Rewriting Womanhood: Feminism, Subjectivity, and the Angel of the House in the Latin American Novel, 1887-1903 (Penn Stat Romance Studies Series)

213 Pages·2009·2.16 MB·English

by  Nancy Lagreca

RewRiting womanhood
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THE PENN STATE ROMANCE STUDIES SERIES
editors
Robert Blue • Kathryn M. Grossman • Thomas A. Hale • Djelal Kadir
Norris J. Lacy • John M. Lipski • Sherry L. Roush • Allan Stoekl
advisory board
Theodore J. Cachey Jr. • Priscilla Ferguson • Hazel Gold • Cathy L. Jrade
William Kennedy • Gwen Kirkpatrick • Rosemary Lloyd • Gerald Prince
Joseph T. Snow • Ronald W. Tobin • Noël Valis
Reconstructing Woman:
From Fiction to Reality in the Nineteenth-Century French Novel
by dorothy kelly
Career Stories:
Belle Epoque Novels of Professional Development
by juliette m. rogers
Territories of History: Humanism, Rhetoric, and the Historical
Imagination in the Early Chronicles of Spanish America
by sarah h. beckjord
The Book of Peace
by christine de pizan
Translated and edited by Karen Green, Constant J. Mews,
and Janice Pinder with the assistance of Alan Crosier
Consensus and Debate in Salazar’s Portugal: Visual and Literary Negotiations
of the National Text, 1933–1948
by ellen w. sapega
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rewriting womanhood
Feminism, Subjectivity,
and the Angel of the House
in the Latin American Novel,
1887–1903
Nancy LaGreca
the pennsylvania state university press
university park, pennsylvania
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Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
LaGreca, Nancy, 1972–
Rewriting womanhood : feminism, subjectivity, and the angel of the house in
the Latin American novel, 1887–1903 / Nancy LaGreca.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: “An historical and theoretical literary study of three Latin
American women writers, Refugio Barragón of Mexico, Mercedes Cabello
de Carbonera of Peru, and Ana Roqué of Puerto Rico. Examines how
these novelists subversively rewrote womanhood vis à vis the prescribed
comportment for women during a conservative era”—Provided by publisher.
isbn 978-0-271-03438-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-271-03439-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Spanish American literature—Women authors—History and criticism.
2. Spanish American literature—19th century—History and criticism.
3. Feminism and literature—Latin America.
4. Women in literature.
I. Title.
PQ7081.5.L35 2009
863’.5099287—dc22
2008034080
Copyright © 2009
The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802–1003
The Pennsylvania State University Press
is a member of the
Association of American University Presses.
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press
to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy
the minimum requirements of American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Material, ansi z39.48–1992.
This book can be viewed at
http://publications.libraries.psu.edu/eresources/978-0-271-03438-6
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to Anne and Roy, for all their love and support,
and to the memory of Rose and Josephine, for providing me early examples
of women who thought and lived against the grain.
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contents
d
Acknowledgments ix
introduction 1
1
women’s imagined Roles in nineteenth-Century mexico:
Seclusion in the midst of Progress and
early Feminist Reactions 28
2
Coming of age(ncy):
Refugio Barragán de toscano’s La hija del bandido 53
3
women in Peru:
national and Private Struggles for independence 78
4
new models for new women:
Rethinking Cinderella’s Virtues and humanizing the Stepmother
in mercedes Cabello de Carbonera’s Blanca Sol 102
5
women as Body in Puerto Rico:
medicine, morality, and institutionalizations of Sexual
oppression in the Long nineteenth Century 124
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viii d contents
6
Sexual agency in ana Roqué’s Luz y sombra:
a Subversion of the essentialized woman 149
Conclusions 171
Works Cited 177
Index 195
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acknowledgments
d
this project has benefited from the support and insight of people i hold in
the highest esteem. many thanks to naomi Lindstrom for reading an early
version of this manuscript and providing, with good humor and encourage-
ment, invaluable detailed feedback on the content and writing. i am grateful
to my colleagues Benigno trigo and Katie arens for their knowledgeable
guidance regarding the theoretical frame of the analyses.
i would like to thank Kimberly hamlin, Virginia higginbotham, Jacque-
line Loss, and Belinda mora for their warm encouragement. Special thanks
go to Betsy Phillips for her feedback regarding the writing and organization
during the final stages of the preparation of this manuscript. i am indebted
to the two anonymous Penn State University Press readers whose thought-
ful comments aided in fine-tuning the content of this book. i am grateful to
my fine colleagues at the University of oklahoma, who have offered their
advice and support, and my graduate students, who have provided encour-
agement through their lively and insightful discussions on the works studied
herein. in particular i would like to thank a. Robert Lauer and Pamela
genova for always being on call to offer advice, Lourdes Yen for her help as
my research assistant, and Kathy Peters for her cheerful help with the many
administrative tasks involved in moving forward with this project.
my deep appreciation goes to my husband, Jack douglas eure iii, one
of my most trusted readers, and to my brother Charles for his enthusiastic
moral support.
Funding for this project was provided by the Continuing Fellowship,
administered through the graduate School of the University of texas at
austin. additional research and preparation in the final stages of this manu-
script were made possible with a Junior Faculty Research grant from the
University of oklahoma’s office of the Vice President for Research and a
Faculty enrichment grant from the College of arts and Sciences at the
University of oklahoma.
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