Abstract
The first journeys of the writer and dramatist Fernando Arrabal between his home country Spain and France were decisive for both his life and his extensive literary production. Arrabal grew up in Franco’s Spain. His father was a Republican lieutenant and was sentenced to imprisonment for life because of his denying to participate in Franco’s rebellion against the democratic Republic. Arrabal’s mother was, however, a supporter of Franco. This political clash between Arrabal’s parents affected him strongly. During his adolescence it became difficult for him to endure the cultural climate in Franco’s Spain. At the age of 22 he hitchhiked to Paris to see Brecht’s Mutter Courage and got fascinated by the liberal atmosphere in Paris. He succeeded in getting a scholarship to the city in 1954. Due to some personal circumstances, Paris became his new home town for the rest of his life. This paper deals with Arrabal’s first and decisive journeys between Spain and France, and not least his fatal journey to Madrid in 1967.
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Los primeros viajes decisivos de Fernando Arrabal entre España y Francia
The first journeys of the writer and dramatist Fernando Arrabal between his home country Spain and France were decisive for both his life and his extensive literary production. Arrabal grew up in Franco’s Spain. His father was a Republican lieutenant and was sentenced to imprisonment for life because of his denying to participate in Franco’s rebellion against the democratic Republic. Arrabal’s mother was, however, a supporter of Franco. This political clash between Arrabal’s parents affected him strongly. During his adolescence it became difficult for him to endure the cultural climate in Franco’s Spain. At the age of 22 he hitchhiked to Paris to see Brecht’s Mutter Courage and got fascinated by the liberal atmosphere in Paris. He succeeded in getting a scholarship to the city in 1954. Due to some personal circumstances, Paris became his new home town for the rest of his life. This paper deals with Arrabal’s first and decisive journeys between Spain and France, and not least his fatal journey to Madrid in 1967.