Negotiating sainthood : distinction, cursilería and saintliness in Spanish novels / Kathy Bacon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bacon, Kathy.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Saints in literature.

Spanish fiction--19th century--History and criticism.

Spanish fiction.

Spanish fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

Physical Description:

200 pages ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Legenda, 2007.

Summary:

This study demonstrates the previously unrecognised significance of discourses of saintliness for constructions of gender and national identity in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Spanish culture. Kathy Bacon's innovative approach to sainthood leads to fresh readings of texts by Spains three principal realist novelists: La familia de Len Roch and Nazarn (Benito Prez Galds, 1878 and 1895), La Regenta (Leopoldo Alas, 1884-85), and Dulce dueo (Emilia Pardo Bazn, 1911). The author challenges the conventional distinction between anti-clerical and spiritual novels by these writers, and questions previous feminist assumptions about the negative role of religion for female identity. Sainthood emerges as a key theme through which texts grapple with Spains difficult transition to modernity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [181]-191) and index.

ISBN:

9781904350927

1904350925

OCLC:

86168380