Marks of Identity is, among other things, the expression of the process of alienation in a contemporary intellectual with respect to his own country.

In times when religious or political faith or hope predominates, the writer functions totally in unison with society, and expresses society's feelings, beliefs, and hopes in perfect harmony.

Marks of Identity is, among other things, the expression of the process of alienation in a contemporary intellectual with respect to his own country.

And with each day that passed, the gulf broadened and my isolation became more accentuated. In such a situation, the discovery that my experience was not unique, that it had also been that of other Spanish intellectuals, became very important for me.

My exile was not only a physical one, motivated exclusively by political reasons; it was also a moral, social, ideological and sexual exile.

The vitality of a culture is in its capacity to assimilate foreign influences. The culture that's defensive and closed condemns itself to decadence.

I not only lived physically away from my native land, but the values and critical judgments of those closest to me became stranger and stranger.