La mujer lectora en la “prensa femenina” del siglo
XIX.
Estudio comparativo entre Biblioteca de Señoritas (1858–1859)
y La Mujer (1878–1881)*
Cristina
Gil Medina[1]
Universidad
de Antioquia - Colombia
Reception: 30/08/2015
Evaluation:
30/04/2016
Approval:
26/05/2016
Research
and Innovation Article
Resumen:
A
mediados del siglo XIX, la prensa en Colombia comenzó a especializarse en un
tipo de lector al que antes no estaba dirigida de manera explícita: la mujer. Esta
iniciativa requería una actualización en la administración de las publicaciones
periódicas, que se evidenciaba en su materialidad, contenido, notas
editoriales, temáticas, géneros, entre otros aspectos. De este modo, cada
publicación daba cuenta de una orientación ideológica que la guiaba y, en esa
medida, expresaba la concepción que tenía sobre la mujer, su papel en la
sociedad y, consecuentemente, la figura de la lectora ideal que pretendía
forjar.
Palabras clave: Lectora ideal, Mujer, Siglo
XIX, Publicaciones periódicas, Biblioteca
de Señoritas.
The Female
Reader in the “Women’s Press” of the 19th Century. A Comparative
Study Between Biblioteca de señoritas
(1858-1859) and La Mujer
(1878-1881)
Abstract
In the
mid-19th century, the press in Colombia began to focus on a new type
of reader that had never before been explicitly aimed at, women. This
initiative required a new outlook in the administration of periodical
publications, evidenced in their materiality, content, editorials, topics, genres,
among other aspects. In this way, each publication demonstrated the ideological
orientation that guided it, and to that degree, expressed a particular conception
of women, their role in society and consequently, the figure of the ideal
reader that it intended to construct.
Key
Words: Ideal reader, women, 19th century,
periodical publications, Biblioteca de señoritas
[Ladies´ Library].
La femme lectrice dans la « presse féminine »
du XIXe siècle. Étude comparative de la Biblioteca de Señoritas (1858-1859) et La
Mujer (1878-1881)
Résumé
Vers le milieu du
XIXe siècle, la presse colombienne a commencé à se spécialiser dans
un type de lecteur jamais interpelé auparavant de manière explicite: la femme.
Cette initiative demandait une mise à jour dans la gestion des publications
périodiques, visible dans la conception matérielle, ainsi que dans le contenu,
les notes éditoriales, les thématiques, les genres, etc. A travers ces aspects
on peut cerner l’orientation idéologique de chaque publication et, dans cette
mesure, la façon dont chacune imaginait la femme et son rôle dans la société
et, par conséquent, la lectrice idéale qu’elle prétendait forger.
Mots-clés: Lectrice idéal, Femme, XIXe siècle,
Publications périodiques, Biblioteca de
Señoritas.
Introduction
The Biblioteca de Señoritas (Ladies Library)
and La Mujer
(Woman), like other 19th century "women's press"
initiatives, showed a great interest in forming a specific female readership
that had certain needs and interests. For these, the configuration of a
community of interpretation also involved the construction of the ideal reader
for each publication, thus determining a particular form and appropriate
content for that model of reader, which betrayed a certain ideological
orientation.
Throughout these two periodicals certain approaches were perceived as they
related to women and their peculiarities as readers. Thus, the Biblioteca de Señoritas and La Mujer agreed, in principle, to conceive of women as guides in
the home or in the community, who they had to educate and entertain in order to
contribute to the progress of society. However, Biblioteca de Señoritas
pondered the idea that the women were “educated and agreeable
companions" for men, a source of inspiration to whom - rather than
exclusively directing the publication to them – would dedicate this
"library" to women, which would seek to form a national literature of
general interest[2]:
Desiring to cooperate in
something to the advancement of our own literature, we have come to set up this
newspaper, under the patronage of young ladies. [...] Both the citizen and the
peasant will find in the BIBLIOTECA an inexhaustible source of
domestic pleasures; a learned and pleasant companion for the nights at home; a
sure guide to penetrate without embarrassment into the world of poetry and
fashion; and a historical dictionary, [...]. Yes, that, and more, because what
we offer our subscribers is a universal encyclopedia[3].
On
the other hand, throughout the pages of La Mujer is
the conception that women were subjects in the collective construction of the
feminine identity and, therefore, the reader became an agent in the creation of
their own perspective of the reality that they inhabited, if they wished,
through the writing:
When, in September 1878, we began the task of founding a newspaper
particularly aimed at Colombian women, our intention was, as far as it was
within our reach, to seek to advise, instruct, defend their rights and
entertain. We also wanted to receive with gratitude the productions sent to us
by the well-known Colombian writers who wanted to help us, and at the same
time, that La Mujer
was a field open to the nascent feminine wits to stimulate them in the path of
good and healthy literature[4].
In these lines, one can
perceive how the editorial orientation of these publications varied, as well as
the reader's representation. The study that will be carried out next seeks to
recognize the ideological perspectives that guided the direction of the
publications, their trajectory, the elements that characterized them, the
textual material considered appropriate for each model of woman to finally be
able to discover points of convergence and divergence in the construction of a
conception of an implicit or ideal reader in each of these publications.
In principle, we will study
the concepts developed by researchers such as Roger Chartier
and D. F. Mckenzie about discursive and reading
practice, in order to understand the theoretical framework from which the
research will be carried out. Likewise, in order to encompass the figure of the
female reader, it is essential to carry out a series of studies about the
circumstances that allowed the emergence and consolidation of the same, as well
as the social framework in which the subject who wrote or directed was
immersed, as well those who read, to understand the collective imagination
shared by these agents and which ended up shaping certain practices and common
representations. Based on this shared reality, the editors of the periodicals
developed a press molded by their representation of the reading community,
considering their needs and interests as the starting point, so as to have
repercussions on their social practices. Subsequently, there will be a brief
presentation of the two periodicals and the framework in which the press
dedicated to women emerged. Finally, the characteristics regarding the form and
substance of publications (such as content, editorial notes, themes, frequent
genres, extension of texts, etc.) will be studied, in order to apprehend the
notions or representations that the directors had about the audience they were
addressing. The reflections will allow the discovery and comparison of the
image of the female reader implicit in the construction of each one of these.
Discursive
practice: between the writer, the editor and the reader
Roger Chartier believes that the analysis of a text cannot fail
to address the dialectic between the coercion of materiality[5] and the appropriation[6] by the public[7]. Also, DF McKenzie in his Bibiliography and Sociology of Texts[8] affirms that there are motives, human interactions and
principles that govern all stages of the text: production, transmission and
reception, and it is in the relationship between all of them where the
significance of it can be found.
