Gomelas and Civil Servants: Representations of Female Exile from the Upper Class in Transparentes. Historias del exilio colombiano

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.64301/fc.v3i5.82

Keywords:

exile, graphic novel, Colombia, memory, trauma

Abstract

This article analyzes the representation of wealthy exiled women in the graphic novel Transparentes. Historias del exilio colombiano (2020). The work, based on real testimonies, was produced and promoted by the Colombian Truth Commission (CEV). Through the characters of Olga and Claudia, the narrative highlights how migration affects the identity and memory of exiles. The protagonists face an “evasive oblivion” that is passed on to the next generation. This reveals a fragmented identity and questions a series of stereotypes related to exile and gender. Consequently, the study adopts a semiotic perspective to examine the visual and verbal elements that articulate the trauma of displacement. In this way, it analyzes the representation of the feminine narrative in the configuration of the graphic novel and reflects on the agency of the women portrayed in contrast to traditional narratives of forced exile.

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Author Biography

Fernando Candón-Ríos, Universidad de Cádiz

In 2014, he begins his predoctoral period (University of Cádiz) under the supervision of Professor José Jurado. The case study focuses on the poet Benjamín Prado and his environment. Through a theoretical framework based on Pierre Bourdieu's theories, the research analyzes the hegemony of the poets of experience in the cultural field over the last 30 years. During his predoctoral period, he completes 2 international research stays (11 and a half months). In December 2017, he defends his doctoral thesis, obtaining the qualification of outstanding Cum Laude and international mention.

His teaching experience includes more than 900 hours taught in various undergraduate and master's degree programs, and he has mentored 4 final degree projects. He has worked as a professor at the Universities of Almería, Jaén, Valladolid, and Seville, respectively. He is part of the working team of the national project "Poetics of the Transition (1973-1982)" Ref. FFI2017/84759/P and the research group "Contemporary Spanish Literature Studies" (HUM-330).

He has made a total of 34 scientific contributions: 4 books (3 edited), 13 book chapters, 9 articles published in indexed journals, 3 reviews, and 6 contributions to teaching innovation manuals, one of which is in the process of being

published. He has delivered 24 oral presentations at both international (mostly) and national conferences, organized and directed 3 seminars, served as chairperson at 5 international conferences, and holds the presidency of 3 international conferences.

He is part of the scientific committee as a reviewer for the journals “La Nueva Literatura Hispánica”, "Cuadernos de Aleph", and "Ala Este. Revista de Teoría de la Literatura", and has been a guest editor for issue 25 of the aforementioned journal "La Nueva Literatura Hispánica", all indexed. He has also been a reviewer for the University of Cádiz's publishing house. He currently serves as secretary of the association of Hispanists "Siglo diecinueve" and is president and founder of the association for feminist literary studies and contemporary thought "Pandora". He is accredited as Assistant Doctor (ANECA and DEVA) and Contracted Doctor (ANECA and DEVA) for Literary Theory and Comparative Literature and for Spanish Literature.

He is the editor-in-chief of “FemCrítica. Journal of Literary Studies and Feminist Criticism” (publishing its first issue in June 2023) and director of the “Literature and Feminism” collection of Dykinson publishing house. In 2021, he directed the proposal for the Master's in Feminist Literary Theory and Criticism (UDIMA). As president of the Pandora association, he has coordinated 2 seminars - I Seminar - Representations of violence against women in recent literature, 2021 (funded by UVA and published with Universitas Castellae publishing house); II Seminar - The subversion of the female role in contemporary literature, 2021 (funded by UAL and published with Universitas Castellae publishing house) - and presided over the I International Congress of Feminine Literary Studies and Feminist Criticism (2023, USAL, published by Dykinson S.L.). In 2023, he will preside over the II Congress of Feminine Literary Studies and Feminist Criticism (2023, University of Almería) and the I Congress of Young Researchers in Feminine Literary Studies and Feminist Criticism (2023, University of Granada). Both congresses will have publications at the end of 2023, where the researcher is listed as editor in a monograph with Peter Lang (Literatures, Women, and Silence: Forms of Female Silencing in Recent Literature), and two with Dykinson S.L. (Women and Text: New Critical Proposals; The Legacy of Calliope). 

Regarding the internationalization of the researcher, in addition to the 11-month predoctoral stay, from February to May 2023 (3 months), he carries out a postdoctoral stay funded at the Università del Salento with Professor Diego Símini. The research objective is to study the "sick female identity" in the poetry of Claudia Ruggeri and its connection with the case of Alejandra Pizarnik. He also highlights his published collaborations abroad (Aracne edit rice and various international journals) and his collaborative relationships with researchers from several Italian, British, and American universities through the Siglo diecinueve association and the FFI2017/84759/P project.

In 2013, he organized a poetic-photographic exhibition (University of Granada). He is the author of 1 novel and 2 poetry collections and directs the university theater company "Poetas del desacato".

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Published

28-06-2025

How to Cite

Candón-Ríos, F. (2025). Gomelas and Civil Servants: Representations of Female Exile from the Upper Class in Transparentes. Historias del exilio colombiano. FemCrítica. Journal of Literary Studies and Feminist Criticism, 3(5), 66–78. https://doi.org/10.64301/fc.v3i5.82

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 5 (2025): Ordinary monograph

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2025 Fernando Candón-Ríos

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