In Their Own Voice: The Women Writers of the Generación del 80 in Argentina

Author(s): Bonnie Frederick

Source: Hispania, Vol. 74, No. 2 (May, 1991), pp. 282-289
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/344802
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Bonnie Frederick Washington State University
Bonnie Frederick, Washington State University

In Their Own Voice: The Women Writers

of the Generacion del 80 in Argentina

The established anthologies and histories of and critics; and determined enough to form a
the Argentine Generation of 1880 give the im-network that broadened access to publication for
pression that the generation consisted solely of subsequent generations of women.
male writers, but a reading of the newspapers and The process of molding a unique narrative
magazines of the time contradicts that view. In voice began before the women touched pen to
publications such as La Nacion and La Prensa, paper; the taboos that defined a woman's
poetry, short stories, and essays by women writ-"respectability" influenced their private lives,
ers appeared frequently, and novels by womenprofessional careers, and literary development.
were advertised and reviewed. There were even This socialization process was a great obstacle in
women editors and publishers heading up publi- beginning a career. It was considered somewhat
cations dedicated to everything from housekeep- brazen for a woman to draw attention to herself
ing to anarchism. In some ways, the women by of publishing literary works outside of the
the Ochenta were not that different from their "women's magazines" or the family albums.
male counterparts. The wealthy ones wrote for Josefina Pelliza de Sagasta, for example, left her
their own fulfillment and pleasure; the others hometown of Entre Rios because her neighbors
struggled to earn a living wage by their writing.were not amused by her literary ambitions. Edelina
They believed in positivism's program of mate-Soto y Calvo did not publish any of her works
rial and moral progress; and they traveled as until she was 63 years old for fear of public
much as they could. But the women were notjust criticism. Agustina Andrade complains of the
echoes of the men. Because they were women,mixed blessings of public success-and
they led very different lives, which in turn pro- notoriety-in "Despues del triunfo":
duced a distinct narrative voice. Even when they A eso llaman triunfar: palmas y gritos,
shared a common theme with the male writers,algunos ramos de venal laurel,
they could not help interpreting the issues in y despues... jel silencio y el olvido!
,Y despues? iOh, que horrible es el despues!
terms of how it affected women. To study their
works is to discover how women's writing- Abrir el coraz6n, verter sin tasa
similar to men's writing as it may be-eventuallyel perfume y la miel;
diverges from the male literary tradition. i arrostrar la mirada indiferente
de las turbas sin fe!
Though there were many women writers
during the last decades of the 1800' s in Argenti-
Todo eso, ,para que? Para que algunos,
na, this study will focus on Elvira Aldao de Diazcon grosera avidez,
(1858-1950); Agustina Andrade (1861-1891); le claven los anteojos a la autora
Emmade laBarra( 1861-1947); SilviaFernandez y la aplaudan despues! (Maube 67-68).
(1857-1945); Lola Larrosa de Ansaldo (1859- Social mores of the time also prevented women
1895); EduardaMansillade Garcia( 1838-1892); from joining the nocturnal "Bohemia" of the
Josefina Pelliza de Sagasta (1848-1888); and men's literary circles, especially those of the
Edelina Soto y Calvo (1844-1932).' These women avant-garde Modernists. In his Autobiografia,
were numerous enough to form the first real Ruben Dario says of his bar-hopping with literary
generation of women writers in Argentina; friends, "se comprende que la sobriedad no era
nuestra principal virtud" (102). Photos of the
talented enough to win respect from other writers

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 THE WOMEN WRITERS OF THE GENERACION DEL 80 IN ARGENTINA 283

nighttime crowd at Dario' s haunts such aslas bellezas

Aue' s yanquis carecen de ciertas redondeces atracti-
Keller and the Cafe de los Inmortales show vas que tienen su razon de ser (41).

