Reflection in sequence
Subtitle: novels by Spanish women, 1944-1988
By: Sandra J. Schumm.
Publisher: Bucknell University Press; Associated University Presses
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Lewisburg; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 222
Subjects: Spanish fiction -- Women authors -- History and criticism.; Catalan fiction -- Women authors -- History and criticism.; Spanish fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism.; Catalan fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism.; Women and literature -- Spain -- History -- 20th century.; Women in literature.; Self-realization in literature.
Description: The codes of conduct imposed on females by Spain's dictator Francisco Franco after the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) created a stifling environment for women until his death in 1975. Beginning with Carmen Laforet's 1944 Nadal Prize-winning novel Nada, novels by women - many of which explore female identity - began to proliferate in Spain.

The works examined in this study - Nada, Primera memoria (1960) by Ana Maria Matute, La placa del Diamant (1962) by Merce Rodoreda, Julia (1969) by Ana Maria Moix, El cuarto de atras (1978) by Carmen Martin Gaite, El amor es un juego solitario (1979) by Esther Tusquets, and Questio d'amor propi (1987) by Carme Riera - feature female protagonists struggling for self-realization and, by extension, for change in a restrictive Spanish society.

Schumm's analysis of the seven novels demonstrates how examination of metaphoric tropes and mirror images provides insight into the protagonists' development.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 198-211) and index.