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SPAIN’S WOMEN
INTELLECTUALS, 1890-1920
Dr Kirsty Hooper,
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Ángela Barco (fl.
1908-1911, Valladolid) |
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We
know very little about Ángela Barco. Described an an ‘escritora castellana,’
she was runner-up in the ‘Escena campesina’ section of the Valladolid Floral
Games 1908 (see ‘La feria’). Her
novel Fémina was published in 1910 after being “recomendada en el
concurso” – the annual “El Cuento Semanal” literary competition, judged by Pío
Baroja, Valle-Inclán and Felipe Trigo. The novel is a surprisingly explicit
critique of the tedious life of middle-class Spanish women. The plot centres
on the beautiful, depressed Gabriela who, despite her rich and adoring
husband and material wealth, is so bored by her life that the only way out
she can perceive is through her secret plan of suicide. |
Barco,
pictured on the cover of Fémina (1910)
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After
the novel’s publication, the Madrid newspaper Madrid Cómico (23/04/1910) published a short article in its “Zoco
literario” section directed to the author. The page is signed “Enrique de
Ocón”, and the rather facetious article purports to be a declaration of love
(“largo rato he contemplado su retrato publicado en la cubierta del cuento”
[I’ve long contemplated your portrait on the cover of your story]), which, he
says, cannot be, because “a mi entender, un escritor no debe unirse con una
escritora” [as far as I know, a male writer should not marry a female
writer]. He then goes on to dispute three points of detail before concluding
by giving her his congratulations. In
early May 1910, Barco published an article in the regional newspaper El Norte de Castilla, which sparked a
student riot in Valladolid, estimated by La
Correspondencia de España to involve some 500 students. The article, ‘El
hijo,’ was apparently about middle-class customs. According to La Correspondencia, a Commission met
with Barco, who professed herself surprised at the reaction, because the
article had previously been published elsewhere and attracted no attention.
The Barco family were furious (apparently, the furore worsened the illness of
one of Barco’s sisters), and Barco was given notice by her landlady. There
are a number of further references that may or may not refer to Barco. In October
1911, an Ángela Barco Hernández was awarded a 6-month grant by the Junta de
ampliación de estudios to study the ‘problema feminista’ in France, at 350
pesetas/month plus 500 pesetas for travel. An Ángela Barcos [sic] published an article on feminism
in La Vanguardia (2 May 1926), and
an Ángela Barco published an article about the English miners’ strike, ‘La
huelga negra,’ in the same paper a fortnight later (18 May 1926). Bibliography ·
Fémina. Madrid: El Cuento Semanal IV.171 (8 de abril de
1910) BN ·
‘Prólogo.’ Manuel Camacho
Beneytez. Poemas liricos. Madrid: Imp. Española, 1911. Secondary ·
‘La feria
de Valladolid.’ La Época (Madrid).
27 Sep 1908: ·
Ocón,
Enrique de. “Fémina, cuento de
Ángela Barco.” Zoco literario. Madrid
Cómico.
23 Apr 1910: 10. ·
‘Última hora: alboroto estudiantil’ [about the
riot that broke out in response to Barco’s article ‘El hijo’]. La Correspondencia de España. 7 May
1910: 7. |
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Last updated by Kirsty Hooper on Wednesday, 01 September 2010