Retracing the Urban Map: Mercè Rodoreda’s El carrer de les Camèlies

Drawing on Michel de Certeau’s conceptualization of the city dweller as
writer of the urban text, this article examines the spatial dimension of the
figure of the prostitute in Mercè Rodoreda’s El carrer de les Camèlies (1966).
The article situates the urban scenario in the context of modernity by focusing
in particular on the city’s effort to map out a coherent, albeit ideologically
laden, urban space. It suggests that through the itineraries traced by
the prostitute, transgressor of social, sexual, and spatial boundaries, the
novel redefines the cityscape and unveils Barcelona’s myriad historical layers
and multiple identities.