Fabula Hub: Cristina Morales – Los combatientes (The Fighters)

Through fiction, Los combatientes – perhaps a novel, perhaps a theatrical play – tells a true story of representation and reality, of enforced radicalism and authentic transgression, about art as provocation and provocation as art. The protagonists, young members of a theatrical group who seek to express their contempt for society through art, ridicule all respectable figures, beginning with themselves, their actor colleagues and ending with the great writers. In doing so, grounding their philosophy in the old avant-garde principle of glorifying the young, the group members turn their youth into a frenzied historical category, which turns them not only into theatrical but also political actors, since reality can only be portrayed through derision. Cristina Morales builds a provocative generational portrait stemming from the generation gap, the lack of understanding in today’s society and the anomalies of modern life. On the formal level, the innovative writing approach and masterly use of intertextuality are complemented by the content that, through humour and irony, invites critical reflection and distrust of the current social order of capitalist and patriarchal dictatorship. 

The novel has been translated into Slovenian by Veronika Rot.

Cristina Morales (1985) is celebrated by the literary world as one of the most talented, innovative, radical and expressive Spanish authors of the younger generation. She studied law and political science with a focus on international relations. Author of four novels (Los combatientes – The Fighters, Últimas tardes con Teresa de Jesús, Terroristas modernos and Lectura fácil) and a book of short stories, La merienda de las ninas, Cristina Morales is known for her harsh criticism of social, political and media structures and ideologies. Her works have received several national and international awards. In 2021, she was named a Granta Best Young Spanish-Language Novelist. Morales works with the contemporary dance company Iniciativa Sexual Femenina and is executive producer of the punk band At-Asko.

The talk will be held in Spanish, with simultaneous translation into Slovenian.