Women in Argentina

155 Pages·2006·2.07 MB·English

Women in Argentina
Copyright 2000 by Mónica Szurmuk. This work is licensed under a
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Women in Argentina
Early Travel Narratives · Mónica Szurmuk
Copyright 2000 by Mónica Szurmuk
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
All rights reserved
05 04 03 02 01 00 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Szurmuk, Mónica.
Women in Argentina: early travel narratives / Mónica Szurmuk.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8130-1889-7 (alk. paper)
1. Women—Argentina—Social conditions—19th century. 2. Women travelers
—Argentina—Attitudes. 3. Sex role—Argentina—History—19th century.
4. Travelers’ writings, Argentine—History and criticism. I. Title.
HQ1532.98 2001 00-053665
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State
University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida
Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International
University, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, University of
Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University
of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611–2079
http://www.upf.com
For Moti, Eyal, Martín, and Adriel
In memory of my grandmother Sara Zaritsky de Jaitman

Contents
List of Figures viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
part 1. frontier identities, 1837‒1880 15
1. A House, a Home, a Nation: Mariquita Sánchez’s (cid:2)ecuerdos del Buenos
Ayres Virreynal 17
2. Queen of the Interior: Lina Beck-Bernard’s Le (cid:2)io Parana 39
part 2. shifting frontiers, 1880–1900 53
3. Eduarda Mansilla de García’s (cid:2)ecuerdos de Viaje: “(cid:2)ecordar es Vivir” 55
4. Interlude in the Frontier: Lady Florence Dixie’s Across Patagonia 67
5. Traveling/Teaching/Writing: Jennie Howard’s In Distant Climes and
Other Years 78
part 3. shifting identities, 1900–1930 87
6. Traveler/Governess/Expatriate: Emma de la Barra’s Stella 89
7. Globe-Trotting Single Women 94
8. The Spiritual Trip: Delfina Bunge de Gálvez’s Tierras del Mar Azul 117
Notes 123
Bibliography 131
Index 143
Figures
1. Johann Moritz (cid:2)ugendas, María Sánchez de Mendeville 18
2. Johann Moritz (cid:2)ugendas, El rapto de la cautiva 19
3. Julius Beerbohm, “An Indian Camp” 70
4. Julius Beerbohm, “Indian Camp” 71
Acknowledgments
During the years I worked on this book, I received the support and interest of
many people. I thank the Office of (cid:2)esearch at the University of Oregon for
the financial means to spend two consecutive summers conducting research in
Argentina. A grant from the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the
University of Oregon made it possible for me to complete the writing of this
book. An earlier version of part of chapter 7 appeared in Monographic (cid:2)eview/
(cid:2)evista Monográfica 12 (1996). I am grateful to the publishers for permission to
reprint portions of this piece.
I thank my colleagues at the University of Oregon, especially Carlos Aguirre,
Barbara Altmann, Jacqueline Cruz, Jesús Díaz Caballero, Juan Armando Epple,
Lisa Freinkel, Leonardo García Pabón, Amalia Gladhart, Evlyn Gould, Karen
McPherson, Judith (cid:2)aiskin, Arlene Stein, and Julian Weiss, for the stimulating
intellectual environment they provided. The generosity and mentorship of
Jaime Concha, Susan Kirkpatrick, and Mary Louise Pratt guided me through
the beginning stages of this project. For careful and enlightening readings that
challenged my own preconceptions and forced me to reconsider what I needed
to say, I thank Debra Castillo, Francine Masiello, Mary Elene Wood, and an
anonymous reader for the University Press of Florida. For stimulating ques-
tions, I am grateful to Luis Cárcamo, María Elva Echenique, Kate Jenckes,
Fernanda Macchi, Silvana Meta, Ana Miramontes, and (cid:2)aquel (cid:2)incón (cid:2)odrí-
guez, graduate students I have worked with at the University of Oregon. I
thank Amanda Holmes for the very careful translations of the Spanish quota-
tions in chapters 1, 3, 6, 7, and 8, and Suzanne Kocher for the equally careful
translations of French quotations in chapter 2. Since I had the final say, any
inaccuracies are my own responsibility.
Women in Argentina was written in a continuous and sometimes chaotic flow
x Acknowledgments
between Argentina and the United States. I have therefore benefited from the
friendship and warmth of those who made me feel at home wherever I was: Ian
Barnard, Patricia Chomnalez, Teresa Figueroa, Guadalupe López Bonilla, Claudia
Minoliti, Sayo Murcia, María Negroni, Anne Shea, Nancy Solomon, Nora
Strejilevich, (cid:2)auli Susmel, and Silvio Waisbord. Virginia López Grisolía and
Adriana Novoa have been my most constant friends, wherever I am. For her
confidence, intellectual guidance, and good humor, I thank Ileana (cid:2)odríguez.
This book about the intersections of home, families, and nation owes its
largest debt to my own family: my parents, Daniel Szurmuk and Matilde
Jaitman, and my grandparents whose choice of Argentina as “their place in the
world” has been with me through the writing of this work. Marcelo Bergman’s
partnership in life and work has been the backbone of this project. Our chil-
dren Eyal, Martín, and Adriel are present in every page; it is through the
rhythms of life with them that I started to think about travel and displacement.