As a good Argentine, Mansilla is surprised by

nothing but male faces (except for the all-female
dance band at Aue's Keller) [Rivera]. Perhaps
how much seafood the North Americans eat (38),
this social obstacle explains why women didannoyed
not by their ignorance of Hispanic America
fully participate in the experimentation with (74), and both fascinated and horrified by P.T.
Modernism, which was so often spoken of as
Bamrnum' s museum (139-44). Mansillais as quick
"decadent." to praise as to criticize. She speaks approvingly
Similarly, the barriers to public service for
of the U.S.'s women journalists, citing both the
women (except in charity organizations of course)
quality of their writing and the money they earn:
prevented women from being considered for the
...las mujeres tienen un medio honrado e intelectual para
diplomatic corps, a post traditionally given to
ganar su vida: y se emancipan asi de la cruel servidumbre de
men writers and an important source of income la aguja, servidumbre terrible desde la invencion de las
for them. Virtually all the men of the Ochentamaquinas de coser. Mas tarde debia aparecer la mujer
empleado, ya en el Correo ya en los Ministerios (115).
were diplomats or other public servants; none of
the women was given such a post. Eduarda Mansilla' s frankness fails her, however, when
Mansilla did accompany her husband on his she refers to prostitution ( 1 3 8) and the few children
diplomatic posts in Europe and the United States, that North American women have, public
but her responsibilities were strictly those of evidence of the use of birth control (137-38).
wife, mother, and "extranjera distinguida" (Re- Eduarda, moreover, was too respectable and
cuerdos 80). (Eduarda used her time in New protected to travel where her brother Lucio went:
York to gather material forRecuerdos de viaje, the
andpampas of her own Argentina.
in Paris she wrote Pablo ou la vie dans les pam- The extent of the limitations on a woman's
pas.) sphere of activities can be seen most clearly in the
The same limitations on personal experience works of Elvira Aldao de Diaz. Her many books
can be seen in the travel accounts of the women of memoirs are an invaluable portrait of the life
of 1880. To a certain extent, these limitations of a woman from Argentina's privileged class.
were not that different from the accounts of maleAldao tells all: gossip, scandals, funny stories,
writers. It was one thing to do wild, scandalous and what she wore, ate, read, thought, and said.
things while traveling; it was quite another to Fortunately, she writes in a simple, conversational
write about them. Public morals were very strict style that suits her subject matter and is a welcome
for both men and women, and though Lucio break from the flowery rhetoric of the time. Her
Mansilla and Eduardo Wilde could hint at comments are often witty and worldly, and
forbidden nocturnal adventures, they could not
evidently also indiscreet, since her brother tried
write frankly about them. A woman could not to buy up and destroy the copies of Recuerdos de
even hint. As a result, there is much museum antano. However, Aldao' s life was utterly
visiting, concert going, shopping, and taking tea.conventional for a woman of good family: no
There are a good number of these travel books, adventure, no rebellion, no doubts, and little
because the journey to Europe or the United education. It is hard for the modern reader to read
States was the ultimate act of snobbery of the Aldao's works without wondering what this
time, and travel memoirs found a ready market inintelligent, energetic woman could have
Buenos Aires (Schade). Eduarda Mansilla was a accomplished if she had had the freedom to enter
traveler who fortunately never reached jaded a profession or even travel freely. This is an
sophistication. Her Recuerdos de viaje (1882) is unfair judgement, however. Her merit is in
a perceptive and lively observation of life- recognizing that a woman' s life and concerns are
especially the lives of women-in the United worth writing about. Moreover, she has the saving
States. For example, she is appalled by the eatinggrace of being able to laugh at herself, as when
habits of the women in the U.S. and by their she buys an extravagant hat:
preoccupation with slenderness: El modelo-como todos los modelos-acababa de llegar
de Paris y bastandome ese salvoconducto le otorgue ciu-
Esas mujeres que parecen vivir del aire, como nuestras dadania, sin detenerme a pensar que el modelo era del
orquideas del Parana, comen y beben cual heroes de Homero. presente y yo ya pertenecia al pasado (Recuerdos 136).
Y, sin embargo, lo primero que preguntan a las demas
mujeres cuando tienen confianza es: ",Cuantas libras pesa Aldao shared the male writers' infatuation
with Paris; for her and other women, though, this
usted? Yo no peso sino tantas." El merito estetico para ellas
esta en razon directa de su poca abundancia de tejido boiled down to the snobbery of fashion, as can be
adiposo. No les falta razon hasta cierto punto; pero, a veces,

