28
Apr
2009
Pagan Spain by Richard Wright
Part of what gives Richard Wrights portrayal of Franco’s Spain, is the fact, prevalent in most of his work, that he’s black. The Spaniards don’t seem to care that much about that fact (fascists though they may be). Then again, it seems like Europeans didn’t care about a lot of things that weighed down America, and that’s why so many writers fled there during the first half of the 20th century.
Wright could walk around Spanish cities, without being called “boy” (er…niño?) or worse, which was refreshing. A new freedom (though he had been living in similar conditions in France). And yet, it was not a place he wanted to settle.
I knew little to nothing about Franco, or Spain under his rule, until reading this book. But now, at least I know something, and kind of want to learn more. This sort of conscientious travelogue is a great way to explore new territories in History, Politics, and Religion.
Of course, Wright’s assertions that this extremely Catholic country was more pagan than anything else were controversial at the time. Franco’s Spain was compulsorily Catholic, governed under military rule. In order to get permission to leave the country, Spaniards had to memorize a book of catechism. Wright obtained a copy of the book, and uses its exposition in many parts of the book.
There were a few Protestants in Spain, but as Wright says, “The average Spaniard knows nothing of Protestantism…and would stare with more bewilderment than hostility if he heard someone declare that he was a Protestant.” The Protestants Wright meets wallow in their victimized minority, prompting Wright to call them “White Negros”. Wright abhors such a stance, just as he was disillusioned with much of the black population in the U.S. feeling sorry for themselves.
Spain, as Wright saw it, also made an uncomfortable life for women. Women were sexualized all around, but men put them into two categories, one of “good girls” (of a certain class) or else married, and the rest, which “had been placed on earth by God, just as He placed rabbits, foxes, lions, etc., to be hunted and had.” This sexual energy combined with the tenets of the Church and conditions of poverty made for a roaring prostitution industry.
Wright doesn’t really delve into what he means by his title except for a few pages towards the end of the book. He felt that Spain was different than the rest of the West, was not, in fact, a Western country, due to its non-secular government. Because it was so wrapped up in the Church, and because its particular brand of Catholicism involved heavy inclusion of Saints (and their miracles) and relics, it was, in fact, not Christian but pagan. This word he uses, pagan, was perhaps not really accurate. It seems to me that what he meant, is the Church of the Middle Ages. He never describes pagan practices, per se, but does describe practices and mentalities that went out of fashion centuries ago–even before the advent of Protestantism.
So, if not Pagan, not Catholic, what was Franco’s Spain? Assuredly, there has never been a culture like it. But that’s probably a good thing.
If you like this book/author, you might like:
(my reviews in blue)
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Franco: Soldier, Commander, Dictator by Geoffrey Jenson
Iberia by James Michener
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
The Time of the Doves by Merce Rodoreda
Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past by Giles Tremlett
Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson
The Unfinished Quest of Richard Wright by Michael Fabre
Imagining Spain: Historical Myth and National Identity by Henry Kaman
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Soldiers of Salamis by Javier Cercas
The Back Room by Carmen Martin Gaite
Richard Wright’s Travel Writings: New Reflections by Virginia Whatley Smith
Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni
Other works by Richard Wright*:
Black Power: Three Books from Exile: Black Power/The Color Curtain/And White, Man, Listen!
The Long Dream
Black Boy
Savage Holiday
12 Million Black Voices
Eight Men: Short Stories
Lawd Today!
Uncle Tom’s Children
Native Son
A Father’s Law
Rite of Passage
The Outsider
*NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list. For the most part, it only includes works still in print, though you can still find many of his other works used.
