Entre la «maja goyesca» y la frívola demi-vierge: Idealidades comparativas en el «serenismo literario» del umbral del siglo XX

Abstract

Spanish and French women has been progressively constructed in individuals’ minds since the decline of the 19th century period until today. Fortunately, the character of Carmen created by Prosper Mérimée, and the demi-vierge imagined by Marcel Prévost, have attenuated over time. In certain moments of history however, their conceptual recreation has served to crystallise the topics into a pictorial ideality that has nothing to do with reality. «Literary sere­nism», thus described by Cristóbal de Castro, links national identity with a model of femininity where the patriarchal system is interested in reasserting itself in order to preserve its hegemony of power. In the Spanish press, the tension generated between the perfect ideality of Spanish women and the incoherent moral countermodel of French women would be a constant feature until the late 20th century. Nonetheless, the identities of both Spanish and French women would eventually change their meaning in accordance with new behaviour patterns, and would leave behind the literary embellishments that marked their conduct.