History And Culture Of Spain In Literature

Spain is a very complex country, that has a diverse artistic heritage. Spain’s history is fascinating which plays a big role in every aspect of Spanish culture. It has also founded numerous influential authors, such as Ruiz Zafón, Carlos and the well-established director Mar Targarona. Ruiz Zafón’s novel, The Shadow in The Wind and the film Boy Missing, by director Mar Targarona, are the two works proposed for this Major Project. Based on geographical info: “Spain is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula to the south of France and Andorra and to the east of Portugal. It has coastlines on the Bay of Biscay (a part of the Atlantic Ocean) and the Mediterranean Sea.” (Brinley) It has a total land area of over a hundred thousand square miles (505,370 square kilometres). [...] Spain consists of seventeen administrative regions, fifteen of which are on the mainland. Spain occupies four-fifths of the Iberian peninsula and is a land of immense geographical diversity.

The Shadow of The Wind by Ruiz Zafón, is set in the timeframe of the 1940’s just after the war. It is about a ten year old boy named Daniel Sempere who lives in Barcelona, Spain with his father. “Buried in the back streets of Barcelona lies the Cemetery of Lost Books.” [...] David chooses one novel from the library of rare books and uncovers a mystery around it and does whatever it takes to discover its secrets. The book he acknowledges is called The Shadow of the Wind, by Julián Carax. However, when he investigates this unknown author, he finds out that his is the last surviving copy, as a mysterious figure called Laín Coubert has dedicated himself to eradicating Carax's work completely.

Ruiz Zafón is a prolific author of six novels, with Shadow of The Wind as one of the bestselling international in over twenty countries and is honored by many international awards. Born in Spain, Ruiz is immersed in the culture of his origin, something which was a strong influence on his writing lifestyle to evolve.

The film The Boy Missing, directed by Mar Targarona, is a suspense thriller about a lawyer who’s life gets turned upside down when her son Victor is kidnapped from school and is later found traumatized. The police on the investigation are also unable to capture the man who the son identifies as the kidnapper, which leads to an out of control situation. Director and actress Mar Targarona, born in Barcelona, Spain on March 30 , 1953, started off her education by studying drama at the Theatre of Institute of Barcelona and later in the National Theatre of Strasbourg. In 1976, Targarona became a part of the Dagoll Dagom and helped with the work pieces of Will Not Talk in Class and the hit Antaviana. [...] She eventually began her career in the advertising world working as a casting director and assistant director production until eventually become director. Mar Targarona is currently married to Joaquin Padro Rodar y Rodar, who is also involved in the film industry by being a film producer. They both made a significant impact by founding together the Taller de Guionistas, a school for learning script writing. There’s a major influence of culture, history, and mystery found in the author and directors personal life. Although, there is a high possibility that the collective theme in these works could be history followed by a mystery twist.