Likewise, Chartier conceives
that reality "is always constructed in and by language[9]," and that collective symbolic representations are
imposed on society by means of categories constructed by social groups that direct
the discourses through which they shape their own identity, thus ensuring
permanence, domination over others and legitimation of themselves. These
discursive constructions are limited by the unequal resources of individuals
(material, linguistic, conceptual, social), which refer to conditions of
development that, ultimately, determine the discourse[10].
Thus, the choice of content and materiality by the writer
and the publisher presumes a pre-established conception of the competences and
expectations of the readers to whom the discourse is directed. Through this
exercise of power the reading and interpretation of texts is guided, so that
the reader ends up assuming certain habits of reading, customs, practices,
interests and concepts[11].
The reader, while possessing some degree of autonomy in
the interpretation or appropriation of the texts, cannot completely get rid of
the coercion imposed by the materiality of the text and by the practices of the
community in which it is immersed. In this way, the reader belongs to what Chartier calls a "community of interpretation,"
in which they share common behaviors and representations with other
individuals, a collective unconscious that influences the personal reading of a
text[12].
However, between the real reader and the ideal
-implicit-, there is a great distance that should not be disregarded. The
former is that which assumes from their own particularity and socio-cultural
conditions what is read. The latter is a figure, a social representation, a
model for the creation of the discourse, which is built on the idea that the
writer or editor has the first say. This study is focused on the second type of
reader, since this is the one on which the agents of the production of the text
are based for the creation of a discourse, and about which indications can be
found in the periodical publications with which the present study is concerned:
La Mujer and Biblioteca de Señoritas.
The role of women in
nineteenth-century Colombia
In post-independence Colombian society, there was a state of social
disorder generated by the tension between the conservative and liberal
political parties that opposed each other for power and for the construction of
a collective mentality. For them, education and books - as well as the press -
were constituted as suitable means for the transmission of knowledge, values and
social norms as ideological bases that would support the model of the ideal
citizen that a nation in construction needed[13].
This was where the representation of the model woman took place, guided by
a markedly androcentric conception. In this building of a civilized society,
women played a fundamental role: "A vision of the family and the woman who
inherits Spanish customs, therefore Catholic, associates women with submission,
modesty, obedience, care of the home and for the husband and neatness in every
sense of the word[14].” A vision, in short, close to the image of the
Virgin Mary. In this measure, she was considered to be an “angel of the
home," since she guided the domestic transmission of Christian moral
values and the preservation of "good habits," thus,
becoming the educator of the home: mother and wife rather than woman-subject.
However, thanks to the influence of enlightened
liberalism, the role of women in society began to be rethought and ideas were
forged from the Radical Olympus (1863-1886) [15] that
would have consequences for the education and work of women. In this context, a
debate arose about the relevance of female instruction from the mid-nineteenth
century to well into the twentieth[16], which
was developed in the context of a growing interest in schooling and ran parallel to the
"deployment of strategies for forming a female readership since both
education and reading were conceived as fundamental ideological instruments in
the constitution of a collective mentality and the formation of useful citizens
for the homeland[17].”
To this extent, various laws and initiatives emerged that
sought to implement and regulate female instruction; however, educational
institutions for women were deployed mainly in the private or clerical sphere,
due to the refusal of some, the lack of interest of others and the scarcity of
economic resources from the state to meet those needs[18]. But
despite so many obstacles, awareness of the cultivation of women as
participants in society began to be present in various spaces and discussions,
and would lead to feminine visibility in areas such as writing, and academics,
among others.
The press directed at women: feminine?
The conditions mentioned paved the way for the emergence
and development of a type of press that played an important role in shaping
that new community of interpretation: the feminine, in which it specialized to
satisfy its needs and expectations. These initiatives neglected political
issues - considered inadequate and of little interest to women - and
concentrated on literature, an instrument of entertainment and, at the same
time, training. In this sense, they sought to develop recreational and
instructive content linked to Catholic morality and to the reflection on the
role of women in society. These discourses entered into the realm of daily
practices with the intention of showing women what was allowed and appropriate
- and what was not -, to build in this way the representation of the feminine
ideal and the nation they wanted to establish[19].
To this extent, the "women's press" was forged
as an instrument of power that allowed women's readings to be regulated, based
on the selection of the appropriate contents for them and constant control of
their reading. Thus, the public nature of printed material made it easier for men-
and society in general - to know the texts they acquired and to intervene in
this way in their interpretation, as Carmen Elisa Acosta states: "The
public made forms of collective control and supervision over texts possible[20]."
In addition, those choices of form and background that the director made were
permeated by the idea that the reader would be the one who would legitimize the
creation of the publication and allow it to continue to exist. In this case,
the man accompanying the woman would also be a legitimating subject of the
articles and, to that extent, the press used speeches that sought to avoid
immediate male censorship, in order to be incorporated in the private sphere of
women, as in the case of the magazine La mujer.
For the specific case of periodical publications that in
the nineteenth century were directed to women, there were two types:
publications managed by men and those run by women. In the former, women were
thought of as an inspiring muse rather than as the addressee of the discourse.
This is evident in the titles of the publications: El Rocío (Dew), Flores y Perlas (Flowers and Pearls), El Iris (The Iris), La Familia (The Family), El Hogar (The Home), La
Primavera (Spring), La Lira (The
Lyre), La Guirnalda
(Garland), among others that associated women mainly with flowers or spaces
of feminine action, and by extension, with beauty, delicacy, subtlety of being
and the care of the home. In these publications, the "prescriptive
literature for women [...]which is the object of study, is prevalent, and as
such it is dictated by living standards through essays, poetry and narrative,
which ensure the reproduction of the status quo[21]."
Regarding this type of publication, Carolina Alzate
affirms that they were constituted as places of encounter for literary
deliberation, where the image of the woman constructed by men was represented,
the matter of the construction of her identity was abandoned and their
participation was scarce in the writing of the publication. For this reason, Alzate considers that it is not appropriate to give the
adjective "women’s" to this kind of press, since it was not strictly
written or directed by women[22].
