Title: Body of Evidence: The Legislation of Female Desire in "El Artículo 438" by Carmen de Burgos
Abstract: Carmen de Burgos (1867-1932) is best known for her progressive social and political thought, her tireless promotion of the Republic, and for her dedication to discussing issues of social and political justice, in her literary and nonliterary writings alike. Long an advocate of women's rights in Spain, her work as a teacher and prominent journalist provided her with viable platforms from which to address the cause of women's rights in both word and deed. Her non-fiction publications examine such varied topics as divorce, travel, cooking, personal health, and universal suffrage. A legendary figure to the very end, those who recount her death tell that she even managed to use her last breaths to promote her political beliefs. It is clear from her literary, educational, political, and journalistic activities that Carmen de Burgos found ways to carry out her feminist agenda on several fronts. This essay focuses on her novella El Articulo 438, published in 1921 in Prensa Grafica. My analysis examines the depiction of female sexuality and the expression of desire, both of which are mediated and problematized by an institution representative of the patriarchy, the out-of-date legal system. Existing studies of the novella focus on its message about the dangerous double standard of sexual conduct as applied to women according to the law (here literally, the law of father or that of his successor, the husband). However, my reading posits a new perspective on the work.
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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