Valencia en el espejo de la literatura

The narrative space finds in the city the fascinating semantic capacity of a vast stage that both houses and shapes the characters' behavior. In this sense, some cities are so often dreamed of that it becomes difficult to discern where the real city begins and the imagined one ends. This essay brings together a selection of fifteen works, in both Spanish and Valencian, that offer a vision of the city's diverse ways of life in different historical contexts. Thus, the reader will encounter a Valencia of merchants and farmers, bourgeois settings and scenes of local customs, social inequalities, and popular uprisings—all aspects that have marked the evolution of Valencian society throughout history. A kaleidoscope of diverse images and fragmented glimpses forms part of the collective imagination of the city of Valencia, as vast as it is unknown in its entirety. The chosen works highlight the strength of the main characters, as well as that of some secondary characters, both male and female, individual and collective, paying attention to the solidity of their functional and symbolic values ​​within the narrative. A whole series of incentives are provided to encourage the reader to connect with the character, visualize them within the story, and adopt them as part of their city's daily life. Only then will the fictional character transcend the page and become an urban icon.