‘The Fatal Fact of the Woman Writer’: Transnational Encounters in the Avant-Garde Scene of Interwar Spain

BEZARI, CHRISTINA

doi:https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.2021.46

BEZARI, CHRISTINA

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (2021), 98, (8), 797–814.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.2021.46
Language: English
Pages: 18

Abstract

‘The fatal fact of the woman writer’ is a phrase coined by the Argentine author Alberto Pineta in the late 1920s, a time marked by women’s growing presence in the cultural sphere. On both sides of the Atlantic, women expressed an acute interest in the avant-garde literary culture and faced similar challenges in their attempt to negotiate their place in the literary field. By considering Spanish-speaking women as mediators across cultural and geographical borders, this study seeks to move beyond the concepts of ‘centre’ and ‘periphery’ in order to rethink the avant-garde as a transnational and multifaceted phenomenon. To explore the intertwined trajectories of Gabriela Mistral, Alfonsina Storni and Ernestina de Champourcín, this study examines their literary activities in Madrid and provides a comparative analysis of the avant-garde themes that recur in their poetry. Special focus is set on the transnational processes that shaped their work and allowed them to assert their identity as female writers and poets.

‘El hecho fatal de la mujer escritora’ es una frase acuñada por el autor argentino Alberto Pineta a finales de los años veinte, época marcada por la creciente presencia de la mujer en el ámbito cultural. En ambos lados del Atlántico, las mujeres expresaron un gran interés por las vanguardias y se enfrentaron a dificultades similares al intentar negociar su lugar en el ámbito literario. Al considerar a las mujeres de habla hispana como mediadoras culturales, este estudio intenta superar la dicotomía entre ‘centro’ y ‘periferias’ para repensar las vanguardias como fenómeno transnacional y multifacético. Para explorar las trayectorias entrelazadas de Gabriela Mistral, Alfonsina Storni y Ernestina de Champourcín, el presente estudio examina sus actividades literarias en Madrid y proporciona un análisis comparativo de los temas vanguardistas que se encuentran en su poesía. Asimismo, se hace hincapié en los procesos transnacionales que determinaron su trabajo literario y les permitieron afirmar su identidad como escritoras y poetas.

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BEZARI, CHRISTINA

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies