Latin American Studies ETDs

Publication Date

7-12-1974

Abstract

Between the ouster of Colonel Juan Domingo Perón from the Presidency of Argentina in September 1955 and his return to power in the Fall of 1973, Argentine women began to write political novels, a new phenomenon in the Argentine literary scene, since few, if any, novels had been created by female novelists prior to 1955. The basic goals of this study are to determine what type(s) of politics these writers possess and to evaluate how they interpret their political ambience through their literary craft. After two historical chapters describing political events from World War I to 1970 and their general rendition by male novelists, the body of analysis of works by women writers is broken down into four thematic sections: "Peronism," "Personalism," "The Stagnated Society," and "The Leftist Slant." The eight authors and their novels are: Syria Poletti (Genta conmigo); María Esther de Miguel (Calamares en su tinta); Irma Cairoli (Teresa Panza en Buenos Aires); Elvira Orphée (Uno); Beatriz Guido (Fin de fiesta and El incendio y las vísperas); Marta Lynch (La alfombra roja and El cruce del río); Silvina Bullrich (Los salvadores de la patria and La creciente); and Iverna Codina (Detrás del grito and Los guerrilleros). The novelists are divided into two groups, the first category consisting of Cairoli, Poletti, Bullrich and Miguel as writers who seek to depict society in a fairly objective manner, and the second classification is made up of Lynch, Orphée, Codina and Guido who use fiction to expound their particular ideologies and world views. The degree to which they develop their political views (the authors range across the entire spectrum from arch-conservative Right to Far Left) extends from the outright Marxist hardline of Iverna Codina to the personal vilification of the Perón's by Beatriz Guido. The Perón regime is the most discussed and deplored regime in the novels, with the themes of the politicalization of the armed forces, guerrilla warfare and personalist politics receiving lesser weight and emphasis. from the literary standpoint, there are few novels with highly sophisticated stylistic and narrative techniques; poetic imagery and language are also absent, as the esthetic is subordinated to the thematic and extraliterary aspects. The novels cast light on the workings of the political system and the internal processes of acquiring and keeping political power. Criticism of the Peronist machine, the ramifications of caciguismo and caudillismo in the personalist political process, the concept of the hombre vivo, the procedures in parliamentary gatherings and the ineptitude of the army in government provide controversial perspectives into the Argentine political system, particularly in the decade of the 1960s. Conclusions drawn from this study are that Argentine women novelists have a keen insight into the socio-political problems of their nation, and that they effectively express their disenchantment with the status quo. Viewed collectively, their novels serve to generate interest in creating a socio­logical integration in Argentina.

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Latin American Studies

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Latin American Studies

Second Department

Latin American Studies

First Committee Member (Chair)

Marshall Rutherford Nason

Second Committee Member

Robert William Kern

Third Committee Member

Dinko Cvitanovic

Fourth Committee Member

Pedro Rubens David

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