D. Jill Savitt
Storni’s poem included here is only one good example of stereotypes in literature. I am including here a list of several Spanish language writers, men and women, with titles or works that may be used for the study of stereotypes of women. The previous exercises may be applied to any of these short texts. It is hoped that this kind of re-reading could take place with any text in any language. This list will take the form of a student bibliography or teacher resource bibliography.
1. Agustini, Delmira (Uruguay)
Suggested readings may be found in
Poesias Completas
Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, S.A. 1944.
See the following poems:
“Visión”
“Fiera de Amor”
“El Cisne”
“Desde Lejos”
“Intima”
“Mis Amores”
“Explosión”
“La Copa del Amor”
“Serpentina”
“Boca a Boca”
Erotic, sensual poetry with woman as aggressive and seductive.
2. Bombal, Mar’a Luisa (Chile)
Excerpts may be taken from the following book that the author wrote in English:
House of Mist
New York: Farrar, Straus and Co., 1947.
Protagonist is totally dependent and subjected to fantasy and dreams of love.
3. Catá, Alfonso Hernández (Cuba)
Cuentos
La Habana: Insituto de Literatura y Linguistica Academia de Ciencias de Cuba, 1966.
Two very good short stories in this collection are:
“Dia del Sol”—A womam who can only live if she’s abused and victimized.
“La Culpable”—Woman brings fishing party to tragedy by her seductive but natural being.
4. Ibarbourou, Juana de (Uruguay)
Amtolog’a Poética
Santiago de Chile: Zig Zag, S.A., 1940.
Ibarbourou was a happily married womam whose poetry reflects a sensual, erotic, intuitive, natural liberated woman.
See:
“El Fuerte Lazo”
“La Inquietud Fugaz”
“Lacer’a”
“Timonel de Mi Sue–o”
Other poems by Ibarbourou may be found in:
A
ntolog’a
(
Poes’a y Prosa 1918-1971). Buenos Aires
:
Editorial Losada
,
S
.
A
., 1853.
See the following poems:
“Pasión”
“Toilette Suprema”
“Ofrenda”
(The last two deal with women as love objects.)
See the following prose:
“El Gesto M’o”—the smallness of women’s roles.
“Alma de llama”—passion
“Ensueno”—small woman/big man.
“La Tentación”
“La Luna”
“Canciones de Luna”
“La Dulce Palabra”
(These last four deal with a mother frustrated in her role who loves her child but wants more from life.)
“Lunita”—mother/fantasy
“Diario de Una Joven Madre”
“La Ni–a y el Pr’ncipe y el Café con Leche”
5. Mistral, Gabriela (Godoy-Alcayaga, Lucila)(Chile)
Gabriela’s poetry (and prose) speaks most often of her love for children—her maternal feelings. Her reason for existence was maternity, both material and spiritual, though she never had children and raised a nephew who died young. She writes of solitude and love.
The following material is suggested:
Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral
(
translated and edited by Dorise Dana
). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1961. English/Spanish edition—a great resource.
Especially see:
“La Espera”/“The Useless Wait”
“Balada”/“Ballad”
“Volverlo a Ver”/“To See Him Again”
“Dios lo Quiere”/“God Wills It”
“La Oración de la Maestra”/“The Teacher’s Prayer”
“Meciendo”/“Rocking”
“La Madre Triste”/“The Sad Mother”
“Apegado a M’”/“Close to Me”
“Ni–o Mexicano”/“Mexican Child”
“Todas Ibamos a Ser Reinas”/“We Were All to be Queens”
“La Flor del Aire”/“The Flower of the Air”
“La Fervorosa”/“The Fervent Woman”
“La Granjera”/“The Woman Granger”
“Mujer de Prisionero”/“The Prisoner’s Wife”
“La Liana”/“The Liana”
“Ayudadores”/“The Helpers”
Other books by Mistral that can be used as resources are:
Poes’as Completas
. Madrid: Aguilar, S.A., 1966.
Includes her works from
Desolación
,
Ternura
,
Tala
and
Lagar
, I. (Spanish)
Poemas de las Madres
. Santiego de Chile: Cuadernos del Pacifico, 1950.
Beautifully illustrated poems for motherhood (Spanish).
Todas Ibamos a Ser Reinas
. Chile: Empresa Editora Nacional Quimantu Ltd., 1971 (Spanish).
6. Neruda Pablo and Cesar Vallejo (Chile and Peru)
Neruda and Vallejo
:
Selected Poems
. Edited by Bobert Bly. Boston: Beacon Press (Bilingual Edition).
Neruda
from
Veinte Poemas de Amor y Una Cancion
, See: “Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs”
Vallejo
, see:.
“La Pagana”/“Pagan Woman”—Evil, lusty woman.
“Los Pasos Lejanos”/“The Distant Footsteps”—selfless, sacrificing mother.
“El Buen Sentido”/“The Right Meaning”—mother.
Both Vallejo and Neruda may be found in other texts. This edition is easy to use in its bilingual form. Another useful text in English that contains both Vallejo and Meruda (among others) is:
Monegal, Emir Rodr’guez (ed.).
The Borzoi Anthology of Latin American Literature
. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977.
7. Rojas, Manuel. (Chile)
Antolog’a Autobiográfica
. Chile: Empresa Ercilla, S.A., 1962.
See the story “El Vaso de Leche”—woman as nurturer, mother—clear images.
8. Storni, Alfonsina (Argentina).
The following texts may be used:
Obras Completas
I
Poes’as
. Buenos Aires: SELA, 1976. Spanish—collection of Storni’s poetry.
Alfonsina Storni
by Sonia Jones. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979.
English text that speaks about Storni’s life and work including several poems in Spanish. Good for background material.
It is obvious that these are not the only writers in Latin America, nor are they the only ones who address women and their roles in their works. Nor are these the only books available that contain these writers. I have added here some additional names that the teacher can research to introduce women who write or have written in Spanish.
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz—Mexico (1651-1695). Very erudite, important woman of letters.
A discussion of the following Latin American novelists can be found in:
Fox-Lockert, Lucia.
Women Novelists in Spain and Spanish America
. New Jersey and London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1979.
Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda Cuba (1814).
Clorinda Matto de Turner Peru (1852).
Mercedes Cabello de Carbonera Peru (1845).
Teresa de Parra Venezuela (1890).
Silvina Bullrich Argentina (1915).
Clara Silva Uruguay (1908).
Marta Brunet Chile (1897).
Rosario Castellanos Mexico (1925).
Beatriz Guido Argnetina (1924).
Elena Garro Mexico (1917).
Luisa Josefina Hernández Mexico (1917).
Elena Poniatowska Mexico.
For more information on Latin American women (including women
writers) see “Ms.” magazine, May 1982.