The second aspect of the "women’s press" is the
one where the publication was directed and written by women. According to Alzate, this kind of press should be referred to as
"women’s", since, from their contents, the desire was perceived to
find the feminine voice, their collective identity, their needs as
women-subjects, in order to construct a representation of a nation in which
they could be included[23]. Thus,
the form of public participation that women had had up to that moment was
reconfigured[24], as
they became visible as subjects of writing. In this press, Carlos Vidales says of women: "They did not develop a
feminist struggle in the modern sense of the word, but they contributed
decisively to awakening awareness about the condition of women[25]."
In the same vein, Patricia Londoño[26] (1990)
proposes a temporary ternary division in the development of this type of press,
as follows: 1) 1858-1870, 2) 1870-1910 and 3) 1910-1930. These stages are of
particular interest in describing the work of the publications that circulated
in the second half of the nineteenth century, the period of study for this
work. Thus, in the first moment, printed material appeared led by men, mostly
intellectuals recognized in the literary world, such as Eugenio Diaz, José Joaquín Borda, Jose Maria Vergara y Vergara, Manuel Pombo and Jose Maria
Samper. These were intended to "entertain and educate the ladies of the
wealthy classes of urban centers in the country[27],"
because they conceived of women as moral guides for society that should have a
careful education:
Women were thought to exert a great influence on social life, and in those
societies where they were educated and virtuous, public morality was very high,
but if they were left in ignorance and if they lost their noble feelings, the
whole society would decay[28].
However, beyond literary entertainment and moral
instruction, certain editorial proposals were developed in the second stage, in
which "the feminine character is not solely conferred to them by the fact
that the literary texts are dedicated to them as readers, like floral offerings[29],"
but to the construction of useful proposals around the configuration of being a
woman in an intellectual and practical sense in which their active
participation was proposed. To that extent, they sought to broaden their scope
of action towards the public, which is why a gradual increase in women's
collaboration in the modern press was achieved[30].
From writing object to writing
subject: analysis of two publications
Biblioteca de Señoritas and La Mujer clearly illustrate both aspects of the press directed at
women, in which each one presents itself as a pioneer in each of the first two
temporal stages proposed by Londoño. The first,
started by men's initiative and the second as a project by a remarkable woman
writer concerned about guiding her fellow human beings.
Biblioteca de Señoritas was
the first Colombian publication dedicated to the "beautiful sex,"
circulated weekly in Bogota between January 3, 1858 and July 30, 1859, thanks
to, according to Andrés Gordillo, the initiative of Rafael Eliseo Santander[31]. The
composition team was composed of Felipe Pérez[32] the first year, Eustacio Santamaría[33],
Eugenio Díaz[34] and N.
Santamaría[35].
Throughout its 67 issues (divided into 6 quarters) it included poems, pictures
of customs, novels, biographies, correspondence, as well as articles focused on
topics considered of interest to women (fashion, news, advice) and, above all,
discussions about literature. Biblioteca de Señoritas
disappeared as an autonomous publication and was merged in 1859 with El Mosaico
(1858-1865), one of the most important Colombian literary periodicals of the
19th century.
On the other hand, La Mujer, a biweekly
magazine written exclusively by ladies, young and old, under the direction of
Mrs. Soledad Acosta de Samper was
published in Bogotá between September 1, 1878 and May 15, 1881. Samper was a
Bogota writer who was concerned about contributing in many ways to the creation
of a national literature. The daughter of General Joaquín Acosta and wife of
the renowned politician and writer José María Samper, she received a rare
education for a woman of the time. She was a very prolific author and therefore
has been recognized as one of the most influential writers of the nineteenth
century in Colombia. In addition to directing the magazine, Acosta de Samper[36] wrote
most of the contents of this publication which included: stories, novels
(historical, folk), biographies, traditionalist paintings, poetry; this
magazine also published articles on various subjects: science, fashion,
hygiene, morality, current affairs, news from abroad, history, anecdotes,
correspondence and advice for women, mostly focused on domestic life.
As was already mentioned, these two publications were founded under an
intellectual spirit that proposed freedom of expression, allowing the formation
of new horizons for readers such as women and their participation in public
spheres such as periodicals. Vidales
remarks:
[…] las mismas condiciones políticas que produjeron la Federación en
Colombia fueron decisivas para la emergencia de un periodismo dedicado a la
mujer y para la aparición en público de muchas escritoras, poetas y
periodistas.
[...] the same political
conditions that the Federation produced in Colombia[37] were decisive for the emergence of journalism dedicated to women and for
the public appearances of many female writers, poets and journalists[38].
However, the temporal difference in the emergence of the Biblioteca and La Mujer had a certain impact on the material and substantial
formation of the same. These two magazines emerged at two different epochs of
liberal hegemony, with an interval of twenty years. Biblioteca, for
its part, was founded years before the radicalization of the party, which
became strengthened with the Constitution of 1863[39]. La Mujer, on
the other hand, was founded in a phase of activism of the liberal proposal and
culminated in the beginning of another bipartisan civil war that would give
rise to the Regeneration[40] and
later to the Constitution of 1886, which tended to consolidate a conservative
and Catholic state.
It is possible that this first proposal of the "women’s" press was
constituted as a timid initiative in the midst of the creation of these ideas
on free expression through the printing press, in which women were gradually
starting to find space in the fields of the construction and reception of a
periodical publication. In contrast, twenty years later, the liberal
environment would allow the consolidation of the possibility of women to
intervene more actively in these literary spaces. Soledad Acosta de Samper
undoubtedly represented a figure of advantage in this process; in as much as
she accomplished - as a woman and an intellectual - an important task in that
gradual transformation that was taking place with respect to the conception of
the role that women should have in society.
Acosta de
Samper was an active participant in literary publications throughout the second
half of the nineteenth century, acquiring a name in the literary world and an
intellectual position spearheading these initiatives, which allowed her to
develop several editorial proposals conceived as collective feminine
constructions based on what the women of that time wanted and should read. La Mujer was
then that initial project that Acosta developed individually and that would be
an example for many others that emerged later, gradual steps fundamental for
the consolidation of the feminine periodical publications that in the 20th
century strengthened the idea of a "modern woman", active in the public domain[41]. Thus,
this publication was for Acosta:
[...] a women's magazine in which (Acosta) could share her concerns about
the precarious conditions of women and propose solutions to improve them, such
as education and work, which, for her, corresponds to the "beautiful ideal
of Christian civilization" and "true freedom" (01/10/1879: III,
17) [42].
According to
the above, it is important to highlight the work of the director of each
periodical publication in the measure in which the approach was made for the
reading public and which was the basis of the construction of its ideological
proposal and, therefore, of the expression of the same in the publication
through the choice of its content and form. The expectation, interests and
needs of the community of interpretation, as proposed by Chartier,
is fundamental for the construction of a discourse that aims to pass on its
social practices. To this extent, the social distance that was imposed between
directors and readers with respect to gender could have led to divergences in
the composition of the publication, as evidenced in these two cases of the
press directed at women: Biblioteca written by men
and La Mujer by
women. The first questioned feminine interests and proposed an ideal
representation of women from the perspective of male otherness, which,
moreover, has generally been dominant in the field of thought. The second, on
the other hand, posed the needs and desires of the gender from the proximity of
the "feminine self," a common imaginary arising from belonging to
that same sex.
On the other hand, the title of
the publications also indicates the interest they had, in addition to being
legitimate, constructing a particular discourse of feminine representation. The
name La Mujer did
not seek female associations with respect only to their beauty or to the
interior space of the home - instead of using the expression "fair sex,"
it preferred "lady" and "young woman" – like is the case
with other recurring titles, but rather it focused on the gender, women as the
subject of the construction of a common identity. In this regard Azuvia Licón adds that:
It is clear that
Soledad Acosta de Samper seeks, with La mujer, to establish a public opinion (on the feminine?) far
from the prejudices and passions of the more traditional opinion; hence her
interest in eliminating the image of women as "beautiful and fragrant flowers"
to combat the dependent character (of the husband, the father or brothers), to
question the natural gifts (motherhood, the vocation of teaching) and even
their interest in rethinking women's tastes for fashion, crinolines and hats[43].
This case was different in Biblioteca de Señoritas, where
the main interest was not women as subjects, but the literature and compilation
of works of national literature of general interest that, moreover, were
suitable for "ladies" or women who had to be prepared to later assume
the roles of mother and wife. Moreover, although the title was established, its
implicit audience was not exclusively female; men were usually regarded as the
recipients of the publication, for they were the ones who were addressed in the
discourse most of the time. In addition, articles were circulated that dealt
with themes that could easily be of interest to both sexes or publications in
which men seemed to be the main target, for example, the messages of
"Thoughts" that emphasized a generalized Catholic morality towards
the human race, some letters that allowed dialogue between male collaborators
or biographies where they emphasized their work in society with the masculine
role visible to a greater extent. However, these are cases that
will be studied later.
From the prospectuses, both
publications officially declared the desire to construction a national
literature and contribute to the entertainment of women. In Biblioteca it was stated
that this publication was destined "to the recreation and pastime of the
benevolent, cultured and fair Grenadian sex[44]"
and that articles of customs, sentimental novels and romantic verses were the
most suitable genres to achieve this[45]. In La Mujer,
although texts of the same type circulated, various genres and themes were
explored, possibly because it was intended to forge other types of skills in
the reader, who was considered as a subject with an ability to read other types
of articles, for example, of a scientific nature, such as “Curious facts of astronomic science” (Issues 11, 14, 16, 18, 21,
22, 24), historical ones such as " Historical studies on women
in civilization " (all issues) or on political news , as proposed
in the first issue in the "European
Magazine", as follows:
We must tell them the
truth, and nothing else, and not add or invent anything; we should be
respectful with our readers so that they also respect us; that we let them know
more or less what happens in Europe, without trying to tell them that which
does not interest them, or too trivial or too serious things[46].
Likewise, the prospectuses of both publications invited the readers to send
in their collaborations. In Biblioteca an
allusion to this was made above all in the first two issues:
When our newspaper, which will then no longer be ours, is written in its
greatest part by female pens, what a find it will be! What a glory for our
female compatriots!
Which of them is missing a heart or a thought in order to become a poet, writer
and whatever you want or imagine? None, certainly, although up to now all have
lacked the stimulus.
To work then, fair compatriots! Make the pages of your BIBLIOTECA more pleasant, more lucid, and what seems to matter a lot to some, help
with your collaboration and with your subscriptions to make (BIBLIOTECA) last longer[47].
Notwithstanding the clear
invitation, the publication does not emphasize the possibility or the necessity
of female participation in its own construction; on the contrary, it seems that
their collaboration should come from the "most accredited pens of the
Republic[48],"
which were surely masculine. It cannot be disregarded however, the drafters'
desire for women to accompany the work of the publication- both a rhetorical
and genuine desire- and for that matter, it must be highlighted, the support
offered by the editors in the publications of some women, like the case of
Rufina or "M", whose texts they presented with pleasure and took the
opportunity to encourage others to write: "May this serve as a stimulus
for our young women to launch into the joyful field of literature, and the most
beautiful and holy of our purposes will have been fulfilled[49]!"
In
fact, most of the collaborators were men, with a few exceptions, such as Andina, a pseudonym of Soledad Acosta de Samper, who
collaborated in the section of the "Parisian Magazine", publishing
current news about Paris. Apart from her, Rufina was mentioned several times
and, in no more than two entries, Dolores Calvo de Piñeres and Maria Josefa Camacho,
some anonymous, and the foreign contributors: Gregoria
Logan, Laura Prus and Evelina
Ribrecourt. In addition to being scarce, female
collaboration was timid and did not show different positions on society and the
role of women in it or the reader in the press - with the exception of Rufina,
who will be presented later. The most common texts among the collaborators of
this publication frequented the genres of poetry, narrative and critical
articles; and the most recurrent themes were concerned with morality, religion,
the work of women at home, love, and marriage.
On the other hand, La Mujer was
built mostly by Acosta de Samper, who wrote - according to Flor María Rodríguez
- "around 92%[50]"
under her name or some of her pseudonyms (Aldebarán,
Renato, Olga, SAS, Director, drafting). However, in the editorials the request
- apparently in vain - for collaborations by the female readers was recurrent.
Likewise, Acosta expressed in the note "To our collaborators" the need to send their texts with names,
so as "to be aware that they are written by women," otherwise they
would not be published[51].
However, in the last issues (59 and 60) the director stated that she had very
little collaboration from educated women, who belonged to the elite class, as
was originally expected and, to that extent, she encouraged them to write and
reported that she left the field open for them to continue constructing the
national literature.
