WRITING METHODS: MODELS OF LITERARY CREATION AND RECEPTION IN THE WORK OF CATERINA ALBERT I PARADÍS/VÍCTOR CATALÀ Kate Good A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Romance Studies in the Graduate School. Chapel Hill 2018 Approved by: Samuel Amago Christine Arkinstall Irene Gómez Castellano Juan Carlos González-Espitia María Luisa Guardiola i © 2018 Kate Good ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Kate Good: Writing Methods: Models of Literary Creation and Reception in the Work of Caterina Albert i Paradís/Víctor Català (Under the direction of Samuel Amago) This dissertation studies one of Catalonia’s most influential writers, Caterina Albert i Paradís (pseudonym Víctor Català) (1869-1966), within the context of early-twentieth century Hispano-Catalan literary society. It demonstrates how, in a predominantly male profession, Albert/Català and contemporary female writers in Spain and Latin America become the subjects of critical gossip and face gender-based critical restriction of their creative work. In the literary reception of these writers, allusions to their deviant bodies, gender identities, and sexualities distract and detract from more rigorous formal assessments of their works. I argue that Albert/Català puts forth models of literary creation and methods of reception in her novels, short stories, and correspondence that function to defend her artistic liberty and to counter a culture of gendered critique. In this way, this dissertation shows how Albert’s narrative methods of writing (and reading) worked to create a space for the creative expression of women writers in a rapidly modernizing nation. This research works to bridge the gap between Catalan and Spanish- language literature by calling attention to the contributions of a canonical author who remains— despite her many achievements—overlooked by critics in the Spanish and Anglo-American academies. iii To my mom, for insisting that now was a good time for graduate school. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have had six fantastic years at UNC, made possible by a cast of fantastic people at the University and beyond. ROMS’s efficient and good-humored office staff, including Logan Brackett, Shavon Carey, and Nefi López-Chan, deserves recognition for coordinating everything from book scans to funding. Teresa Chapa, who has acquired for UNC’s library every far-flung book that I’ve requested, has also been an asset to this project. Though thousands of miles away, Christine Arkinstall has been present throughout the development of this dissertation. Her careful reading has improved the content and the style of my writing. I have been energized by her kind and encouraging messages. I would also like to thank Maria Luisa Guardiola who has been a supportive committee member and NACS colleague. The seed for Writing Methods was planted in a course with Irene Gómez Castellano, whose enthusiasm for a paper topic entirely unrelated to the class that she was teaching meant that I could begin to investigate Català and her stories in spring 2013. I am thankful for Irene’s time with me, especially for our zumos in Valencia. I am grateful to Juan Carlos González-Espitia, especially for an insightful days-long discussion that shaped my first ideas on “L’Embruix.” Juan Carlos also recommended a list of outstanding Latin American women writers for my bibliography. It wasn’t until I read Delmira Agustini and Alfonsina Storni—and their critics—that this project on Català began to come into view. v Moltes gràcies to Samuel Amago, who demystified both the work of dissertation writing and “the profession” in general in language that made sense to me. I leave UNC a disciple of the form and function gospel and an aficionada of the well-placed exclamation mark. Sam’s steadiness, availability, and occasional exclamation marks have been essential to the realization of this project. I am so appreciative. My peers—and friends—at UNC have also been an important source of support throughout. Adrienne Erazo is one of the most generous friends and colleagues that I know. The time stamps on her Word comments showed that she spent entirely too many hours helping me think and talk about Víctor Català. This dissertation has been transformed by her thorough, intelligent, and occasionally cheeky questions and comments. Elizabeth Jones, or Lizzie as I know her, has been a font of information and a sounding board on topics related to disability studies. Sarah Booker, a skilled and enthusiastic translator, has talked with me time and again about the importance of having more works available in more languages. I am thankful to my mom for answering countless phone calls and talking through everything from prospectus writing to interview