This paper analyses Kate O'Brien's representation of Spain in Farewell Spain (1937), drawing on unpublished material. It argues that Farewell Spain , written during the Spanish Civil War, amounts to a travelogue with a hidden political agenda. While O'Brien's explicit pro-Republican statements were clearly written in response to the one-sided representations of the Spanish conflict in Ireland and Britain, the author deliberately distanced herself from other war-commentators by embedding her political comments in a highly subjective, sentimental travel book.
Abstract. This paper represents an imagological analysis of Maura Laverty's strongly autobiographical novel No More Than Human (1944) about the experiences of a young Irish governess in Spain in the 1920s. Drawing on the theory and methodology of imagology, it discusses the wellrounded image of Spain conveyed by Laverty's depiction of Spanish land-and cityscapes, characters, and socio-political conditions revealing the author's familiarity with widespread Spanish stereotypes. In line with the imagological tenet that the creation of hetero-and auto-images is interdependent, the paper shows how by having her heroine comment explicitly on Spanish society and politics of the 1920s Laverty indirectly expresses her attitude to her native country Ireland in the first decade of national independence. From both the political, religious, and moral values expressed in the novel under discussion and the scant existent biographical information on Laverty it is concluded that the writer shared the patriotism and the Catholic, rural, and patriarchal values of the official, Church-and State-sanctioned version of Irish nationalism. At the same time, however, she seems to have rejected the extreme moral conservatism propagated by statesmen and clerics in the early years of the Irish Free State.Key Words. Maura Laverty, No More Than Human, imagology, national stereotypes, Ireland, Spain.Resumen. Este artículo representa un análisis imagológico de la novela marcadamente autobiográfica No More than Human (1944) de Maura Laverty sobre las experiencias de una joven institutriz irlandesa en España en la tercera década del siglo veinte. Haciendo uso de la teoría y metodología imagológica, el artículo discute la compleja imagen de España creada por Laverty gracias a su descripción de las tierras, ciudades, personajes y condiciones socio-políticas españolas que revelan la familiaridad de la autora con la gran variedad de estereotipos de España. En línea con el principio de la corriente ideológica de que la creación de hetero-y auto-imágenes es interdependiente, el artículo muestra como por haber hecho su heroína comentarios explícitos sobre la sociedad y política española de los años veinte, Laverty indirectamente expresa su actitud hacia su país nativo Irlanda en la primera década de independencia nacional. En base a los valores tanto políticos, religiosos y morales expresados en la novela referenciada y la escasa información biográfica que existe de Laverty, se puede concluir que la escritora compartía el patriotismo y los valores católicos, rurales y patriarcales de la versión oficial del nacionalismo irlandés sancionado por la iglesia y el estado. Al mismo tiempo, sin embargo, ella parece haber rechazado el extremado conservadurismo moral propagado por políticos y clérigos en los primeros años del Irish Free State (Estado Libre Irlandés).
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