Rewriting Womanhood : Feminism, Subjectivity, and the Angel of the House in the Latin American Novel, 1887–1903

In __Rewriting Womanhood__, Nancy LaGreca explores the subversive refigurings of womanhood in three novels by women writers: __La hija del bandido__ (1887) by Refugio Barragán de Toscano (Mexico; 1846–1916), __Blanca Sol__ (1888) by Mercedes Cabello de Carbonera (Peru; 1845–1909), and __Luz y sombra__ (1903) by Ana Roqué (Puerto Rico; 1853–1933). While these women were both acclaimed and critiqued in their day, they have been largely overlooked by contemporary mainstream criticism. Detailed enough for experts yet accessible to undergraduates, graduate students, and the general reader, __Rewriting Womanhood__ provides ample historical context for understanding the key women’s issues of nineteenth-century Mexico, Peru, and Puerto Rico; clear definitions of the psychoanalytic theories used to unearth the rewriting of the female self; and in-depth literary analyses of the feminine agency that Barragán, Cabello, and Roqué highlight in their fiction. __Rewriting Womanhood__ reaffirms the value of three women novelists who wished to broaden the ruling-class definition of __woman as mother and wife__ to include __woman as individual__ for a modern era. As such, it is an important contribution to women’s studies, nineteenth-century Hispanic studies, and sexuality and gender studies. "An historical and theoretical literary study of three Latin American women writers, Refugio Barragán of Mexico, Mercedes Cabello de Carbonera of Peru, and Ana Roqué of Puerto Rico. Examines how these novelists subversively rewrote womanhood vis à vis the prescribed comportment for women during a conservative era"--Provided by publisher