, guilt, and shame. In her novels Etxenike moves away from the portrayal of terrorists and toward portrayal of the victims. She approaches the theme of ETA violence and of social fragmentation and suffering it has caused emphasizing the culture of blame and fear that this violence instills in its survivors. She structures her novels on a central axis, moral questioning. Each novel is a reflection on the consequences of terrorism in the life of its victims.

About the Author

Dr. Agnieszka Gutthy is a Professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Southeastern Louisiana University. Her research interests include comparative literature, literature of exile, Europe minority literatures and cultures (Basques in Spain and Kashubians in Poland). Some of her publications are Literature in Exile of East and Central Europe (New York: Peter Lang, 2009); Exile and the Narrative/Poetic Imagination (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars, 2010); Romantic Weltliteratur of the Western World (New York: Peter Lang, 2020) and numerous articles on Spanish, Polish, Basque, and Kashubian literature. In her research she often collaborates with the professors from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Departamento de Filología Románica, Filología Eslava y Lingüística General.

Education

  • Ph.D. - Literature of Spain, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1993
  • MA - Spanish Philology, Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland. 1988
  • MA - English Philology, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland. 1982

DOI

https://doi.org/10.18122/boga.9.1.2.boisestate

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