Identities beyond the canon

: pluralism and women's writing in Galician fiction, 2000-2010

Abstract

This thesis seeks to broaden the definition of Galician literature beyond its traditionally patriarchal, monolingual parameters, with a view to encompassing the multiple, competing identities that constitute contemporary Galician society. The objective is to investigate how narrative fiction published in both Galician and Spanish by Galician women writers during the period 2000 to 2010 conforms to, subverts or expands upon traditional narratives of Galician identity. The nationalisation of the Galician literary canon, carried out since the early twentieth century, insisted on language as its defining factor. This resulted in the exclusion of writing in Spanish, and ultimately reinforced a reductive view of Galician identity. The significance of the Galician language to Galician identity is not disputed here, but rather it is conceived of in relation to a complex interplay of traditional and new perspectives that move beyond the so-called ‘linguistic criterion’.

The novels of three prolific women writers, Teresa Moure, Luisa Castro and Marta Rivera de la Cruz, are examined with reference to the themes of identity, gender and nationalism; the argument draws upon current theoretical and secondary literature as well as original interviews carried out with each author since July 2012. Whilst Moure is a monolingual, nationalist writer in Galician who has recently reverted to the lusista orthography that is closely tied to Portuguese, Castro evades political categorisation and considers herself a bilingual writer, publishing most of her poetry in Galician and her fiction in Spanish. For her part, Rivera de la Cruz, who has latterly been actively involved in the centre-right Ciudadanos party, insists that the fact that she writes exclusively in Spanish does not detract from her Galician identity. The thesis argues that the varied manifestations of identity in the texts by these three authors demonstrate the inherent plurality of contemporary Galician literature and it therefore proposes a reconsideration of the foundations for its canon.

Date of Award	23 Jun 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Gustavo San Roman (Supervisor) & Catherine O'Leary (Supervisor)