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THE ROLE OF LITERARY TRADITION IN THE NOVELISTIG TRAJECTORY OF EMILIA PARDO BAZAN DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By ARTHUR ALAN CHANDLER, B. A., M. A, ***** The Ohio State University 1956 Approved by: Adviser Department of Romance Languages ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I should like to thank Professor Stephen Gilman of Harvard University who originally suggested this topic and Professor Gabriel Pradal of The Ohio State University for his guidance through the first three chapters. I am especially grateful to Professors Richard Arraitage, Don L, Demorest and Bruce W. Wardropper, also of The Ohio State University, for their many valuable comments. Professor Carlos Blanco, who graciously assumed direction of this dissertation in its final stages, has provided numerous suggestions for all its chapters. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. Introduction............................ 1 Chapter II. Naturalism in France and Spain......... 10 Chapter III. First Novels............................ 47 Chapter IV. Los pazos de Ulloa and La madre naturaleza 75 Chapter V. Social and Political Themes............. 116 Chapter VI. The Religious Novels.................... 15# Chapter VII. Recapitulation and Conclusion.......... 206 Bibliography (A)..................................... 219 Bibliography (B)..................................... 221 Autobiography........................................ 230 111 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The centenary of the birth of dona Emilia Pardo Bazân (IS5I) has engendered considerable literary criticism regarding the nature and relative importance of her works. Her position in the world of belles lettres has always been partially obscured by the question of Naturalism in Spain. Yet anyone who has read three or four repre­ sentative novels from her entire literary output realizes that Naturalism is not a dominating feature throughout. The fact that the novels of Pardo Bazân correspond to a variety of literary themes and patterns complicates any assessment of her standing in 19th century Spanish litera­ ture. As recently as 1951 Melchor Fernândez Almagro observed: ...en el caso de dona Emilia Pardo Bazân— a quien conocid y trato gran parte de la generacion aun en vigor— , no sabriamos, con absoluta certeza, si la autora de Los pazos de Ulloa vive todavîa, patrocinando la novela actual, en una de sus lineas mâs caracteristicas, o si se ha perdido en el tiempo, inexo- rablemente, con la sociedad que le fué coetânea.l 1. Melchor Fernândez Almagro, ”Dona Emilia Pardo Bazân, Condesa De Pardo Bazân," Insula (No. 70, 1951), p. 1, We cite this excerpt merely to point out the uncertain nature of historical opinion toward Pardo Bazân, Obviously, before Fernândez Almagro*s question can ultimately be answered, we must first understand the aims and techniques of the novelist herself. This lack of appreciation or understanding is underscored in the many books and articles dealing with Pardo Bazân*s literary achievements. Invari­ ably, these judgments are much too fragmentary to sustain their critical significance. We shall first examine some of what might be called the "Pardo Bazân problems" since they have a direct bearing on this study. There is much critical material available, for indeed Naturalism was and in part is still the center of a great literary debate in Spain, But a large share of this material suffers from a lack of his­ torical perspective and in many instances, an unwilling­ ness to evaluate dispassionately. The illustrious lady has often been credited with the introduction of Natu­ ralism in Spain, Historically, Naturalism seems to have been a manifestation in literature parallel to the "scien­ tific method" which was spreading in other fields of human activity, especially in the biological and anthropological sciences. In the beginning the import of these new ideas was very dramatic, but of course historical perspective has long since dulled their novelty. The controversy on the question of Naturalism versus Realism has too often eclipsed the novels themselves and occasioned many different points of view. We shall review some of these opinions and some of the resulting problems. Among her contemporaries such men as Juan Valera in his Apuntes sobre el nuevo arte de escribir novelas. Cejador y Frauca in his multiple-volume history of Spanish literature, and Gonzalez Blanco in La historia de la novela en Espaîla. to mention only a few, have all written long essays on doSa Emilia. We could cite others, but these are typical and well known among the 19th century critics. Often it is disappointing to find that their comments degenerate into mere literary polemics about the propriety and even the legitimacy of the new movement. Cejador y Frauca, supported by Luis de Goloma, engages in futile diatribes against the "outrages" perpetrated by dofia Emilia; and even