DIGILEC Revista Internacional de Lenguas y Culturas
Digilec 13 - Reseñas (2026), pp. 9-12
Fecha de recepción: 31/03/2026
Fecha de aceptación: 15/05/2026
Fecha de publicación: 31/07/2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17979/digilec.2026.13.14030
e-ISSN: 2386-6691
BOOK REVIEW: SPATIAL ABSENCES IN CONTEMPORARY
FICTION
RESEÑA DE LIBRO: SPATIAL ABSENCES IN CONTEMPORARY
FICTION
Marta GONZÁLEZ RODRÍGUEZ
Universidade da Coruña
Editor: Eduardo Barros Grela
Publisher: Francis Boutle Publishers
Place of publication: London
Page count: 216
Year: 2023
ISBN: 978-1-7398955-5-6
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This book is a well-curated compilation of essays that brings a variety of scholars
together to discuss spatial absences and presences, which in this review will be arranged
by topic. Each author in the book analyzes at least one primary source, ranging from
books and video games to musicals. Thanks to the different examples, the reader can fully
grasp what space literature entails and how this perspective can be employed to analyze
different forms of media. The book starts with an introduction by Eduardo Barros Grela,
the curator, introducing what is understood by space absences and presences, and how all
essays are related to this. After the introduction, it follows a total of fifteen essays ending
with a brief bibliography of each of the writers. Altogether, and even though some essays
do it more explicitly than others, this book compiles a wide range of analyses that
perfectly contribute to the studies of “space literature.”
The first section can be seen as essays in which the setting is urban, included here
are: Xan Guitián Carril’s paper called “Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines: A Foray into
the City’s Subjectivity through Robert Mcfarlane’s ‘Invisible Cities.’” (pp. 7-18) and
“Invisible Mazes and Immaterial Borders: Invisibility in The City and the City and “In
the Walls of Eryx” (pp.48-59) by Martín Mallo Meilán. The first essay has done its
analysis by examining the interaction between the real and unreal parts of the city through
Robert Mcfarlane’s story, while in the second, the author explores how invisibility works
in literature through the different sources and how it works as a defense mechanism
against colonizers and for protection. Moreover, how invisibility can be explored as being
created by those who are observing and those observed. Xan Guitián’s work can be
challenging to read because of the complexity and, at times, metaphorical use of the
language. However, this also represents how much control the author has over the English
language, even when he is not a native speaker.
Another series of essays falls under the premise of interactive sources, those
analysis done by using video games and web series. For the web series, Noelia Mª Galán-
Rodríguez wrote “Transmedia Narratives: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries [TLBD] and its
Didactic use in the Twenty-first Century Classroom,” (pp. 19-32) which analyzes an
adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The author acknowledges changes made to the original
book, but also gives reasoning behind said changes, showcasing a deep critical analysis
of what this web series encapsulates. It is important to mention that the essay appeared to
be further away from space literature because of its focus on TLBD as a transmedia
product; however, upon closer attention, the web series format does not allow the viewer
to see the spaces being discussed, which means there is a lack of physical space.
The next interactive source would be the video games Death Stranding and
League of Legends in the essays “Learning to Walk in a Gestating Body: Male Pregnant
Embodiment in Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding,” (pp. 76-92) and “Viego and the
Absence of Isolde: Reading Characters from League of Legends” (pp. 185-196) by David
Muiños García and Marta Pazos Blanco respectively. The first essay explores a “walking
simulator” game with the theme of pregnancy in the aftermath of an apocalyptic
cataclysm in which the protagonist works as a delivery guy. A vital part is the fact that
the male protagonist is also carrying a baby in an artificial womb. This characteristic is
introduced by the writer by posing a question to the reader that, while still maintaining an
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academic tone, involves them in the paper. The second paper makes an analysis of the
character Viego with a narration style that makes it seem like a story. Nonetheless, even
when having a storytelling feel, the author does so while also analysing his actions and
comparing him with other characters.
The next five essays will have a focus on Latin-American stories. The first one by
María Medín-Doce, “Alteration of Space: Encounters with Otherness in Alberto Rangel’s
Inferno Verde,” (pp. 93-103) talks about the Amazonian space, surrounding themes of
possessions, spatial alteration, the meaning of home and its importance. Then there is
“Spatial production and poetics of home in Vidas Sêcas and O Quinze” (pp. 104-113) by
Beatriz Solla-Vilas. The author quotes a question made by Sara Ahmed– “How does it
affect home and being at home when someone leaves?” (qtd. Solla-Vilas 104) – to
reformulate it by considering leaving home by force. Beatriz Solla explores the concepts
of non-space, a space that can acquire a multiplicity of meanings and the question of a
space being home but, at the same time, feeling that it is not, which gives numerous
examples of the different readings space can have.