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284 HISPANIA74 MAY 1991

seen in her comments concerning another hat, an

meeting ground for women writers.
ultra-fashionable Parisian number that caused But most of all, Gorriti and Matto de Turner
laughter on the calle Florida: made money by their writing. This
accomplishment
La burla que provoco en Buenos Aires, fue obra exclusiva inspired many women to try
their
del tiempo que tardan en nuestra Capital, en implantarse las hand at both journalism and literature, and
modas francesas. Aunque se crea estar al dia en esa grave a lucky few, most notably Emma de la Barra,
cuestion, no se esta. En cuanto llegan a Paris las argentinas,
made enough money to be financially
se evidencia ese retardo, sobre todo en los sombreros y
especialmente en su colocacion: siempre llegan a Paris con independent. Moreover, the economic attractions
el sombrero mal puesto (138). of writing opened opportunities to women of less
privileged classes; though poor women were still
Of course, the world does intrude even at the kept silent by poor education and outright
milliner's. In one scene, Aldao's hatmaker de- prejudice, women of the middle class such as
scribes the terror of the bombardment during Lola Larrosa de Ansaldo (who had a son and
World War I while she adjusts Aldao's new hat mentally ill husband to support (Cutolo) joined
(140). Ultimately, however, the Paris of dress- their wealthy sisters in writing for the newspapers
makers and milliners seems very pale in com- and magazines. Journalists were not well paid;
parison with the Paris of bohemian artists and however, steadierjobs such as factory work were
nightclubs that the men wrote about. not open to women, especially middle-class
The social mores that circumscribed women's women. Rivera estimates that journalists could
lives presented another obstacle when the female make between 100 and 300 pesos monthly at a
writer began to search for a publisher for her time when factory workers received about 4
work. Though the first barriers to publication hadpesos a day (20-22). For a man with other
been broken in the 1850's by Juana Manso employment options, these were barely adequate
(1819-1875) and Rosa Guerra (?-1894), women wages; for a woman of limited opportunities,
still had to struggle and scheme to get their works
they were highly attractive. Novels, however,
accepted. Some general social developments of were still generally published through vanity
the late 1800' s, such as an increase in the numberpresses, and thus were beyond the reach of writers
of newspapers and magazines (Lafleur 13-57), who lacked money or patronage (Rivera 45-46).
benefitted writers of both sexes. Other changes,Women writers, therefore, usually preferred to
however, were brought about by the women write short stories, poetry, travel articles, or other
themselves. For example, two extraordinary short works that could be sold quickly and easily
writers championed the cause of women and to the newspapers and magazines.
helped organize the literary women's network. In this atmosphere, having the right family
Juana Manuela Gorriti (1819-1892) arrived in and political connections could still make the
Buenos Aires in 1874, and immediately began difference; Eduarda Mansilla, for example, was
sponsoring literary tertulias as she had done a niece of the dictator Rosas and the sister of
previously in Lima (Meehan 8). She founded La Lucio Mansilla, general, diplomat, and popular
Alborada del Plata in November of 1875 (Sosa writer. Agustina Andrade was helped by her
"Incorporacion" 267), and as the magazine's father, the poet and editor Olegario Andrade, and
editor, she encouraged women to submit mate- her husband, the explorer Ramon Lista. Edelina
rial. Clorinda Matto de Turner (1852-1909), Soto y Calvo published her first book of poetry at
arriving in 1895, organized a literary circle as the insistence of her poet brother, Francisco Soto
well, and founded El Bucaro Americano y Calvo, and his wife, Maria Obligado, sister of
(February 1896-May 1908) which also actively the poet Rafael Obligado. Money, of course,
published women's works (Lafleur 21-22). opened doors too. The very rich Elvira Aldao de
Invited to the all-male Ateneo de Buenos Ai- Diaz traveled in luxury and then wrote about it in
res-the excluded women had formed their own self-subsidized publications. (Aldao and her
Sociedad Proteccionista Intelectual a month after husband set the fashion in Rosario, buying the
the founding of the Ateneo (Lafleur 15)-, Matto first private motor car and installing the first
de Turner gave an impassioned speech advocating English-style bathroom [Sosa Diccionario]).
greater recognition for women writers from all Even wealth and patronage, however, could
over Latin America. The speech was published not entirely overcome prejudice against women's
both in El BucaroAmericano and in her collection works. Both Eduarda Mansilla and Emma de la
of essays Boreales, miniaturas y porcelanas Barra, for example, wrote under male
(245-66). These activities provided a focus and a pseudonyms, a common practice at the time.

