THE POETIC WORLD OF CARMEN CONDE Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Cabello, Susan Uihlein, 1941- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 10/10/2021 15:47:17 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/298832 INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. 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University Microfilms International 300_North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR 7815795 CABELLO, SUSAN UXHLESN THE POETIC WORLD OF CARMEN CONDE, THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA* PH.D., 1970 University Microfilms International 300 n. zeeb road, ann arbor, mi 48106 © 1978 SUSAN UIHLEIN CABELLO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE POETIC WORLD OF CARMEN CONDE by Susan Uihlein Cabello A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN SPANISH In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 7 8 Copyright 1978 Susan Uihlein Cabello THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Susan Uihlen Cabello entitled The Poetic World of Carmen Conde be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy y? f//9 / it Dissertation Director Date As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read this dissertation and agree that it may be presented for final defense. // f*/ rir Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense thereof at the final oral examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. For Tony iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I should like to thank my dissertation director, Professor Rupert C. Allen, for his guidance and timely editorial comments throughout the preparation of this study. I am indebted to Professors Renato I. Rosaldo and Eliana S. Rivero for reading the manuscript and sharing their suggestions with me. Special acknowledgment is due Professor Jos§ A. Balseiro, who first introduced me to the poet, and to Carmen Conde herself, who has patiently answered the many questions I have directed to her through years of correspondence. I am indebted to George H. Engeman, Jr., for making available to me a copy of his unpublished doctoral dissertation as well as the entirety of his interview notes and correspondence with the poet. Without his generosity all of these materials would have been inaccessible to me. I wish to thank Dr. Caroline Locher and my husband, Tony, for the many hours they have devoted to proofreading the manuscript. To my parents who provided financial support through the lean years as well as unfailing moral support I wish to express my gratitude. Finally I should like to thank Tony, Donie, and Ann for their patience, understanding, and sacrifices through the many years this work has been in progress. ±V TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT vi CHAPTER PART I: THE POET AND HER WORLD 1 1. THE POET AND ARCHETYPAL CRITICISM 2 Archetypal Criticism 10 2. THE FRUITFUL EARTH 16 3. FATE 4 8 4. THE ARCHANGEL AND THE POETIC PROCESS 69 PART II: WOMAN'S DILEMMA 109 5. THE FALL: MUJER SIN EDEN 110 PART III: ANOTHER DIMENSION 159 6. ECSTASY 160 7. THE WORLD AXIS: IFACH 180 8. THE NUMINOUS EXPERIENCE OF THE ESCORIAL , . 2 06 9. THE GOD WITHIN 270 10. CONCLUSION 338 REFERENCES 348 V ABSTRACT The poetic world of Carmen Conde rests upon the archetype of the Eternal Feminine. The first part of this study examines the nature of the poetic world seeking to define the feminine poetic consciousness. A predominance of organic symbols is noted as well as the prevalence of a variety of forms of water symbolism. Those poems concerned with the problem of self-definition are the object of special focus. A second emphasis is on the manner in which the poet defines fate, this view contributing to the way she sees herself in relation to her creation. Finally those poems dealing specifically with the poetic process are analyzed. Part II deals with the poet's perception of the way the feminine principle functions in relation to the masculine. The major work examined in this section is Mujer sin Ed£n, an epic treatment of how woman through the ages has viewed the Doctrine of Original Sin. Woman critically analyzes the cultural role ascribed to her in the tale of the Fall. In the Eden story the poet deals with the devaluation of the feminine, the mythification of a spiritual problem relevant to all Western women. The devaluation of the feminine is concomitant with a culture in which the values of Eros are split off from those of vi vii Logos, in which instinct is separated from intelligence, to the disadvantage of both. The third section of this study examines the manner in which the poet transcends the duality of Western Civilization. Ecstasy, the ineffable perception of the unity of life, erases the notion of sidereal time and the cosmos as space divided. In the poetry of Carmen Conde three archetypes, the world axis, the vessel, and the inner light, all function in relation to the ecstatic experience attesting to the prevalence of this motif. The Pen6n de Ifach is a form of the cosmic mountain symbolically ascended by the ecstatic poet. This spiritual ascension culminates in a new form of consciousness. The monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, to which the poet withdraws in search of inner peace after the Spanish Civil War, is the alchemist's retort in which separate psychic entities are melted down and fused into a new being. At San Lorenzo de El Escorial the poet experiences another form of ecstasy, the hieros gamos or sacred marriage of the masculine and feminine principles. The presence of the inner light, the archetype dominating another series of poems, indicates the poet's awareness of the numen within the human psyche. It is our conclusion, therefore, that ecstasy as a technique of healing is the single most important motif in the poetry of Carmen Conde, PART I THE POET AND HER WORLD 1 CHAPTER 1 THE POET AND ARCHETYPAL CRITICISM Carmen Conde Abell&n, first voice among the women poets of Spain, was born in Cartagena, Murcia on August 15, 1907. Her childhood was spent both in Cartagena and in Melilla, Spanish Morocco, where her family resided for six years, returning to Spain when she was twelve years old. Her father was a jeweler, a craftsman in both gold and silver. Observing him at work doubtless led her to ponder the mysterious transformations undergone by precious metals in the hands of the skilled artisan, for the mystery of this transformation is elaborated later in her poetry, particu­ larly in "Padre: Evocaci6n" CConde, 1967, 694). The first books she read, lent to her by friends of the family, were Rafael by Lamartine, The dama de las camelias by Dumas, Las mil y una noches, and finally, the Bible, in the version of Cipriano de Valera put out by the New York Bible Society, which she purchased herself.