SOURCE: “Goytisolo's Juan sin tierra: A Dialogue in the Spanish Tradition,” in Modern Language Review, Vol. 84, No. 4, October, 1989, pp. 846-59.

In the following essay, Jordan analyzes chapter six of Juan sin tierra to show how Goytisolo's relationship with the tradition of Spanish literature moves from alienation to assimilation.

In his study of Juan Goytisolo's ‘exile’ trilogy Michael Ugarte carries out a detailed analysis of the novelist's concepts, and use, of intertextuality. He points out that while the author is certainly conversant with modern textual theories, he does not practise them in a pure sense, but exploits them, together with the use of fictional alter egos in order to achieve a personal goal: that of establishing the author's identity.¹

Although Ugarte observes a number of currents in the trilogy, three principal concerns may be summarized. In Señas de identidad there is an attempt to construct a new identity...