Older Men, Gender Politics and the Powers of Dark Aesthetics in Marta Sanz's Susana y los viejos

Marta Sanz's Susana y los Viejos (2006) uses the well-known Biblical story as intertextual motif to draw attention to gender double standards within the Spanish context. This article examines the representation of ageing and older men vis-a-vis gender politics and the politics of care for the old. Focusing on the novel's specific engagement with 'dirty realism' (stetica feista) and the caricatured portrait of social and personal interactions, the analysis will attempt to weave together the meanings that run through a narrative laden with intertextual and paratextual references.