The third essay is “Decolonizing Gothic: Finding New Spaces in Moreno García's
Mexican Gothic” (pp. 114-125) by Lucía Fraga Viñas, which aims to discuss the novel's
changes of Gothic Literature from a postcolonial perspective. To do so, Lucía Fraga
explores the gothic characteristics within the book and shows the colonial aspects through
an analysis of the plot, the setting, and the characters in the novel. The last one in this
group is by Yarizan Pan Pérez called “Latinidad, Space, and Agency: In the Heights and
Latinx Culture” (pp. 127-142). It considers the different spaces within the musical–
Caribbean countries, the neighborhood, the workplace, the educational and the artistic
space– and analyzes how the Latin community is affected by each of them. Lastly, Elena
Canido’s essay “Lost & Found: Exploring the Absence and Longing for Roots in Jessica
Abel’s La Perdida” (pp. 33-45) focuses on borders and border-crossing, analyzing a
character who is trying to find her Mexican roots.
The following essays are related because of their intercultural approach to the
texts. The essays are by Natalia Moreiras Arias (“The Role of Hollywood and the Conflict
of Identities in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949” (pp. 60-75)), Andrea Patiño
Artaza (“Afropolitanism and Resistance in the Works of Mr Eazi and Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie’s Americanah” (pp. 156-170)) and Carla Portela Marín (“Reading Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah Transculturally” (pp. 197-211)). Natalia Moreira’s aim is
to explore how Germany was and still is influenced by the United States’ media,
specifically Hollywood. To do so, the author has smartly chosen to have people answer
questions in a survey for more personalized and concrete results needed for her research.
She also included graphics of the results and explanations as to why the questions were
being asked. The one by Andrea Patiño Artaza starts by explaining what Afropolitanism
is and highlights problems within this approach. The essay, while also using a book,
introduces the source of music pieces, which adds to the variety of sources used in the
collection. Moreover, Carla Portela's essay covers the same book as Andrea Patiño de
Artaza, Americanah, but employs another perspective making it seem not repetitive. The
author here explores how multiculturalism and interculturalism need to be revised due to
the current social needs and proposes the term transcultural, because it involves the first
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two terms while also expanding the idea. In this essay, we find a typing mistake
previously believed to be a quotation because of the different font and its shortness but
that is regarded as part of the analysis upon reading.
The next section has the focus on language with the essays “Word, The Redeemer.
Analyzing Language and its Relationship to Cultural Identity and Place in House Made
of Dawn by N.Scott Momaday,” (pp. 143-155) and “Narrative and Linguistic Strategies
in Luis Alberto Urrea’s Into the Beautiful North and The House of Broken Angels” (pp.
171-184) by Seán Keane, Antía Rivera de la Vega. Seán Keane focuses on Native
Americans and highlights the importance of language for this community specially.
Analyzing the healing journey of a displaced protagonist whose healing journey of
acceptance starts with language which dives back to his opening explanation of the
importance of language. Antía Rivera de la Vega, analyzes migrant experiences and their
converging cultures. To do this, she utilizes the two novels mentioned in the title and
analyzes their different narrative techniques and language choice that not only showcase
a dual identity of the characters but also makes the reader feel displaced because it uses
two languages at the same time.
As for the general review of the book three aspects have to be noted. First, the
placement of footnotes. The footnotes appear right at the end of each essay, which in
printed form can be troublesome because of the going back and forth between notes and
the paper itself. That being said, it can be assumed that this is most likely a preferential
or required display of the publisher. Another aspect to highlight is that most of the papers
have been divided into sections, using bold headings to thematically sort out the different
aspects covered in the essay. As a reader, this is greatly appreciated as it makes the reading
process more visual.
In addition, in terms of language, some of the essays have maintained quotations
in their original language without a translation. This can seem to lessen the scope of
readers for the book; however, this is a stylistic decision that appears in essays covering
Latin-American stories making it necessary and understandable to include original
quotations. All in all, the essays collected in the book display a fascinating compilation
illustrating the variety of analyses that can be done through a special perspective. What
is more, readers can expand their knowledge on literary criticism and approaches as well
as their choices of source materials encouraged by the diversity found in the collection.
