My exile was not only a physical one, motivated exclusively by political reasons; it was also a moral, social, ideological and sexual exile. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote
The writer cannot abandon himself simply to inspiration, and feign innocence vis a vis language, because language is never innocent. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote
As I began to discover my own truth and endeavored to possess it with clarity, I became more and more alienated from that which my companions held, or professed to hold. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote
I not only lived physically away from my native land, but the values and critical judgments of those closest to me became stranger and stranger. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote
Marks of Identity is, among other things, the expression of the process of alienation in a contemporary intellectual with respect to his own country. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote
And it is because a series of elements in Spanish life which operate today the same way as they did in the times of Blanco White made obvious my relationship with him, based on a similarity in Spain’s condition. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote
And with each day that passed, the gulf broadened and my isolation became more accentuated. In such a situation, the discovery that my experience was not unique, that it had also been that of other Spanish intellectuals, became very important for me. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote
In my opinion, the most significant works of the twentieth century are those that rise beyond the conceptual tyranny of genre; they are, at the same time, poetry, criticism, narrative, drama, etc. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote
In the Europe which was created by the Second World War, divided into two blocks, each in need of a revolution that would end the abuses and injustices of capitalism and the privileges of a bureaucratic caste, collective faith does not exist. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote
In times when religious or political faith or hope predominates, the writer functions totally in unison with society, and expresses society’s feelings, beliefs, and hopes in perfect harmony. Juan Goytisolo Read Quote