Yes, the supermarket has entered culture, the masses have entered the supermarket, but what culture do we find, between linear and linear? Let’s think first about how the supermarket modeled part of the popular culture of the 20th century, as you can read in the report dedicated to it by Lara Gómez Ruiz, and how it has given rise to certain specific terminology, such as stockers, cashiers and all fishing. Oh, and the linear ones that you have read a few lines above, and forgive the insistence. And do you remember the art supermarkets that were organized around Christmas (first Vinçon, and then it spread, but not along with sausages and yogurts)? We looked in one of those visual dictionaries for the specific vocabulary of the supermarket, and no trace of the culture section, books or movies. We found a Terminology of products from the supermarket of the University of the Balearic Islands, and the only books it mentions are small ones, about pork and with sweet ham. There are films, but they are made of transparent paper. And discs? Makeup removers.
Let’s disabuse ourselves and assume that in most regular supermarkets it is little more than non-existent, despite the multiple exceptions. We passed by the Lidl next to the editorial office, for example, and we verified that although you can buy anoraks, jackets or even some plants, the printed letter is limited to the neutrality of the corporate signage and strict information, just as there is no no trace of film or music or images other than those of the products. In the Caprabo de L’Illa Diagonal three quarters of the same, but there they have the Abacus alibi attached, and at the other end of the shopping center is the Fnac.
To be sure, we move further, to the Carrefour on Gran Via 2, and yes, we see that right in front of the checkouts there is a large sign: “Culture”. And yes, there are a few rows of books, with half the space dedicated to children’s and young people’s books, and a good part also to comics, whether manga or superheroes, and offers like Jessica Jones. Blind Angle (Marvel) for a price that does not reach three euros.
Specially focused on best-selling books, with lists of “Top Youth”, “Top Bestseller”, “Top Pocket” and “Top Children”. On the shelves, we have fun with the epigraphs, because where it says “Guies i diccionaris” there are Isabel Allende or Fernando Aramburu, where it says “Autoajuda” we find The Saga of the Damned by Chufo Llorens (DeBolsillo), and in “Cocina”, neither neither more nor less than Eloy Moreno, Carmen Mola or Jo Nesbø. You must have guessed the alphabetical order, right? There are some Catalan authors, such as Laia Vilaseca –although here L’illa del silenci (Rosa dels Vents) is only in Spanish–, Benvolguda by Empar Moliner (Columna), Estimada Gris by Sílvia Soler (L’Univers) or Regina’s book Rodríguez Sirvent, Les calces al sol (La Campana).
There are many Spanish and international authors, and also those who, if you don’t know them, you don’t know where they are from, like Megan Maxwell, who even has an exclusive space for her books. Now, perhaps the most exciting section is “Intrigue”, because it is here, now, where we find cookbooks, books on plants, massages or Find Your Vitamin Person by Marian Rojas, but also the Bible and dictionaries! And it is here, too, where there are a handful of titles in English. Beyond that we find a section dedicated to Harry Potter, whether books or toys, and a good stock of video games and board games.
We see that the sign says “Molt més a Carrefour.es”. And well, we look to see if, for example, we can find a book by Enrique Vila-Matas, and we find them, but about him and written by other authors. No trace of his Eight Invented Interviews (H
Catalan version, here
