SSStttooonnnyyy BBBrrrooooookkk UUUnnniiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy The official electronic file of this thesis or dissertation is maintained by the University Libraries on behalf of The Graduate School at Stony Brook University. ©©© AAAllllll RRRiiiggghhhtttsss RRReeessseeerrrvvveeeddd bbbyyy AAAuuuttthhhooorrr... “A Home Divided: A Post-National Approach to Family, Gender and Region in Modern Galician Narrative” A Dissertation Presented by Danny Michael Barreto to The Graduate School In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Hispanic Languages and Literature Stony Brook University August 2010 Stony Brook University The Graduate School Danny Michael Barreto We, the dissertation committee for the above candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this dissertation. Lou Charnon-Deutsch-Dissertation Advisor Professor, Hispanic Languages and Literature Kathleen Vernon-Chairperson of Defense Associate Professor, Hispanic Languages and Literature Daniela Flesler Associate Professor, Hispanic Languages and Literature José Colmeiro Professor, Spanish University of Aukland This dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School Lawrence Martin Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of the Dissertation “A Home Divided: A Post-National Approach to Family, Gender and Region in Modern Galician Narrative” by Danny Michael Barreto Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and Literature Stony Brook University 2010 By focusing on the case of Galicia, A Home Divided represents an attempt to understand the multiple linguistic and gendered subjectivities that are enclosed within and excluded from larger regional/national Iberian identities. Contemporary debates about identity in post-national Iberia are often contingent upon the belief that since the nineteenth century there was a singular, official Spanish national identity that in the last few decades has been superseded by the political recognition of Spain’s autonomous communities. I engage with these discussions by taking nineteenth-century Galicia as a starting point for thinking about post-national Iberian identities. Through a close reading of the region’s fin- de-siècle literature, we see that rather than offering singular origins for what have become modern day Galician and Spanish identities, this was a period marked by linguistic, political and cultural ambiguity. Literary, feminist and post-colonial studies help analyze the complex images of home and family (the nation and the region) that were represented by Galician authors. Beginning with a critical history of the Rexurdimento (c. 1860-1900), we see that the linguistic plurality of Galicia justifies questioning philologically determined definitions of Spanish and Galician literatures that have limited the ways in which critics have approached them. The second chapter analyzes how from different transnational and gendered positions different writers created narratives of exile and enclosure that offer unhomely visions of home/land. The third chapter examines incest and illegitimacy as tropic expressions of anxiety about the legitimacy of Galician and Spanish nationalisms, particularly in the works of M. Valladares, Pardo Bazán and X. Rodríguez López. In the final chapter I argue that the domestic violence so common in Galician narrative reveals the violence—colonial, cultural, sexual, and economic—implicit in the creation and perpetuation of Galician and Spanish national identities. Revealing the multiplicity of pre-national Iberian identities, these analyses offer historical legitimacy to a variety of linguistic and gendered post-national identities today. iii To my mom and dad, JoAnn and Jim. Without their guidance I would not have discovered this path. The pages that follow are a testament to their love, encouragement, and generosity. Because of their dedication to me, I dedicate this dissertation to them with all of my love. Table of Contents Acknowledgements..................................................................... vi Introduction................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Of Mother Tongues and Fatherlands A Critical History of Galician Literary History and Criticism..... 26 The Galician Rexurdimento ...................................... 26 The Language of History and the History of Language: “O criterio filolóxico”.............. 41 Old Boundaries, New Frontiers: Contemporary Approaches to Galician Literature..... 52 Chapter 2: ‘Miña terra n’e miña’ Echoes of Emigration and Enclosure.............................................. 82 Chapter 3: Strange Resemblances Cultural and Sexual Endogamy and Exogamy.............................. 128 Chapter 4: Dysfunctional Fictions The Violent Nature of Galician Narrative...................................... 178 The Violent Nature of Galician Romance.................. 186 Blood(y) Ties: Family Romance and National Identity.................... 210 Conclusions................................................................................... 233 Bibliography................................................................................. 243 Appendix........................................................................................ 258 v Acknowledgements This study of families, emigrations and homes must begin with a thank you to my own family. Their successes, losses, sacrifices and gains have made it possible for me to have the opportunities that they lacked. In addition to my parents, I also want to thank my brother Joseph, whose accomplishments I believe and hope will outshine my own. Over the years, my cousin Steve has also become a friend and colleague. If not for the endless hours we spent as undergrads in bookstores, poetry readings, cafés and 24-hour bagel stores, I’m sure that this dissertation would never have seen the light of day. This is also an acknowledgement of those who have passed but whose memory and influence continue to shape my future—Danny Barreto, Lisa Reinertsen Barreto, Carl Reinertsen. This dissertation would never have been written without the years of encouragement from my uncle Michael and my aunt Marie, as well from my uncles, aunts and cousins who are too many to name. Thank you. In the classrooms, rooftops and hallways of Hunter College I learned to see the world through different eyes—my own eyes. It is where I learned to read, question, argue, conspire and aspire to a better future for myself and for the city that has been the greatest classroom of all. The hours spent talking with Zach, Marijo, Sayeeda, Suheir, Noelia, and Mehdi about literature, change, and sometimes about absolutely nothing are among my fondest memories. My professors Lisa Tolhurst, Marisa Parham, Carlos Hortas, and Xan González- Millán deserve particular mention for making me the student, professor and person that I am today. Álex Alonso at differing times has been my professor, tour guide, colleague, coworker, and collaborator. At each stage of this project he has offered support, feedback and suggestions for which I am grateful. I do not have the words to adequately thank Lou Charnon-Deutsch for her support during these years at Stony Brook. Thank you for your patience, encouragement and conversation. These years have hardly been enough time to learn everything that I hoped to learn from Lou. Rather than an end, I hope the completion of this dissertation marks the beginning of a much longer exchange of ideas and friendship. I thank Kathleen Vernon and Daniela Flesler for their feedback, suggestions and support in and outside of the classroom. Together with Lou, they created a space in which I could feel confident in my ideas and research. Lilia Ruiz-Debbe was also a tremendous support at Stony Brook. She had confidence in me as an intellectual and a teacher even when I did not. Without her warmth, support and trust, I would not be the professor I am. So many people at Stony Brook are owed my appreciation and lifelong gratitude. This work would have been more arduous and less pleasurable if not for Victoria Hesford and Lisa Diedrich of Women’s and Gender Studies, Nina Maung-Gaona of the Turner Fellowship Program, Betty DeSimone and my students. Thank you to the Spanish Ministry of Culture’s Program for Cultural Cooperation, the W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship, and the Tinker Foundation for sponsoring my research in Galicia and Buenos Aires. Writing these pages required not only years of concentration and dedication but also hours of distraction, diversion, relaxation, and inspiration provided by the friends who are dearest to me: Daniele Vingelli, Andrea Torrente, Jason Haibi, Jayme Smaldone, and Lane Bentley; Catherine Simpson, Monica Sanning, Dean Allbritton, Neica Shepherd, Sara Dubnow, Lorena Albert, Thomas Ventimiglia and Mike High. You have kept me smiling, grounded and motivated throughout this process. This is dedicated to each of you as well. Álvaro Fernández would have been more aptly thanked alongside my family than my friends. Just as we have shared ideas, books, movies, a kitchen, and long conversations about anything and everything, so I share the credit for these pages with him. This dissertation followed me all over Manhattan, Stony Brook, Port Jefferson, Buenos Aires, and Santiago de Compostela but was mostly written nearest to the family, friends and home I love the most in -Brooklyn, May 2009 ! ! ! Introduction For many readers, this dissertation will deal with people, places and works far away in time and space. Many