Chapter 7 A Snapshot of Barcelona from Montjuic: Juan Goytisolo’s Sefias de identidad, Tourist Landscapes as Process, and the Photographic Mechanism of Thought Benjamin R. Fraser “Today mr than ever, the las sg sired in space Tie Lefebvre, The Prion of Space. The New Barslona was «Disney craton at ihe end of ideology te opel ensues ofthe os fea ‘Donald MeNel, Urban Change and he Europace from New Barcelo, {Jae laa te pteneze un dla (Gone les petence ea non, fe despcaado sea elas mona dura Berges {tat one dye yy belong them. {ike tis meus does, thr shared an of bourpasies nostalgia) ‘ime Gide Bed, “Darclos juno bona, ‘om paseo soltario en pemaver” Moaldades. Introduction Inthe ial image from Jn Goytsolo's important and extravagant novel ‘Shas de ideidad (1966, 2 dseachanied Alvaro sacs down from the ‘mountain of Monyue toward the city of Barcelona below. Inthis powerful ‘sual a, landsepe, tourism, and the apropriative power of gaze merge ist132 BoyjantnR Fraser ‘o-reate oe single snapshot, foreproundng th loss of memory inberet in the capitalist production of space and foreshadowing the fuer imi ‘nent Iate-twenieh-cenury changes to Barcelona elf .cloee reading of GGoytisolo's work nt only reveals the profound and aisically rendered ‘connections between tourism and the production of the ult envionment ‘bul also exposes a similar mechanism at workin each actvty--¢ meto- ological photographic shutter of aking that separates subject from objet, ‘onstitatve human work fom constituted landscape and Barcelona's pas fiom is present. Throughout the novel, the predominance of photography ‘together with Alvao's nal gaze gives tacit encouragement 10 linger not ‘only on tourism practices and the production of landscape, but moreover se conequenes of hugh wich endo repent pees gh stacy Henri Bergson wrote extensively of thie tendency of thought and is ‘consequences fora unitary spatio-temporal perception, tng that “st 2s we separate in space, we Bx in me.” The tourist's visual appren- sion of landscape, like the photographic snapsot in is statically iconic relation othe moving proces which supposedly captres, seks oto ‘connet, to make relevant, to expose caficting of malivlent meanings, but ike the capitalist production of space, to separate isolate, homogenize snd reduce alteity to univocal Senas de demidad esonates with rece theories of landscape and the anthropology of turism ultimately to ques- tion theendeney separate nda Bx one demonstrably manifest not oaly in photographic technology andthe capil production of pac buts in theoretical approaches to tourism and to the pereepion of movement ite? As Geographer Mike Cran has argued research might pay more “tention to processes of representation ad les othe crested representa tions themselves: “itis to avoid dichotomizing the world of representa tions and experience hat we need ota othe practices of observation" Wis neither my primary intet to analyze the Burcelonan landscape at particular moment ints development no o show how Goya's novel ‘eflects the time period in which twas writen although Iwill nces- sarily uch upon these. I choose, instead, to pure the way in which the landscape and the novel aswell as our understanding of them, are const trough a proces that eat once vusigated (rated trough Aissidene and srugle atthe expense of diferente), iclsive (either uring formation nor election considered as outside of ourinfluence) and ‘ongoing (never completely determined by the result of previous struggle ‘or interpretation). From ati histor of Monje, Iwill move on tothe ‘resentation of turism and photography in Soha de ideidad arguing hat A Snapshot of Barcelona fom Monte is closer look st the novel's ue ofjustapoition ads the reader to question the simplistic ification of aiveoreign, sede, and herelthete oper ive in the ture gave, When tis gze is properly understood —not 2 that of an indivi, but rather a collective ctivty—landscapecbange ‘roves tobe les abou the memory ofthe past and more about contempo- ‘ary power struggles Bergson teaches us that trough memory we dot ‘reference past events, but rather actalize enduring but latent pas of he ‘preent el, Ultimately, nthe very act of perepton ofthe lndseape of Monit or Barcelona, we simultaneously take a stance regarding he Way in which city-spce is constted, Landscape as Process: Montjule The stati andscape represented by a phtogrphic image isnot atogeter Aiterent from the way landscape is commonly perceived. The way we regard it as frozen int now-inmutable frame, the way this very fame ‘ppears to sever its contents conection with surrounding area ad it previous incarnations; both ofthese are visible manifestations and rein- forcement of our practiced patems of Sein. Yet in spt of this more or Jess conscious perception, the landscape i netber frozen nor imautabe, ether a zolated nor a disconnected from human practic ws we might ‘Sometimes think Far fom being merely “true of alse” the photographic image offers us tangible opporunity to reflect upon and question our ‘quotidian understanding of proces snd movement. The way we commonly ‘present proces to ouseives, a Bergson notes so wel isto separate in apace (Ihe fame ofthe sho, he subject represcating the represented ‘object and fix in ime (te apertire of the sod). Just ste photograph ‘separates subject fom objet it xs the present momen, hus aesting {he movement ofthe enduring past (Bergson's concept of dard), Nebr inthe photograph nor in the we of landscape by tourism practices and the capitalist production of space does the past endure. Recognizing the sai ‘way in wich we perceive landscape involves fst reconciling the patil- {zation trough which we imagine i as «backdrop to ation, and second the way ia which we privilege cerain moments of landscape formation ‘over others fn these ways, we reconstitute an interactive relationship with landscape and expose the motivated nature of ou periodic seulpting of it. ‘AS Don Michel nots, landscape is itself best understood a 2 con- struction «created momen! wit further constitutive force:154 BeviaminR Fraser Ie ely, he ancape ie an tive agent in costing hat is tory, serving bah reba or the neds aa ese ofthe people ‘who lve init (r who otherwise have skein predcing and ma {aii and a aod ead weigh chaning change nhs way ec ot tha (-] Lanicapeia bes sen a bh work ti the produc of man abor and thas encapsulstes the dreams eis, unl ha inj ices ofthe peopl nd sei systems that make) tw something hat doce work (ta ana noc agent inthe er developmen places? In highlighting he relation between landscape and human work, Michell makes reference wo Mac's idea of "dnd labor,” o Davi Ha ‘vey etm to this ida noting that dead Tabor can affect “ving labo" tothe idea of Carl Swer tat landscape is “ashioned fom ar land- scape by aculture group," and to that of Alexander Wilson tha ndecape {an aciviy" or 4 relationship between people and place. Landscape recess takes onthe characteristics of the society ha it shaes and in which its shaped: Thusly, the capitalist andsape Is no nly the visual ‘commode splendor of theme parks populated by animated duck, pack: ‘ged jams and eles, hoppy ber, or aglomeratons of flags five seve