The kitsch in El cuarto poder

Abstract

In this paper we propose an interpretation of El cuarto poder, one of the novels of Palacio Valdés with less critical fortunes, from a sociological perspective, looking for textual coherence unit of a story that, in general, has always been seen as dual and splitted into two frames with no apparent diegetic link. The observation of human relationships in Sarrió, under the lens of social valuation dynamics implicit in the category of “cursi” suggests a reconstruction of the plot in a single warp, with the label of “cursi” –or analog “pedantic” and “dandy”– can be categorized, in fact, the actions of the major vectors of action, but in addition they can order them all under a sin- gle narrative momentum: the transformation of a community-based lifestyle traditional in a modern society dominated by the forces of public opinion.