The most
frequent collaborators to the publication, besides the director, were: Agripina Montes del Valle, Azucena del Valle, Berenice (Bertilda Samper), Eva C. Verbel y
Marea, H. Antommarchi de V,
Silveria Espinosa de Rendón,
Waldina Dávila de Ponce. In
their texts, the lyrical and narrative genres were greatly emphasized. In
poetry, topics were developed such as beauty, the Catholic religion, death,
friendship, love, marriage, morality and occasions (such as birthdays or
deaths). In contrast to Biblioteca, where the
woman was first and foremost the muse, the inspiration of men, in La Mujer came
proposals, which explored other types of themes, such as war, art, and nature,
among others, and dealt with experiences more than feelings. In the narrative
of both publications, the texts of a romantic and traditionalist character were
highlighted, in which the collective imagination of women in the "sweet
home" was constantly reproduced. Nevertheless, La Mujer
circulated novels with a didactic and moralizing character elaborated by
Acosta, who explored the historical novel, in which the woman had a fundamental
role, for her work in the construction of society from the domestic and social
perspective.
Attention should be drawn to
gender as an important figure in the writing process, insofar as it allows the
author to approach a particular community of interpretation and to generate a
type of appropriation of the text. Gender is not only conceived as a mold, it
is also a form that brings significance. To this extent, it is illustrative to
find that in both publications the use of narrative and poetry was emphasized
to develop the recurrent themes of home and Christian morality and, through
them, to reinforce the image of an ideal woman who remains in the private
sphere and is constituted as the moral guide of the family. This reveals a
concern of the collaborators to publish texts through forms and contents that
allowed a greater approach to the readers through entertainment. In this way
the image of a reader, who was possibly a housewife, who read occasionally
without this work transcending her private space was strengthened, because her
readings led to the idea that her practices were concentrated on the same
things. In other words, an intention was shown to maintain the state of affairs
with respect to the position of the reader in society.
In the case of correspondence, Biblioteca
developed a dialogue mainly upheld by men, where they appeared to be the
implicit and real readers of this publication, because they were the ones who
expressed themselves about the texts circulating in the newspaper and those who
were frequently targeted by the publication. Such was the case of Eugenio Díaz,
who on several occasions wrote texts inspired by articles by José Joaquín Borda (only the first to
be named below is not published in Biblioteca). In Mi pluma (My Quill) Diaz admitted that:
I am indebted to you for the material for three newspaper articles, [...].
With the article "The Festivals of
Cherbourg" you gave me the idea for my article
"The Festivals of Monjas-Burgo"; with that of "The Jacket" I was inspired to
"The Ruana,"
and now with "The Inkwell",
I have been offered some material for "My
Quill." It is just; therefore, that I dedicate to you this last one,
inspired above all, by the affection you have given me to know that I wrote
something for the newspapers, Biblioteca and Mosaico[52].
The case was not isolated, the
same happened to Celta (Jose Caicedo
Rojas) with his article "Ruana Adventures"
(issue 58), made in honor of Eugenio Díaz. Later Díaz dedicated his " Ruana Memories " (issue
62) to Celta. Likewise, a man who calls himself Yesid
offered Eugenio Díaz his text "The Huntress" (Issue 64). And this
corresponded with an article called "The Hat" (Issue
65).
However, several letters stand out
that refute the claim that men were ultimately the only real or ideal reader.
For example, the correspondence of J. de D., who in various issues attempted to
describe matters of Parisian social life which he believed was of interest to
women (Issues 45, 46, 50 and 52); the letter of "M", one of our
subscribers", who did an analysis of the book "Código del amor"
(Code of love), a kind of summary that reinforces Christian morality in the
field of love (Issue 2); and two epistles written by Rufina. The first (Issue
33) is a letter that the writer sent to a friend to protest about an article
published in Biblioteca entitled: “Too
Revealing Suits" (Issue 32). There Rufina noted her indignation and stated
that she would stop reading the publication because "in the absence of
anything substantial to fill their newspapers, which entertained us, they have
taken the greatest futile actions, to annoy us and make us lose the taste for
reading[53]."
Rufina complained of widespread
injustice against women and their inability to write in newspapers, and therefore
indirectly challenged the director of Biblioteca to publish an article about the "bad manners
of men[54]."
In effect, the text would be published in issue 35, as she says, "about
(not against) men," where she argued that women were an instrument of men,
a concept that must be eradicated in order to avoid bad habits, because
"evil must be attacked at the root to cure it radically[55]."
In this article, called "It is the fault of men" (Issues 35 and 37),
Rufina reclaimed the rights of women, complained about their treatment by men
and proposed that "it was necessary to make them aware that qualities
acquired with study, are more attractive and durable than the physical
perfections that nature gives[56],"
so that they avoid frivolous conversations about home and fashion. Undoubtedly,
it is one of the most daring texts published by a collaborator in Biblioteca, because she
presented the vision of a woman discontented with the state of things and able
to confront this through her writing.
In La Mujer, most of the letters that were
published were written by women and addressed to the director, and referred to
issues of "The Society for Homeless Children," a foundation promoted
by Acosta de Samper through the publication. An epistle of the Archbishop of
Bogota praised the director's work in the publication, and other letters that
were a response to the request of Acosta to inform the readers about fashions
and social events in the city of Paris, which were considered of interest for
them, were published. Cristina de Beaujour, the
author of these texts, known as the "Paris Courier" (Issues 53, 56
and 58), announced that she wished to collaborate with the work proposed by
Acosta:
You tell me that you
want a rational fashion magazine, appropriate to a country where the families
generally are not well-adjusted, in which there is absolutely no worldly life,
where women are fonder of their home than walks, and where the exaggerated and
crazy luxury of Parisian life has no reason to be. Moreover, you add, women in
that country are religious and, mainly, timorous and lovers of Catholic truth[57].
The collaborator described in her
words the image of a conservative reader, expressed in this way by Acosta de
Samper. However, this view seemed to be contradicted in other articles that the
same director wrote and published, such as texts on education, politics and
history, where women exemplified a more active role in society.
Thus, in the correspondence of
these publications, a mainly masculine participation for the case of Biblioteca
and feminine in La Mujer, was
noticed. However, the first shows an active dialogue between the readers and
collaborators - mostly men – with regard to the same texts that circulated in
the publication, a circumstance not perceived in La Mujer, where the reading public - as
the same director said in the last issue - was quieter in regards to the
magazine texts, although such spaces of discussion were continuously provided.
The publications studied have
other elements in common. Such is the case with the articles on Christian
morality that constantly reaffirmed the image of the pure, weak, obedient,
educating administrator of the household, frequent in Biblioteca and in La Mujer. Such
texts fulfilled the objective of "instructing" that was proposed in
the prospectus, which affirmed the need to educate women in Christian values and
ensured that intellectual instruction should never be detached from morality.