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 THE WOMEN WRITERS OF THE GENERACION DEL 80 IN ARGENTINA 285

This mask ofa male name made their works more progress that male writers did not: the vision
acceptable to editors as well as to the readingchanges the young man completely, and he aban-
public. That there was not enough encouragementdons his previous idea that women are meant to
or patronage of women can be seen in the preface "contribuir al desarrollo vital y nada mas; lo
to Josefina Pelliza de Sagasta's Conferencias contrario no es sino sentimentalismo enfermizo
(1885), in which she says: que pasara" (64).
... no dire las frases con que la mayorparte de los autores
Josefina Pelliza de Sagasta was also a
comienzan el prefacio de sus libros: -"el consejo de los proponent of the Ochenta's concept of progress,
amigos ha influido para decidirme a dar a la luz publica estas which she, like Mansilla, understood to mean an
paginas que, sin esa influencia afectuosa, estaban condena- improved status for women. Her poem "El siglo
das a vivir en el archive privado, etc."
XIX" is typical of the generation's ideology.
Yo, por el contrario, sin influencias, sin consejos, ni
Progress is
mucho menos amigos, doy mi libro a la publicidad.. the intercontinental telegraph cable,
.(7).
the railroad, science, and industry; the obstacles
Once published, there was often little noticeare the Indians and the backward
to progress
or publicity given by critics to thepast:
works. The
exception was the case of Cesar Duayen' s novel
jMirad alia! En la extension vacia
Stella (1905), the best-selling work of the Donde el casco tan solo
Generation of 1880.2 But when it was revealed Del bruto americano se sentia,
that the author was a woman, Emma de la Barra, Hoy se alza una comarca de colonos;
Y en la linea distante
the status of the work changed to a "woman's
Donde el salvaje su botin guardaba,
novel." Nowadays, Stella is not mentioned in
jHoy cruza como un lampo
discussions of the Generation of 1880. The most El silbato del tren sobre la Pampa,
widely recognized anthology, Noe Jitrik's El 80 Dejando en el trayecto de su paso
y su mundo, does not include a selection from El rastro hermoso que el progreso estampa! (Pasionarias
3 1-34).
Stella or any other work by a woman.
Though women writers faced stricter social She develops this idea of inevitable evolution
mores and greater barriers to their literary toward progress more thoroughly in her book
production than the men of their generation, theConferencias, in which she traces the oppression
themes of the women were often similar to thoseof women from the earliest times to the nine-
of the men. One theme that both women and men teenth century. She angrily points out that women
held in common was the belief in progress. writers in other Hispanic American countries
"Progress" was a magic word, used to invoke a have been able to accomplish more than the
vision of Argentina as a wealthy and developed women in Argentina, and she attributes this to
nation (Biagini). The models were mainly Paris their greater intellectual progress:
(for its culture and pleasure-seeking mores), Hay en el centro de esta hermosa America, un grupo de
England (for its industry and science), and, morerepublicas todas florecientes y bellas, siempre adelante en
cautiously, the United States (for its democracy el progreso intelectual, donde la mujer es considerada de
and pragmatism). The "inevitable law of una manera superior, y alentada en la escala ascendente del
saber y la ilustracion.
progress"-to use the Ochenta's favorite
phrase-brought electricity, new architecture, Pena causa decirlo en cualquiera de esas republicas del
better transportation, and better sanitary ecuador...la mujer reviste un importancia que carece en
absoluto, en nuestra tierra argentina (157).
conditions to Buenos Aires. The women of the
Ochenta supported these ideals and projects inPelliza hopes to shame Argentines by using the
their works. For instance, Eduarda Mansilla's generation's greatest insult: oppression of women
"El ramito de romero" (1883) is a short story in is anti-progressive.
which a medical student has a vision of eternal The theme that was most important to the
progress: women of the Ochenta was the need for improved
Como en los atlas de Lessage, veiase alli de un modo education, especially education for women.
sincronico, el camino de la humanidad, en espirales ascen- Pelliza de Sagasta as usual was the angriest writer
dentes, obedeciendo a leyes tan inmutables, como lo son las for this cause. In her Conferencias she writes:
de atraccion y gravitacion en el mundo fisico, retrocediendo
en aparencia durante siglos, pero avanzando siempre. Vi la La mujer del presente va cruzando el escenario de la vida
ley del progreso humano... Vi la llegada triunfante de la ajena a todo desarrollo intelectual ... Su campo de accion no
humanidad a una zona luminosa y armonica... (76-77). puede ser mas reducido, se puede hacer en cuatro palabras
de sonido hueco el croquis en que se encierran los puntos
Yet Mansilla draws a conclusion from this cardinales de esa vida: la moda, el lujo, la vanidad, la
ignorancia, y luego el fastidio... La instruccion, la ilustra-

