Synergy and Subversion in the Second Stage Novels of Rosa Montero

Rosa Montero is one of several prominent journalists and writers of fiction who have emerged in post-Franco Spain. This book focuses on Montero's prose fiction written between 1983 and 1993, the «second stage» in the gradual transformation of her artistic development. It explores the innovative strategies used by Montero to interrogate the social construction of identity and to expose the underpinnings of hierarchical power. Relying on a variety of subgenres, ranging from romance to murder mystery to speculative fiction/fantasy, Montero's work constitutes a synergetic exploitation of the conventions of journalism as well as other popular and literary modes. The resulting eclectic, subversive narrative, informed by ambiguity and experimentation, provides a blatant critique of patriarchal tradition and Francoist ideology.