Con el análisis de seis novelas españolas, una para cada década desde los años 40 hasta los años 90, Rodríguez propone un nuevo concepto de la novela del desarrollo femenino y acentúa la importancia de que las mujeres expresen sus propios sentimientos, pasiones, deseos, y opiniones, ideas  que no se han expresado antes en la literatura de España. El estudio comienza con Nada de Carmen Laforet, y continúa con La playa de los locos de Elena Soriano, La plaça del Diamant de Mercè Rodoreda, dos historias de Te dejo el mar de Carme Riera, Los perros de Hécate de Carmen Gómez Ojea, y Efectos secundarios de Luisa Etxenike.

En estos textos, “la mujer española” del discurso oficial del período de Franco —esposa y madre como las posibilidades más deseables para la realización y el desarrollo de una mujer— se deconstruyó en una multiplicidad de opciones vitales, afectivas, y sexuales que enfrentan esta imagen doméstica. Estas novelas destacan la diversidad de la experiencia femenina en el siglo XXI y nos animan a preguntar los modelos del desarrollo que son monolíticos y dogmáticos.

"With erudition and conciseness, the Introduction of this first-rate study of six representative novels by Spanish women writers traces the critical history of the Bildungsroman from its German roots.... Vidas impropias not only offers reinterpretations (and, for the most recent novel, pioneering interpretations) of important works of fiction; read together these works bolster each others' rejection of Spanish-Catholic feminine norms and deepen the significance of ties both social and erotic among women.... Each chapter concludes with a section that relates its insights to specific socio-political conditions of women's lives from the historical context.... Rodriguez has accomplished her task of proving that an evolution in the novel of development has taken place. And in the process she has contributed provocatively and usefully to the critical picture of these crucial works of fiction." Elizabeth Scarlett, Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea

For the complete review, see Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea 27.2 (2002): 635-37.

"This book is imaginative, informative, innovative, and well written. Rodríguez has chosen several very interesting and important narratives to explore the development of prose fiction by and about women within the contexts offered by a number of Colleges of criticism, from classics such as Lacan and Barthes to various Colleges of thought that intersect with her study: feminism, queer studies, Bildungsroman, auto/biographical works, revisions of the canon, and studies of the body/writing conundrum." Kathleen McNerney, author of Voices and Visions: The Words and Works of Mercè Rodoreda

"...an outstanding study of the female protagonist as depicted through six decades of Spanish post-War narrative. This book, which will certainly appeal to Hispanists and feminists, contains a rhetoric that is sophisticated but still accessible to the general reader interested in any of the numerous authors treated in this study....The blend of close textual examination with careful secondary research makes for an enlightening and original study of the female protagonist that adds significantly to the corpus of works about female authors of twentieth-century Spain." Ellen Mayock, Letras Femeninas

For the complete review, see Letras Femeninas 27.1 (May 2001): 237-39.

"Rodríguez's book is a welcome addition to this growing corpus of critical studies on contemporary Spanish women's fiction....The book as a whole presents some original and engaging readings, particularly of texts that have suffered previously from critical neglect." Akiko Tsuchiya, Revista de Estudios Hispánicos

For the complete review, see Revista de Estudios Hispánicos 35.2 (May 2001): 440-42.

"… this book offers an interesting and original contribution to the study of Peninsular women's writing, concentrating on a variety of texts spanning six decades." —María Cinta Ramblado-Minero, Modern Language Review

For the complete review, see Modern Language Review 97.4 (2002): 1010-11.

For another review, see Confluencia, Spring 2002 (by Asunción Horno-Delgado).

María Pilar Rodríguez, Universidad de Deusto, es autora de artículos que tratan del feminismo, del exilio, y también de la literatura y el cine vascos.

1-55753-164-1 En español.
2000. Vol. 19. xii, 222 pp. Rústica $29.95 Precio bajado

Cómo pedir