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286 HISPANIA74 MAY 1991

cion, bastaria a salvarla, el hombre lo sabe, lo ha

thepensado,
house with its private rooms and Spanish-
pero lo teme, por eso echa Ilave a su biblioteca y deja solo
style enclosed gardens often forms a setting of
a la mujer el devocionario cotidiano! (55-56)
intimacy for the poet's voice. In Edelina Soto y
But few Argentines read Pelliza's works, Calvo'sand "Crepuscular," for example, the fading
both she and the other most vocal proponent light in the of house's garden evokes religious
women's rights, Maria Eugenia Echenique, feelings:died
young before their careers had a wider impact.
En esta hora en que se muere el Dia
Emma de la Barra's Stella, however, was a Y con su luz se esfuma la alegria;
best-seller that went through many editions. InCuando en augusta calma silenciosa
this novel, a half-Norwegian orphan comes to La natura parece mas hermosa,
Buenos Aires to live with her uncle's family. Y el jardin entre sombra solitaria
Semeja una plegaria...
From her Scandinavian perspective, AlejandraVen, dulce amada mia,
critically observes Argentine society: Tierna Melancolia
Y ensename a morir asi callada,
Descubria una sociedad moralmente ineducada, en la que El alma sosegada,
era absoluta la despreocupaci6n de enseniar y de aprender aComo en brazos de Dios se muere el Dia (Maube 442).
pensar; que era esta la razon por la cual a pesar de la
asombrosa facilidad de comprension y el desarrollo de la
Silvia Fernandez also feels the contentment of
facultad intelectiva de los mas, tan pocos descollaban; por "Mi rincon":
la cual, mientras en otras partes habia tantos hombres
superiores con inteligencias mediocres, en esta habia tantos ,Donde, con menor empeno,
hombres mediocres con inteligencias superiores. Se asom- Mejor suelo entretejer
braba ahora mucho menos de que se consideraran todavia Un verso con un ensueno,
como cosas secundrias, el arte, las letras, la misma ciencia; Donde, en fin, de si, es mas dueno
de que la intelectualidad no tuviera su ambiente (69). Mi corazon de mujer? (Maube 215).

