Introduction

This study highlights the significance of urban spaces, particularly historic cities like Toledo, as strategic sites for exploring societal transformations and cultural production. It emphasizes the role of space as a heuristic tool capable of generating knowledge about epochal changes, moving beyond traditional historicism to integrate spatiality into critical analysis. The research draws on theories by Saskia Sassen and Michel Foucault, examining how urban centers such as Madrid and Mexico City serve as active agents in narrative and cultural production, influencing artistic, literary, and musical outputs. It underscores the importance of spatiality in contemporary studies, illustrating this through examples from Hispanic literature and film, and aligns with Lefebvre’s theoretical framework on social space.

Venkatesh, V. (2014). Introduction. Romance Notes, 54(1), 3–8. https://doi.org/10.1353/rmc.2014.0002