“His only advocate”. Francisca Ruiz de Larrea as secondary voice in the Pasatiempo crítico

Abstract

Abstract The querelle caldéronienne marks the entry of Frühromantik theories in Spain. In this polemic, the literati José Joaquín de Mora and Antonio Alcalá Galiano defended a neoclassical conception of literature, while the German-Gaditan couple Juan Nicolás Böhl de Faber and Francisca Larrea promoted August Wilhelm Schlegel’s vindication of Calderón. The second phase of the polemic dates from 1818-1820, when Böhl de Faber published the Pasatiempos críticos. This study analyses the five texts that Larrea contributed to the Pasatiempos under the pseudonym Cymodocea. Our aim is to investigate, on the one hand, how Larrea's discourse is configured within the polemic as a second voice in support of Böhl de Faber's, and, on the other, the main ideas she contributed. A preliminary review of her first public texts, written during the Spanish War of Independence, allows us to detect various strategies for weaponizing female authorship which will appear in the Pasatiempos. The content analysis, on the other hand, shows us the depth of the author's literary knowledge, as well as the political motives under her literary ideals

Keywords

• francisca ruiz de larrea
• romanticismo reaccionario
• calderón
• construcción autorial femenina
• antimodernidad.