The education her cousins receive reflects this
mediocrity in its focus on etiquette rather than
intellectual training:
...los padres se preocupaban de instruir, descuidando el
educar, dos cosas tan distintas. Y asi era que poseyendo
correccion en los modales, finura y moderaci6n en las
palabras, carecian todos en aquella casa de la educacion
interior, que es formacion, desenvolvimiento, perfecciona-
miento de la inteligencia, del caracter, del corazon (69).
Therefore, Alejandra becomes the children's
teacher; from this viewpoint, Alejandra (who is
the principal character in the novel despite its
title) is able to elaborate on both modem educa-
tion and the nation's ills that proper education
could correct. For example, she laments that the
gauchos are not incorporated into general society
(213) and criticizes the materialism of recent
immigrants (228). But mainly she deplores the
lives of the women in her uncle's family. Having
no real occupation, they spend their time plan-
ning social events, gossiping, and conspiring to
arrange marriages. Their malice eventually drives
This feeling of peace and contentment within the
intimacy of the house is distinctive to the women
writers of the Ochenta; the male writers do not
reflect this sentiment. Even so, the image of the
house that inspires the women is not the one filled
with children, servants, and noise; rather, it is the
image of solitude, privacy, and doors closed
against interruption. It is "a room of one's own"
(in Virginia Woolfs famous phrase) where a
woman can pursue a life of contemplation. Silvia
Fernandez ironically presents the other face of
the house image, acknowledging the conflict
between her poetic ambitions and the chores of
daily life in "Zurciendo medias":
Deja que zurza las medias,
Musa mia,
Deja que tome sus puntos...
Cual un diablillo me asedias...
iVenir a exponerme asuntos
de elevada poesia!...
Deja que zurza las medias,
Musa mia.
Sin querer te presto oido,

Alejandra away, but not before she has the chance iTentadora!
Que me hablas de hermosos temas
to praise the freedom to work that the Scandina- Mientras remato un zurcido.
vian women enjoy (75), while criticizing Argen- jIncitarme, seductora,
tine women for their religious intolerance and A escribir altos poemas
superstition (48, 58) and for having too many Cuando me ves, en la cana,
0 el talon, o la plantilla
children (59).
De una media, cual la arania
In addition to education, anotherpreoccupation Laborando una telilla!...(Maube 214).
of the women writers was the importance of
family, house, andhousehold duties. Forexample, They often wrote of the changes occurring in

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 THE WOMEN WRITERS OF THE GENERACION DEL 80 IN ARGENTINA 287

any special skills or education, she almost starves

family structure due to the upheaval of tumrn-of-
the-century Argentine society brought aboutto death
by before returning to the country, where
industrialization and urbanization, large-scale
herfamily welcomes the prodigalhome. Rosalia's
immigration, a boom and bust economy, falland
is financial not moral, which leaves open the
question of whether she would have been happy
growing secularization in both public and private
if only
life. Though all the writers defend marriage and she had had a steady income.
motherhood as noble pursuits, they also One of the most interesting characters that
Rosalia meets in Buenos Aires is Maria, who has
vehemently advocate changes within the family.
LolaLarrosade Ansaldo, for example, championswritten a letter to a wealthy woman requesting
traditional family values in her novels, but sponsorship for a publication:
recognizes at the same time the role of economic
Tengo una traduccion del frances terminada, y desearia
stability in the integrity of the family. In El lujo
darla a la publicidad, para facilitarnos recursos, que libren
(1889) the plot is a re-working of the prodigal son
a mi madre querida de los horrores de la miseria...!
parable, replacing the son with Rosalia, a young
Pero, tropiezo con tantas dificultades...!
woman who abandons her husband to go to .. Sea V., pues, mi providencia bendita, y logre yo, por su
Buenos Aires in search of the life of wealth and benefico intermedio, la realizaci6n de mis deseos... (114).

