Representations of masculinity in two stories by Carlos Casares

Abstract

The study of masculinity and its representation is especially fascinating in Spanish and Galician literature of the mid-20th century. In the two stories to be analyzed in this essay, “O xogo da Guerra” (“The War Game”) and “Agarda longa ao sol” (“Long Wait under the Sun”) — both written by Carlos Casares (Ourense 1941-Nigrán, Pontevedra 2002)—the versions of masculinity displayed by male characters can be considered as denunciations of the model that Franco wished to impose: made in his image, disciplined, cold, and violent. Manhood in Casares is characterized by an ability to accept nonconformity and to assume a reality that conflicts with masculine epistemology as it is known. The new man is ready to absorb a new reality and free a society consumed by hatred, pushing it towards democracy and understanding. Galicia and its people are the main protagonists of these transformations.