Ambiguity and Destruction Through the Naming Process in Reivindicacion del Conde don Julian and Recuento

Abstract

The main objective of Reivindicacion del Conde don Julian by Juan Goytisolo and Recuento by Luis Goytisolo is the harsh criticism and demolition of the entire Spanish society. The narrator-protagonist of Reivindicacion, through an imaginary odyssey that lasts one day, attacks and destroys the literature, religion, cultural beliefs, myths, and language of Spain, both past and present. In Recuento, on the other hand, Luis Goytisolo exposes and parodies the post-civil war social classes and traditional institutions, such as the army and the Catholic Church. The purpose of this analysis is to prove how the ambiguity that permeates these two novels has its counterpart in the naming process, which undermines the tradition of one-dimensional main characters.