However, in Biblioteca
the scarcity of discussions about intellectual education and institutions was
perceived, and with respect to women, it was only necessary to affirm that they
should be educated to be the origin of the "moral progress of
society" from the home. In La Mujer, on the other hand, the real intention of
educating the reader was perceived, which is why articles on science,
biographies, history and others were published, in which the education of women
was questioned not only in the moral sphere but also in the intellectual and
practical spheres. Acosta de Samper, in the article "The education of the
daughters of the people", affirmed that it was important "To give
useful instruction, to give good principles of morality, to give a religion
that serves as a brake to their passions and provides consolation in their
misfortune, and give an industry that provides the means to subsist, (...)[58]
," for which it proposed that educational establishments able to meet
these needs be created[59].
Although biographies circulated in
both publications, in Biblioteca they were
restricted to men, for example personages like Eujenio
Sue, William Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Pico de la Mirándola,
Michealangelo, Rafael, César Borjia,
Garibaldi, among others. In most of these stories the woman was not an object
of interest, not even with respect to her role in the life of the honoree.
Contrary to this, La Mujer
proposed a section of biographies of "virtuous and remarkable" women
renowned for their work in public and private life:
In the series of
female portraits which we shall now see, we have admitted only Christian women
of all nations, whose virtues are as clear as the light of the sun, and whose
reputation has not been stained with the slightest murmur of slander[60].
In this way, Acosta proposed a
life model for various types of women, whether in the social and political
spheres (Princess Isabel of France, Marquise de Lescure
and Larochejaquelin, Marquise de Lafayette, Marquise
de Montagu), or in private life (Rosa Ferrucci,
Eugenia de Guerin, Sofía Swetchine),
those she called "benefactors of society" (Sister Rosalia,
Elisa-Ana Bayley Seton, Mother Barat, Madame
Duchesne, Marquise de Barol, among others). Finally,
from this selection of model women, we deduce an intention to influence the
reader's formation as a being with the capacity to intervene for the benefit of
their home and society, always from a careful moral-Catholic education.
On historical subjects only the
magazine La Mujer was in
charge. The texts of this type show the need to include women in the re-writing
of history and present them as fundamental individuals for the construction of
the nation, from the domestic and social perspectives. Acosta affirmed in the
prologue of "Historical Studies on Women in Civilization" that
"without historical science, that is to say, without the knowledge of what
past generations did, women can never exert a profitable and legitimate
influence over the society that surrounds them[61]"(Issue
1 page 2) and added that in these studies it will be fixed mainly:
[...] on the good or bad influence that women
have had on progress, might, well-being and the decadence of nations ... and
with facts we will demonstrate how necessary it is for nations that women
manifest themselves to be not only virtuous and good, but worthy, learned,
energetic and respectable[62].
In this publication, which
reported particularly on the women of ancient civilizations and the Middle
Ages, a didactic-moralizing ideal was perceived that was continued by
traditionalist and historical novels. The first narrated events that ran from
the colonization period to after the independence, some such as " Los descubridores "
about characters such as Alonso de Ojeda (Issues 9 to 28), "El cacique Chucuramay"
about facts of the conquest (Issue 8 p. 172-176) or " La juventud de Andres
") that narrated post-independence events (Issue 29 to 42), and the second
stood out because they replicated and reinforced the Christian values that
women should have, such as in "Doña Jerónima" by Olga
(Issues 2 to 8) or in " La mujer "
by Eva C. Verbel and M. (Issues 33 to 39), in which
the author confirmed this vision: "Strong woman! You know what that means:
for me it is this: a woman who suffers, who fights with the arms of love,
selflessness, charity, plurality of heroism that necessarily has a palm:
triumph[63]!”
It should be added that these
texts of a historical, didactic and moralizing nature were the most extensive
and recurrent theme in La Mujer, and most were written by Soledad Acosta de
Samper, showing the intention to express by means of genres of "easy
access" to the readers, subjects which used to be foreign. The discourse
was therefore adequate for the medium through which it was transmitted, but its
ideals transcended the most accepted feminine work and promoted others of
various kinds. That was the distinction of her texts with respect with the
others.
On matters such as work and
politics, Biblioteca did not deal
with them, but in La Mujer
the importance of women being active in society was alluded to, where they
should receive practical instruction in decent work that they could assume and
make it useful to the community. Likewise, in the article "Women in
politics", Acosta de Samper stated that more than the search for female
emancipation, women should exert moral influence on the politics of the moment
- with prior knowledge of the same - through their possibilities of influencing
the men nearby and making sure that they fulfilled their duties in the home, in
society and the Republic[64]. In
these constructions of the image of the woman who transcended but did not
abandon her home, the reader was called to assume more purposeful roles in
society, for example in her work of writing, as has already been shown in
Acosta´s editorial notes.
In
conclusion
Finally, it can be evidenced that the representation of
the reader in the two publications coincided in some aspects. In both cases it
was conceived, in principle, that the woman reader should be devoted to the
home, which is the reason for the selection of amusing readings of a literary
character, starting from the narrative and lyrical genres, of content directed
by the prevailing morality. This is the case of La Mujer, which had a biweekly
publication to allow her to dedicate time to her family. These characteristics
reinforced a conservative discourse of the status quo, which allowed the
permanence of that dominant image of the woman of the household in practices of
sociability of that community of interpretation in particular. However, in
other cases the distance between both publications is clear. This idea is
confirmed by Azuvia Licón
when she says:
It is possible,
then, to think that Biblioteca
is a publication that seeks to entertain its female readers and offer them a
pleasant time in which, in addition, they learn certain things. On the other
hand, the harsh tone and interest in long-term issues such as reflections on
the role of women in the history of civilizations make La mujer a magazine whose main interest is to educate and instruct the readers[65].
Thus, in La Mujer it is perceived that the use of the dominant
discourse was possibly a strategy of mimicry that some women used to guarantee
the legitimation of their writing and, from it, to raise small transgressions[66]. This
is done by the director, who assumed the magazine as a collective elaboration
of the female voice, which conceived the "collaborator" (who was
initially a reader) as a subject capable of forging their own speech and,
consequently, their social reality. In this way, a special relationship arose
between the readers, the writers and the publisher, which allowed a space of
mutual collaboration in which the reader could become a writer, and vice versa.
The reader was then conceived as an active subject for the constitution of their
own identity and prompted to reaffirm themselves through the readings made in
the magazine, to later transcend - and not abandon - their role in the home
through an education that gave them certain social responsibilities, which gave
them the possibility of transforming the public sphere from their interference
in the same instruction, politics, writing and work.
