A Poetics of Exile in Spanish Autobiographical Writing by Women
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The Displaced I: A Poetics of Exile in Spanish Autobiographical Writing by Women Jennifer Cadman Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews September 2012 2 ABSTRACT Literary responses to Republican exile are diverse and autobiographical works have emerged as a significant modality of this exilic literature. Utilising poetics as a mode of inquiry, this thesis aims to examine some of the complex and nuanced ways in which exile has shaped autobiographical writing by both first and second-generation female exiles. To this end, I trace a poetics of exile in a selected corpus of nineteen autobiographical works by twelve authors: Constancia de la Mora, Isabel Oyarzábal de Palencia, Silvia Mistral, Clara Campoamor, Victoria Kent, Luisa Carnés, Remedios Oliva Berenguer, Francisca Muñoz Alday, Angelina Muñiz-Huberman, María Rosa Lojo, María Luisa Elío and Arantzazu Amezaga Iribarren. These texts were published across a seventy year period (1939 – 2009) in a number of geographical locations and written in a variety of circumstances. Exilic autobiographical texts are not homogeneous and relatively few have adhered to traditional models of autobiography. As such, the works examined are drawn from a variety of autobiographical sub-genres including propagandistic autobiographies, diaries, political essays, hybrid texts, autofiction, memoirs, childhood autobiographies, more experimental semi-autobiographical texts and a film. The main body of this thesis presents six aspects of a poetics of exile — the notion of the addressee, generic hybridization, polyphony, the propagation of collective memory, postmemory, and retroprogressive representations of childhood — and adopts a multi-disciplinary approach that draws upon a number of fields. This thesis aims to offer an illumination of the breadth and difference of women’s exilic autobiographical writing as highlighted in the identification of six very different aspects of a poetics of exile. 3 DECLARATION 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Jennifer Cadman, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80’000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2008 and as a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in September 2008; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2008 and 2012. Date Signature of Candidate 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date Signature of Supervisor 3. Permission for electronic publication: In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: (ii) Access to all of printed copy but embargo of all of electronic publication of thesis for a period of three years on the following grounds: publication would preclude future publication. Date Signature of Candidate Signature of Supervisor 4 In loving memory of my brother Michael. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It has been with the love, support and dedication of my dear Beth, my mum Jessie, my dad Ian and my Granny Maureen that this thesis has been possible. I am extremely grateful to be surrounded by people who provide such incredible support and encouragement in all aspects of my life. I am deeply grateful to Beth who not only ensured that I crossed the finish line but also engaged with all of my work with such kindness and enthusiasm. And to my Mum for her constant support, reassurance and love, and to my Dad who has always generously supported my goals and kept me calm, and to my Gran for all her food parcel deliveries and words of wisdom. I feel privileged to have completed the PhD process under the guidance of my supervisors, Professor Nigel Dennis and Dr Ricardo Fernández. I will always be grateful to Professor Dennis for his invaluable help, advice and insightful comments over the past years. Likewise, to Dr Fernández for introducing me to the study of autobiographical writing during my MLitt, and who forever took time to explain and discuss it with me. I sincerely thank both of them for all of their efforts in helping me to reach this point and also for a positive PhD experience. I am also very grateful to my examiners, Dr Helena Buffery and Professor Will Fowler for all the time and energy they invested into engaging with my thesis. I very much enjoyed the discussion we had together and I valued the opportunity to hear their thoughts and advice. I will always be indebted to the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland who kindly provided me with the funding for my research. I hope to one day be able to contribute towards the same experience for another student. Having been both an undergraduate and postgraduate student in St Andrews, this town that became my home has provided the beautiful setting for rich academic and personal experiences. I have been extremely fortunate to learn from dedicated and inspiring staff in the School of Modern Languages and Department of Spanish and to have met fantastic people throughout my time here. So finally, thank you to my friends who have all helped me along the way: Naomi, Leticia, Soledad, Eduardo, Daniela, Melissa, Rosie, Bea, Salomé, Kate, Jonny, Grainne, Rachel, Becca, Iain B, Heather, Aly, Iain N, Sofia, Jonathan, Kylie, Alison, Claire, Kenny and John. Thanks too to Auntie Mo, Katie, Mark, Dean and to my Grannie Elsie and Grandad Bill. And to Dusty and Mike, always by my side. 6 ABBREVIATIONS Please note that references to primary sources will take the following format: Amezaga Iribarren, Arantzazu Memorias de Montevideo (San Sebastián: Saturraran, 2009a) [MM: page number] Campoamor, Clara La revolución española vista por una republicana. Trans. [LR: page number] Eugenia Quereda Belmonte. Ed. Neus Samblancat (Barcelona: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2002) Carnés, Luisa El eslabón perdido. Ed. Antonio Plaza Plaza (Sevilla: [EP: page number] Renacimiento, 2002) Elío, María Luisa Tiempo de llorar y otros relatos (Madrid: Turner, 2002a) [TL: page number] Cuaderno de apuntes (Madrid: Turner, 2002b) [CA: page number] En el balcón vacío guión original de María Luisa Elío [BV: page number] (Archived in the Toulouse branch of El Instituto Cervantes) Kent, Victoria Cuatro años en París, 1940-1944 (Madrid: Gadir, 2007) [CA: page number] Lojo, María Rosa Canción perdida en Buenos Aires al oeste (Buenos Aires: [CP: page number] Torres Agüero, 1987) Una escritora de dos mundos: Mínima autobiografía de una [UE: page number] “exiliada hija” (2002) 7 Mistral, Silvia Éxodo: Diario de una refugiada española. Ed. José Colmeiro [ED: page number] (Barcelona: Icaria, 2009) Mora, Constancia de la Doble esplendor (Madrid: Gadir, 2004) [DE: page number] In Place of Splendor (New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., [PS: page number] 1941) Muñiz-Huberman, Angelina De cuerpo entero: el juego de escribir (Mexico City: [DC: page number] Ediciones Corunda, 1991) Castillos en la tierra (Mexico City: Ediciones del [CT: page number] Equilibrista, 1995) Molinos sin viento (Mexico City: Editorial Aldus, 2001) [MV: page number] Muñoz Alday, Francisca Memorias del exilio (Barcelona: Viena Ediciones, 2006) [ME: page number] Oliva Berenguer, Remedios Éxodo: Del campo de Argelès a la maternidad de Elna. [EE: page number] Trans. Emilia Sancey. (Barcelona: Viena Ediciones, 2006) Oyarzábal de Palencia, Isabel Smouldering Freedom (London: Victor Gollancz, 1946a) [SF: page number] I Must Have Liberty (New York: Longmans, Green & Co., [IL: page number] 1940) 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 2 Declaration .................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... 5 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................ 6 Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ................................................................................................................