Text and image in España de sol a sol by Alfonso Armada

Abstract

España de sol a sol (2001) by Alfonso Armada gives an example of the development of the «travel narrative» genre in Spain today. Faced with the «end of travel» (Marc Augé), he proposes a renovation of the perception of the familiar by travelling across Spain and Portugal and by substituting «endotic» (Georges Pérec) for exotic.The poetics in the narrative differs greatly from that by travelling writers of «social realism», in the Spain of the sixties. Interpretation replaces information, the poetic image prevails over the referential function of language, and polysemy, omnipresent intertexuality and metatextuality play an important part. The change also affects the links between text and image, which are now more complementary than redundant. Playing with stereotypes, the photography actively contributes to establishing argumentative strategies meant to make the reader-viewer adhere to the message, all while affirming itself as an autonomous aesthetic experience.