1st Edition
Netflix' Spain Critical Perspectives
This edited collection analyzes the tensions, contradictions, contributions, and new horizons generated and/or imposed by Netflix within Spain’s audiovisual culture.
This book provides invaluable insight into how Netflix—first in its role as distributor and then as content creator—has changed the audiovisual landscape in Spain. It discusses how Netflix challenges the traditional method of categorizing film and television output by nationality while also examining how Spain is presented to other countries through the Netflix catalog and questioning what its chosen output—light comedies, mystery/thrillers, narco-fiction, and crime—means for Spain’s national brand. With chapters addressing themes such as reproducibility, pan-Europeanism after Brexit, gender representation, identity, and globalization, this book explores how—under the influence of Netflix—Spain is transitioning from an importer of audiovisual content to a center of export.
This book will appeal to students and scholars of Film and Media Studies, Hispanic and Iberian Studies, and Spanish with a specific interest in Spanish film, television, media, and culture, as well as global media industries.
Introduction: Critical Perspectives on Netflix’ Spain Jorge González del Pozo and Xosé Pereira Boán Part I Streaming In and Out Cultures and Identities 1. Multinational Netflix: Toward a Streaming Matrix of Reproducibility Xosé Pereira Boán 2. Is Spain Still Different? Pan-Europeanism Through Criminal Series in the Times of Brexit Jorge González del Pozo 3. Mainstream Feminism: Female Identities in Valeria and Toy Boy Ingrid Luna López 4. Between Well-Intended Drama and Easy Light Comedy: Peninsular (Mis)Representations of Otherness in Netflix Spain Cristina Martínez Istillarte 5. ‘You Are Not Special’: Commodification, Precariousness, and the Spanish Antihero in El Vecino Xavier Dapena Part II Dislocations and Delocations Between Center and Periphery 6. Making Visible the Invisible: Contemporary Spaniards in Netflix’ Paquita Salas Ximena Venturini 7. Netflix’ Madrid and the Madrid of Netflix: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Imaginary of an Urban Region Deborah Castro, Agustín Gámir, and Carlos Manuel 8. The Promotion of Spanish Cinemas on Netflix and the Private Experience of National (Hi)stories Elena Cueto 9. Netflix’ Hache: Not-so-local Noir Fiction for a Post-Political World Francisca López Part III Globalizing Netflix Spain’s Effects 10. Branded by Netflix: Money Heist, a Globalized Phenomenon Beyond Spanish Borders Vanessa Rodríguez de la Vega 11. The Professor Is In: A Critical Approach to Money Heist’s Sexism Ana Corbalán 12. ‘O que teño que facer pra non ter que ir o mar’ Post-Memory, Post-Identity, and Global Narco-Fictions: The Fariña Phenomenon Diego Espiña-Barros 13. A Global Narco Culture: Streaming Scenes of Respect and the Illusion of Justice Wladimir Márquez
Biography
Jorge González del Pozo is Professor of Spanish and Film Studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, USA. His work has appeared in journals (60+ articles) such as Hispanic Studies Review and Bulletin of Spanish Studies, among many others. He is the author/editor of several books (14), including Quinqui Film in Spain (2020), and he recently published a co-edited book with Iberoamericana/Vervuert about transatlantic film. He is currently working on a manuscript about Spanish national identity through its gastronomy.
Xosé Pereira Boán is Assistant Professor in Iberian Studies at the University of Limerick, Ireland. His scholarly work has appeared in publications such as Journal of Comic Studies (2021), Quarterly Review of Film and Video (2020), Romance Studies (2019), Transitions: Journal of Franco-Iberian Studies (2018), Revista de Estudios Hispánicos (2018), and Variaciones Borges (2016).
