Literary Geographies of Contemporary Rural Depopulation

The literary geography on the countryside has a remarkable tradition, as a source of study in the field of rural geography, since the nineteenth century. With the new cultural tendencies the use of written texts is revitalized, even as a source of research. In the present contribution, the theme of depopulation in rural Spain is addressed, through the systematic study of the narrative on this subject, mainly novels. There are different points of view in the novel about depopulation: the novel about the last inhabitant of a town; the novel about the depopulation as a new territorial context of the (new) rural inhabitants; the novel about rural depopulation in a town or territory with opposing points of view, the rural idyll and the anti rural idyll. Literary geography contributes to the socio-cultural continuity of depopulation. The literature on rural depopulation and its diverse interpretations can be conceptualized as a form of intervention into these politics.

Keywords: depopulation, idyll, literary geography, rural, place, Spain.