attire. My brother’s—and more recently, my sister’s—willingness to go anywhere and do anything on our annual adventures has reminded me time and again why I love language and culture. And gracias to Dorian, who has kept the other 355 days of the year an adventure, too. vi NOTE ON TRANSLATIONS Few English translations of Víctor Català’s work were available at the time of writing this dissertation. I have used—and in several instances modified—David H. Rosenthal’s translation of Solitud in Chapter 1. The English titles of Català’s short story collections, including Dramas rurals, Contrallums, Caires vius, and Ombrívoles, come from Kathleen McNerney (“No subject;” “Caterina Albert”). All other translations from Catalan to English are my own, unless otherwise noted. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS……………………………………………………………………...x INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...1 I. Víctor Català in Catalan Literature and Literary Criticism…………………….……….3 II. Writing Methods, in a Nutshell…………………………………………………….......6 III. Gender and Suspicion in the Criticism of Women-Authored Texts………………….7 IV. Structure, Content, and Criteria………………..………………………………….…17 CHAPTER 1: FINISECULAR CATALAN LITERARY CULTURE AND MODELS OF CREATION AND RECEPTION IN SOLITUD……………………………………...……...22 I. The Role of the Jocs Florals in the Development of Català’s Writing Methods.…......23 II. Modeling Literary Creation and Reception in Solitud....…………………………......31 III. Gaietà’s and Mila’s Methods of [Literary] Creation.…………..……………………33 IV. Methods of Reception in Solitud…………………..………………………………..39 V. The Workings of Gossip and Suspicious Reception……..…………………………..48 CHAPTER 2: UN FILM (3.000 METRES) AND THE QUEST FOR PERSONAL AND ARTISTIC AUTONOMY…………………………………………………………………55 I. Català’s Non-Fictional Responses to Gender-Based and Artistic Limitations………...60 II. Self-Fashioning in Un film (3.000 metres).…………………………………………...64 III. Language, Genre, and Theme in Un film……………………..……………………...70 CHAPTER 3: THE LIMITS OF THE MALE [CRITICAL] GAZE…………………………….89 I. Visual Methods, the Male Gaze, and Images of the Female Author………………….90 II. The Construction of Methods of Critical Reception and Why It viii Matters for Women Writers………………………………………………………...……95 III. Building a Methods of Reception in Letters and in Pòrtic..….………………………98 IV. The Representation of Flawed Reception, Poor Vision, and Ignorant Publics in “L’Embruix”…………………………...……………………………………104 CHAPTER 4: A DEFENSE OF OTHERED LITERATURE AND OTHERS IN LITERATURE IN VÍCTOR CATALÀ’S PROLOGUES AND TWO SHORT STORIES, “CARNESTOLTES” AND “L’ALTRA VIDA………………………………….....117 I. Gender, Genre, and Literary Criticism in Early-Twentieth Century Catalunya……...118 II. Català’s Response to Critics in Correspondence and Prologues…………………….126 III. Modeling Respect for Differences in “Carnestoltes” and “L’altra vida”.………….131 CONCLUSION: LOOKING AT A LITERARY LEGACY THROUGH CRITICAL BINOCULARS ………………………………………………………………………………...156 WORKS CITED..……………………………………………………………………………....164 ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration 1 – “Our writer Anna Ma Martínez conversing with Caterina Albert, ‘Víctor Català.’” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………21 Illustration 2 – “1890. Autoretrat” ………………………………………………….…….……115 Illustration 3 – “La bruixa” …………………………………………………………………….116 x INTRODUCTION In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as shifting social and economic structures enable a growing number of women in Western Europe and the Americas to work as writers, there arises a tandem uptick in published criticism of their texts. In reviews of their works, many women authors—both during and after their writing careers—face invasive public speculation and commentary about their bodies, their gender expressions, and their sexualities. Although loosely camouflaged as analytical discussion of their literary production, such speculation draws attention away from their texts’ literary merits by conflating their perceived value with suppositions about their authors’ lifestyles and/or physical appearances. This method of reception works to fabricate what Rita Felksi calls “chains of causality,” imaginary links between the work and, in this case, the woman that wrote it (Limits 67). As scholars including Susan Kirkpatrick, Begoña Sáez Martínez, Íñigo Sánchez-Llama, and Luisa Elena Delgado make evident, on many occasions critics read woman-authored texts as a limited function of the writer’s personal life or semblance. Kirkpatrick, for instance, demonstrates that references to the life of French novelist George Sand (1804-1876) serve to discount the value of her work (88). Sáez Martínez reports similar findings regarding critical responses to the texts and life