Are Women the True Measure of What a Society Is Like?
Subject Area
Spanish Peninsular Studies
Abstract
This paper examines the role of the descriptions of women that Vicente Blasco Ibañez often makes in La vuelta al mundo de un novelista when portraying a country. This is not the first travel book that Blasco writes, but it is the only one that is not a compilation of travel chronicles that have previously been published in newspapers. For the first time, he writes about these experiences as if he were writing a novel. In order to do so he first collects materials while he travels. Once he is back home, and after having assimilated the experience as a whole, he starts to write. This makes this book different from En el país del arte and from Oriente, both written as he travelled without a clear idea about the itinerary or the length of the trip. In order to determine the role of the description of women when conveying his views of a country this paper is going to analyze all the instances where Blasco resorts to this strategy in La vuelta al mundo de un novelista. The analysis of these descriptions will not only shed light on the usefulness of this descriptive device but will also help to understand Blasco Ibáñez´s attitude toward the role of women in the societies of his time.
Brief Bio Note
Dr. Alejandro Muñoz-Garcés is currently an assistant professor in Coastal Carolina University. He received his Ph.D. from Universidad Autónoma. His first teaching position was in Waikato University in Hamilton, New Zealand. He has also taught in Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. His areas of interest are travel literature and the teaching of Spanish as a second language. He likes to travel, practice cycling and photography.
Keywords
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Travel, Women
Location
Room 211
Presentation Year
2015
Start Date
3-27-2015 9:00 AM
End Date
3-27-2015 10:15 AM
Embargo
5-23-2017
Recommended Citation
Munoz-Garces, Alejandro, "Are Women the True Measure of What a Society Is Like?" (2015). South East Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures (SECCLL). 32.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/seccll/2015/2015/32
Are Women the True Measure of What a Society Is Like?
Room 211
This paper examines the role of the descriptions of women that Vicente Blasco Ibañez often makes in La vuelta al mundo de un novelista when portraying a country. This is not the first travel book that Blasco writes, but it is the only one that is not a compilation of travel chronicles that have previously been published in newspapers. For the first time, he writes about these experiences as if he were writing a novel. In order to do so he first collects materials while he travels. Once he is back home, and after having assimilated the experience as a whole, he starts to write. This makes this book different from En el país del arte and from Oriente, both written as he travelled without a clear idea about the itinerary or the length of the trip. In order to determine the role of the description of women when conveying his views of a country this paper is going to analyze all the instances where Blasco resorts to this strategy in La vuelta al mundo de un novelista. The analysis of these descriptions will not only shed light on the usefulness of this descriptive device but will also help to understand Blasco Ibáñez´s attitude toward the role of women in the societies of his time.