This proposal, however, was
produced in sum by the director Acosta, because - as it has been expressed -
she was the one who offered to a greater extent an innovative and diverse
content on her theme and gender, in which she proposed a change of vision for
the reading woman to one who could be educated, entertained and who could
participate in creative work, and thus making a transformation in their social
practices, which began in their activity as a reader. Finally, the
collaborators - as they were also known in most cases of Biblioteca - did not
propose new experiences for their readers and, to that extent, they kept away
from innovative work, filling the role of a writer with dominant ideas about
what women should be and should read.
On the other hand, Biblioteca de señoritas proposed
the representation of a reader who participated to a lesser extent in the
collective construction of discourses and who had to assume, in consequence,
the role imposed on them by that dominant "other," who in many cases
was permeated by Catholic principles that sought to keep them unchangeable in
the practices of society. Thus, the image was that of a reader centered in the
home, who had to be educated mainly in matters of domestic interest and was
required to read about subjects as long as they did not abandon the precepts of
Christian morality.
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Elisa. Leer literatura. Ensayos sobre la
lectura literaria en el siglo XIX. Colombia: Palabra magisterio, 2005.
Acosta
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entregas en Colombia, 1840–1880. Bogotá: Corcas editores, 2009.
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Ana María. “La reflexión decimonónica sobre la escritura de mujeres en Colombia”.
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Carolina. “¿Cosas de mujeres? Las publicaciones periódicas dedicadas al bello
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Universidad Iberoamericana, 2005.
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Mosaico, 1858–1872: nacionalismo, elites y cultura en la segunda mitad del
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núm. 8 (2003): 19–63.
Licón
Villalpando, Azuvia. “Solaz y dulces lecciones:
"La mujer" y el proyecto de construcción nacional de Soledad Acosta
de Samper”. (Tesis de maestría, Universidad de los Andes; 2012). Disponible en:
https://www.academia.edu/1907927/Solaz_y_dulces_lecciones_La_mujer_y_el_proyecto_de_construccion_nacional_de_Soledad_Acosta_de_Samper. (29 de agosto de 2015).
Londoño
Vega, Patricia. “Las publicaciones periódicas dirigidas a la mujer, 1858–1930”.
Boletín Cultural y Bibliográfico 27,
núm. 23 (1990): 2–23.
Londoño
Vega, Patricia. “Educación femenina en Colombia, 1780–1880”. Boletín Cultural y Bibliográfico 31,
núm. 37 (1994): 20–59.
Mckenzie, D. F.
“El libro como forma expresiva”. En Bibliografía
y sociología de los textos. Trad. Bouza, Fernando. Madrid: ediciones Akal,
2005.
Rodríguez–Arenas,
Flor María. “La labor intelectual de Soledad Acosta de Samper en la revista La
Mujer (1878–1881)”. En Soledad Acosta de
Samper. Escritura, género y nación en el siglo XIX. Madrid – Frankfurt am Main: Iberoamericana – Vervuert,
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Vidales,
Carlos. “Escritoras y periodistas colombianas del siglo XIX”. La Rana Dorada. Revista de historia y
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* This article presents the
advances of a research project that has the intention of studying the
representation of the ideal reader
through the analysis of the previously mentioned elements, in two Colombian
periodical publications aimed at women: Biblioteca de Señoritas (Bogotá,
1858–1859) and La Mujer (Bogotá, 1878–1881)
[1] Sixth semester student of the Liberal Arts: Hispanic
Philology of the Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín,
Colombia. Member of the research group Colombia:
traditions of the word, as an undergraduate student in training, and was
granted a Young Researcher stimulus package from the Universidad de Antioquia
(2013-2015). Email address: crisgil28@gmail.com
[2] Editorial note generally circulating in the first
issue of the publication, which indicates the particularities of the
publication, such as the objectives and interests that motivate it, among other
issues.
[3] Copywriters,
" La Biblioteca de Señoritas”,
Biblioteca de Señoritas 1: No 1 (1858): 1.
[4] S. A. de S.,
“Prospecto”, La Mujer 5: No 59 and 60 (May 1881): 245.
[5] Materiality is
understood by Chartier as the material form in which
the text is manifested, which expresses a particular intention of coercion on
the reader's interpretation, in order to direct the appropriation that the text
achieves. Roger
Chartier, El
orden de los libros. Lectores, autores, bibliotecas en Europa entre los siglos
XVI y XVIII. (Barcelona: Gedisa
editorial, 1994).
[6] Appropriation, on the other hand, is the construction of the meaning of a
text by a certain community of readers. Roger Chartier, El orden
de,…
[7] Roger Chartier, El orden de
los,… 19.
[8] DF Mckenzie,
"The book as an expressive form", in Bibiliography and Sociology of Texts, translated by Fernando Bouza (Madrid: Akal
editions, 2005), 30. The first edition of this book is from 1986, however, this
article will cite the revised material, which corresponds to the Spanish
version published in 2005.
[9]
Roger Chartier, El
presente del pasado. Escritura de la historia, historia de lo escrito
(México: Universidad Iberoamericana, 2005), 33.
[10] Roger Chartier, El presente
del pasado,… 35.
[11] Roger Chartier, El presente
del pasado,… 33.
[12] Roger Chartier y Guglielmo Cavallo,
“Introducción”, in Historia de la lectura
en el mundo occidental (Madrid: Taurus, 2001), 27.
[13]
Luis Alfonso Alarcón Meneses, “Libros peligrosos, lecturas impías: prácticas y
representaciones sociales sobre la lectura en el caribe colombiano 1870–1886”,
Revista Historia y Espacio No 38
(2012): 124.
[14] Ana María Agudelo,
“La reflexión decimonónica sobre la escritura de mujeres en Colombia”, Ciberletras No 25
(2011), http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ciberletras/v25/agudeloochoa.html (29 July, 2015).
[15] Period in which the
liberal party in Colombia governed uninterruptedly. That name was acquired
because they defended certain radical ideas that led, for example, to reforms
that sought to proclaim a secular state through freedom of education, worship,
expression, among others. To this effect, the expulsion of the Jesuits was carried
out in 1850 and the decree guaranteeing the confiscation of mortmain to the
institution of the Church.
[16] Patricia Londoño Vega, “Educación femenina en Colombia, 1780–1880”, Boletín Cultural y Bibliográfico 31: No
37 (1994): 23.