leisure that she has read about in romantic novels. Maria must have been an important character to
The narrator entirely disapproves: Larrosa, since Larrosa was also struggling to
support her family by her earnings as a writer,
Olvidabase la desgraciada, de que la mujer que pretende and she had to seek patronage for her novels from
salir de su propia esfera, menospreciando los sencillos
the wealthy. Inthe introduction toLos esposos, the
goces de su vida apacible, para trocarlos por otros que no le
pertenecen, esta proxima a hundirse en el abismo lobrego e editor asks for "la generosa proteccion de todos"
insondable del desengano y la desesperacion (122). for Larrosa "porque pesa sobre ella terrible
desgracia":
Liceta, the heroine of Larrosa's Los esposos
Lola Larrosa de Ansaldo, alejada del bullicio del mundo,
(1893), echoes these sentiments, as she tries topor la natural timidez de su caracter, vive refugiada en su
convince an adulterous friend (also led astray hogar,
by y luchando heroicamente con la suerte adversa,
the wrong kind of books) to abandon her lover repartiendo su vida entre la labor diaria y el cuidado de su
hijito unico y de su esposo enfermo... (12).
and return to her husband:
Larrosa died of tuberculosis two years later at the
La mujer casada no debe sonar con placeres que esten fuera
del circulo honesto de sus afecciones, santificadas por Dios.age of 36. Of hernovels, probably El lujo received
Los placeres mas puros y los mas durables estan en el seno the most critical praise, though not for advocat-
de su mismo hogar, en el amor tranquilo del marido bueno ing woman's traditional role as Larrosa had
y confiado. (43)
intended. Instead, the novel earned its place in
Almost in spite of herself, however, Larrosa literary history for dealing with "el ansia del
acknowledges that poverty and hard work can dinero, la especulacion y la venalidad que entonces
threaten the family as much as excessive wealth. habian invadido un vasto sector de la sociedad
Though El lujo is intended to praise simple country portena" (Cutolo). In this, Larrosa anticipated
life over the city's decadence, it is hard for a the theme that brought greater fame to Julian
reader today not to sympathize with the errant Martel through his novel La bolsa (1891).
Rosalia's rebellion: For other women of the generation, the
traditional duties of family, house, and church
... Rosalia sonaba con algo mejor que levantarse con la luz
were not sufficient. They hoped for reform in the
del alba, preparar la comida, arreglar la casa, cuidar de la
huerta y del corral, y luego hacer encaje. family structure and sought public outlets for
their energies. Eduarda Mansilla, for instance,
Porque las dos hijas de dona Amparo, siendo esta pobre y lists "la destruccion de la familia, tal cual hoy la
no pudiendo costearse la subsistencia sin trabajar, hacian
conocemos" among the changes that will lead
primorosisimos encajes, que luego vendian a una mujer,
que comerciaba en este ramo, revendiendo con ganancia
eventually to "la llegada triunfante de la humani-
cierta en la ciudad, lo que en el pueblo adquiriaporpoco mas dad a una zona luminosa y armonica" ("Ramito"
o menos (17-18). 76). Emma de la Barra's Stella is an extended
criticism of traditional Hispanic family patterns,
After moving to Buenos Aires, Rosalia is ablethough
to she, as all the women of the Ochenta, also
resist the temptations of adultery, but financial
defends women's role as mother, teacher, nurturer,
speculation ruins her sponsors, and Rosalia is and civilizing influence. For example, the novel
forced to move into the slums. Unequipped withsupports women's participation in public