the urbane don Juan Valera occasionally injects a note of frustration and even sarcasm in his discussion of this "recent way of writing novels." More recent writers like Donald Brown have been pre­ occupied with the influence of Emile Zola;2 while Emilio 2. Donald F. Brown, The Influence of Emile Zola on the Novelistic and Critical Work of Emilia Pardo Bazân. University of Illinois dissertation, 193$. Gonzâlez L6pez strives to point out that dona Emilia is essentially a regionalistic Spanish novelist, as the title of his book attests.3 Certainly there can be no doubt of the influence of Zola as her many critical articles on the subject of Naturalism demonstrate. Moreover, can anyone deny the local Galician elements in nearly all the early novels? Either point of view seems legitimate, and there is no reason why both cannot exist. On the other hand we feel that her literary heritage is much too complex to be studied from single points of view. While it is true that Galicia and French Natu­ ralism do indeed play a significant part, there are a good many other streams of influences which correspond to various literary theories and vogues. Here is the basis and point of departure for this thesis: to develop the concept that Emilia Pardo Bazân was in effect a prac­ ticing theorist in the novel, or as Angel del Rio states it, "fiel seguidora de modas literarias."4 More precisely, we propose to show that her literary preferences included 3, Emilio Gonzâlez L6pez, Emilia Pardo Bazân. novelista de Galicia (New York: Hispanic Institute in the United States, 1944). 4. Angel del Rio, Historia de la literatura espanola (New York: Dryden Press, ), II, 149• César Barja speaks of her as "muy pagada de modas extranjeras" in his Libros V autores modemos (New York, 1924), p. 554. not only the French school of Naturalism, but a consider­ able number of other French novelists including Hugo, Bal­ zac, Flaubert and many others. Moreover, we hope to show bonds with literatures outside France, not to mention the Spanish Golden Age itself. In any such approach to an author^s creative works, we realize that delicate problems are sure to present them­ selves. For example, how can the question of influence be separated from that of common sources? As the individual novels are examined we shall attempt to differentiate be­ tween the two. Often it is impossible to say that an author borrows from a previous or contemporary writer. In such cases it is necessary to investigate the strong currents of thought which had an effect on the majority of artists of the same period. Any study of imitation or influence is bound to tread immediately upon the question of tradition; that is, the common grounds of heritage in which every person is rooted. Commenting on this problem a few years back T. S. Eliot remarked: No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists. You cannot value him alone; you must set him for contrast and comparison, among the dead. I mean this as a principle of aes­ thetic, not merely historical, criticism.5 One might add what Pedro Salinas says about the process of resurrection, selection and integration of themes in the Copias of Jorge Manrique: A1 proceso de esta composicidn asisten una serie de imitaciones y repeticiones parciales, pero no originadas en el simple afan mimético, ni dirigidas a la consecucion de una hâbil duplica del modelo, sino puestas al servicio de un proposito o proyecto espiritual que el poeta se trag<5 en su dnimo, y que actua de principle ordenador original de aquellos componentes conocidos. El pro­ ceso de composicion consta de un con- junto de reproducclones de estos o aquellos elementos suministrados per la tradicion; sin embargo la operacion total que abarca todas estas operaciones replitorias menores es de carâcter creador, y su producto original.o These complementary points of view certainly imply the appropriateness and even necessity of absorbing tradition and heritage in the creative process. It follows that no opprobrium can or should be associated with the question of influences. What the critical reader should probably be aware of is not so much influences (which must neces­ sarily be present), but rather the originality or new ways 5. T. S. Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent," in American Harvest. edited by Allen Tate (New York: L. B. Fischer, 1942),p. 292. 6. Pedro Salinas, Jorge Manrique otradicidn o originali- dad (Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 1947)i p. 137. 7 of presenting themes which have always existed in literary art. Although we usually think of Emilia Pardo Bazdn as a novelist it is equally important to remember that she was also a first-rate historian of French and Russian litera­ ture. In addition to the Cuestidn palpitante she also pre­ pared La revolucidn v la novela en Rusia (1BÔ7), Polémicas V estudios literarios (1Ô92) and La literatura francesa modema (1910, 3 vols.).

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