Mirada al espejo

Abstract

This dissertation is a socio-cultural and literary study of the construction of womanhood during the Franco period in Spain (1939-1975) and its contextualization in the works of Manuel Mantero and four major postwar novels by Ana María Matute, Luis Martín Santos, Miguel Delibes, and Carmen Martín Gaite. Using Cultural Studies and Gender Studies the analysis deals with the construction, diffusion and contention of exemplary models of femininity, their relationships with power, and the (de)construction of Patriarchy. The focus of the study is to analyze how Mantero constructs female characters in comparison with four other writers of this period. Written from the perspective of a researcher who experienced postwar Spain first-hand, and based on Lana F. Rakow’s understanding of feminist reception, this dissertation defines three major groups of female characters. The first group includes traditional women whose behavior sustained the discourse of dependency and obedience and reproduced the norms and cultural values established by official discourse. The second group comprises those women who fought to change the social roles traditionally assigned to women. The third group contains those female characters who neither rebelled against the established order of society, nor felt compelled to comply with the established social norms.