[17] Ana María Agudelo, La reflexión decimonónica,…
[18] Patricia Londoño
Vega, Educación femenina en Colombia,…
35.
[19]
Carmen Elisa Acosta Peñalosa, Leer literatura. Ensayos sobre la lectura
literaria en el siglo XIX (Colombia: Palabra magisterio, 2005), 38.
[20] Carmen Elisa Acosta Peñalosa, Leer
literatura,… 39.
[21] Beatriz Eugenia Aguirre Gaviria, “Entre el desafío y la
sumisión: dos revistas femeninas de Colombia y México en el siglo XIX” (Doctorate thesis, State University of New York at Birghamton; 1995), 19.
[22] Carolina Alzate, “¿Cosas de
mujeres? Las publicaciones periódicas dedicadas al bello sexo”, en Medios y nación. Historia de los medios de
comunicación en Colombia (Bogotá: Ministry of
Culture–Editora Aguilar, 2003), 97.
[23] Carmen Elisa Acosta Peñalosa, Lectura y nación: novela por entregas en Colombia, 1840–1880
(Bogotá: Corcas editores, 2009), 221.
[24] Azuvia Licón
Villalpando, “Solaz y dulces lecciones: "La mujer" y el proyecto de
construcción nacional de Soledad Acosta de Samper” (Master’s
degree thesis, Universidad
de los Andes; 2012), 53.
[25] Carlos Vidales, “Escritoras y periodistas colombianas del
siglo XIX”, La Rana Dorada. Revista de
historia y cultura (n.a.), http://hem.bredband.net/rivvid/carlos/mujeres.htm (29 August, 2015).
[26] Patricia Londoño Vega. “Las
publicaciones periódicas dirigidas a la mujer, 1858–1930”. Boletín Cultural y
Bibliográfico 27: No 23 (1990): 2–23.
[27] Patricia Londoño
Vega, Las publicaciones periódicas
dirigidas a la mujer, … 9.
[28] Patricia Londoño Vega, Las publicaciones periódicas dirigidas a la mujer, … 10.
[29] Patricia Londoño Vega, Las publicaciones periódicas dirigidas a la mujer, … 12.
[30] Patricia Londoño Vega, Las publicaciones periódicas dirigidas a la mujer, … 13.
[31] Andrés Gordillo Restrepo,” El Mosaico, 1858–1872:
nacionalismo, elites y cultura en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX”, Fronteras de la Historia No 8 (2003):
28.
[32] Felipe Pérez
(1836-1891) was a writer, politician and geographer, collaborator of diverse
periodical literary and political publications of the 19th century.
He stands out as a moderate defender of the Constitution of Rionegro
of 1863, for the series of diplomatic posts he assumed and for being the
brother of President Santiago Perez (1874-1876). His literary work is recognized for his fictional and historical novels.
[33] Eustacio Santamaría
(1829-?) was a writer and politician,
collaborator of several periodicals with articles with diverse themes and
literary texts. In
addition, he wrote the " Primer Libro de Instrucción Objetiva para el Aprendizaje Combinado " (1872).
[34] Eugenio Díaz (1803-1865) was a well-known writer. Of his works
"Manuela" (1856) stands out. In addition, he wrote articles,
vignettes of everyday life and traditionalist novels.
[35] No information found
about this character.
[36] Samper
also directed La Familia (1884), El Domingo de la familia
cristiana (1889–1890), El Domingo (1898) y Lecturas para el hogar (1905). She also collaborated
in various magazines and newspapers; the first was the Biblioteca de Señoritas (1858-1859), when she was barely 26 years old.
[37] Colombia was constituted as a federal state in the middle
of the Granadine Confederation (1858-1863), and was
formally proclaimed as such in the Constitution of 1863, in which it acquired
the name of the United States of Colombia. This political organization lasted
until the Constitution of 1886, in which the country was configured to date as
a centralist state.
[38] Carlos Vidales, Escritoras y
periodistas colombianas, … n.p.
[39] This Constitution behaved as a legal body for the
realization of the most radical liberal reforms that began the era known as the
Radical Olympus.
[40] The Regeneration was a political movement led mainly
by Rafael Núñez and Miguel Antonio Caro, who opposed
the radical liberal movement and sought a reorganization of political power
from the Catholic Conservative Party.
[41] Patricia Londoño Vega, Las publicaciones periódicas dirigidas a la mujer, … 15.
[42] Danaé Michaud-Mastoras.
“Soledad Acosta de Samper y la otra historia contada en La mujer
(1878-1881)”. Presented
in the XVIII
Congreso de la Asociación de Colombianistas, The woman in Colombia, Weston,
MA,
2013, http://www.colombianistas.org/Portals/0/Congresos/Documentos/CongresoXVIII/Michaud-Mastoras_Danae.pdf (18 May, 2016).
[43]
Azuvia Licón
Villalpando, Solaz y dulces lecciones,… 53.
[44] Copywriters,
“Biblioteca de Señoritas”, Biblioteca de
Señoritas 2: No 48 (March 1859): 408.
[45]
Copywriters, “Sin nombre”, Biblioteca de
Señoritas 1: No 2 (January 1858): 9.
[46] S. A. de S.,
“Revista de Europa”, La Mujer 1: No 1 (September 1878):
21.
[47] Copywriters, “Sin
nombre”, Biblioteca de Señoritas 1:
No 2 (January 1858): 9.
[48] Copywriters, “Biblioteca de Señoritas”, Biblioteca de Señoritas 1: No 1 (January 1858): 1.
[49] Copywriters,
“Bibliografía”, Biblioteca de Señoritas
1: No 3 (January 1858): 20.
[50] Flor María
Rodríguez–Arenas, “La labor intelectual de Soledad Acosta de Samper en la
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[52]
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[53] Rufina, “Sin
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[54] Rufina, “Es culpa
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[55] Rufina, Es culpa de los,… 295.
[56] Rufina, “Es culpa
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[57] Cristina de Beaujour, “Correo de Paris”,
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[58] S. A. de S., “La educación de las hijas del pueblo”, La
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[59] Acosta, after the death of
her husband in 1888, needs to start supporting herself.
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[61] S. A. de S., “Estudios históricos sobre la
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[63] Eva C. Verbel y M, “La mujer”, La
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[65] Azuvia
Licón Villalpando, Solaz y dulces lecciones,… 46.
[66] Beatriz Eugenia
Aguirre Gaviria, Entre el desafío y la
sumisión,… 196.