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Ana María Matute, Rosa Montero, and Lucía Etxebarria: The Reception and Dissemination of ‘Women’s Writing’ in Spain

Oaknin, M; (2014) Ana María Matute, Rosa Montero, and Lucía Etxebarria: The Reception and Dissemination of ‘Women’s Writing’ in Spain. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis explores the Spanish authors, Ana María Matute (1926-), Rosa Montero (1952-), and Lucía Etxebarri a (1966-) in the context of the socio-political background of the Franco Regime, the transition to democracy and the contemporary period in Spain. Its primary focus is on their perception of the label ‘women’s writer’ and their ‘public personaʼ: that is, the public perception of these three writers that is produced by the reception of their work, their status and interaction with the wider public in interviews, and, increasingly, via the internet. The question of as the existence, or not, of ‘women's writing’ has been a subject of academic debate for decades, and it could be argued that my focus on women only in this thesis is retrogressive. Two of the three writers I have chosen to focus on have also already inspired a number of academic studies. However, as the small number of women writers included the Royal Academy demonstrates, I would argue that as all publish their work in a cultural environment that is still dominated by men, the question of ‘women’s writing’ remains a important topic of debate. My own contribution to this debate is indebted to Henseler's (2003) study of Spanish women writers and the publishing industry. In her ground-breaking work, Henseler claims that Spanish Generation X writers have the potential to subvert the literary system by embracing the increasing commercialism of the literary market to promote their works. This is the claim that I take this as my point of departure for a more in-depth analysis of the hitherto understudied relationship between the gender of these three writers and the rapidly changing publishing industry in which they work. However, my own reading of Matute, Montero, and especially Etxebarria’s public appearances, via Joe Moran’s (2000) study of the growing importance of the ‘star- author’, suggests that, far from offering a vehicle for subversion, the fact that contemporary authors have to negotiate public appearances and the photo shoot is just another symptom of an increasingly commercialised and ‘virtual’, or web-based literary market-place. Finally, my research also carries out a close analysis of their representation of the changing Spanish society over the thirty years in which each of these highly successful women writers has published their major work. Since these are women who are particularly representative of three different generations, I have chosen to examine the way the ‘motherʼ - as the metaphorical representative and as a ‘ghostly reminder’ of the previous generation - is represented in their work.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: Ana María Matute, Rosa Montero, and Lucía Etxebarria: The Reception and Dissemination of ‘Women’s Writing’ in Spain
Language: English
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > SELCS
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1427919
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