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288 HISPANIA74 MAY 1991

sets them
employment, where they can use the skills apart from the male literary tradition,
learned
ultimately both the men and the women are
by keeping a house to improve the business
climate. According to the novel's heroine,
concernedin
with the changes necessary to create a
Sweden new Argentina. The women's differences, then,
elaborate on the men's themes and add to them,
la mujer coopera en el trabajo del hombre, y su influencia ha
rather than contradict them altogether. Similarly,
penetrado en todas partes. Las casas bancarias, las oficinas
female literary evolution is not
necessarily an
de registros y correos, estan amuebladas con un confort
envidiable: es que sus empleados son mujeres (75). opposing tradition, but rather
a parallel one,
following its own course, but staying near to
Josefina Pelliza de Sagasta's Conferencias also
male development. As members of their society
defends and elevates women by attacking thein general, women writers are concerned with the
religious heritage that degrades women's uniquecommon issues of their day. Yet as women, they
ability to bear children: interpret those issues in their own terms; their
topic may be genderless, but their voice is always
La maternidad no fue un castigo, una maldicion, como lofemale.
cuenta la tradici6n en una fabula ridicula inventada por el
catolicismo; no, la mujer fue creada con la intencion sagrada
*NOTES
de la perpetuidad de la especie humana, destinada a la
generacion, como un genesis sempiterno-creadora! (46-
47). This study owes a great debt to previous research
women writers, paticularly Lynn Cortina, Meri Knast
Marting, Jose Carlos Maube and Adolfo Capdevielle, Elida
Pelliza opposes political emancipation for women Ruiz, and most of all, Lily Sosa de Newton.
because she fears that it will reduce their status in
The spelling has been modernized in some quotations.
the family (67-68). However, she seeks more 'The names listed here do not form a complete roster, of
course. This list was compiled on three criteria: being born
legal protection for the woman within the family
between 1830 and 1865, writing steadily rather than occasion-
structure, advocating laws giving the woman
ally, and being accessible for research today. The custom of
equal control of the family finances and com- using pseudonyms, which was common for both men and
plete custody of the children: women in the nineteenth century, frustrates efforts at tracing
women's contributions, though the identities behind some
El derecho sagrado sobre los hijos que llev6 en sus pseudonyms are known. EduardaMansilla, for example, wrote
entranas, la enalteceria a los ojos de la familia, de la a series of articles between 1871 and 1872 forEl Plata llustrado
sociedad dandole autonomia moral y una individualidad de under the name of "Alvar." However, many women's contri-
que carece. butions are lost forever due to this practice. Other women's
Esa ley salvariaen muchos casos los intereses en peligro names do appear without pseudonyms, but their works are
por la disipacion del esposo, ya en el juego, ya en el ga- scattered throughout the periodicals of the time, and they were
lanteo; intereses casi siempre de menores que el padre deja not well known to the reading public. An example is Matilde A.
a veces reducidos a la miseria, porque la madre debil y sin Vera (1857-1908), journalist and author of "Influencia de la
derechos, se dejo despojar en su caracter de subdita- mujer en el progreso de la patria" (1900). In addition, Lafleur
automataoesclava. recognizes these women in hisLasrevistasliterariasargentinas:
Pudiendo la madre administrar sus bienes sin trabas ni Casiana Flores, Blanca del Rio, Adela Castell, Dorila Castell de
dependencias la fortuna de sus hijos estaria asegurada y Orozco, Sofia Emery y Lagos, and Alcira Facio (15-16). Also
libre de la ruina en que se envuelven tantas familias (71). see Clorinda Matto de Turner's list in her speech before the
Ateneo de Buenos Aires (252-55). Maria Eugenia Echenique
T he family issues that Pelliza discusses link (185 1-1878) had barely begun a career that had already brought
the reform of private life with that of public her to public attention when she died at the age of 26. Her best-
society. To change the dynamics of power known writing was a debate over the role of women with
JosefinaPelliza de Sagasta in the pages of La Ondina del Plata
and responsibility within the husband-wife
(1875-1877).
relationship implies achange in otherrelationships 2The popular success of Stella led CasaMaucci to pay Barra
as well, such as those of economic classes and an advance of 5,000 pesos for her next novel, publishing a first
political authority. Though this critical look at run of 6,000copies (SosaDiccionario). To putthis contract into
perspective, it should be remembered that anormal first run was
family issues is the most obvious distinction
500 copies, and that in 1905 one of the highest-paid writers of
between the men and women of the Generacion the time, Florencio Sanchez, only received 2,000 pesos for
del 80, it is only one of many differences that Barranca abajo (Rivera 83).
define a distinctly female narrative voice and
literary production. From the choice of genre to * WORKS CITED
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