The Future of Early Modern Women's Studies: The Case of Same-Sex Friendship and Desire in Zayas and Carvajal

The Future of Early Modern Women's Studies: The Case of Same-Sex Friendship and Desire in Zayas and Carvajal Lisa Vollendorf is Assistant Professor ofSpankh at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Author of Reclaiming the Body: Maria De Zayas's Early Modern Feminism (forthcomingfrom UNC Press) and editor of Recovering Spain's Feminist Tradition (forthcomingfrom MLA Press), she is currently preparing a manuscript on Women's Self-Representation in Early Modern Spain. In the prefaces to their novella collections, MarÃ-a de Zayas (1590-?) and Mariana de Carvajal (c.l610-?) leave ample clues about the difficulties faced by women writers in seventeenth-century Spain. Zayas adopts a self-denigrating pose when she introduces her stylistically complex and thematically varied volume of ten novellas as "mis borrones" {Noveks 21). She then defends women's intellectual capacities and et iticizes men for denying women the education diey deserve. In recognition of the challenge she faces, Zayas retreats at the end of the preface, claiming that since she was born a woman, she has no obligation to write well.1 Less prolix and less direct, Carvajal uses different techniques to place gender at the center of her own brief preface. Carvajal refers to her willingness to field criticism about her novellas. She also uses a jolting turn of phrase to discuss creativity when she calls her book "[un] aborto inútil de mi corto ingenio" (5). Invoked again in the second paragraph, motherhood does more than provide the basis for metaphor; Carvajal uses it to oblige the destinateur to read with a kind eye. She pleads for a sympathetic reading ofthe tales involving a widow and an orphan, informing readers that "obligación precisa es de un pecho noble el suavjzar tan penoso desconsuelo" (5). The similarities between Zayas and Carvajal can be traced to their use of femininity in the dual tropes of humility and nobksse oblige. That is, both authors call attention to femaleness as a way to adopt a humble attitude before their literary production, and both remind nobles of their obligation to treat women well. Conveying the authors' self-conArizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Volume 4, 2000 266 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies sciousness about dieir gender, these prefaces belie a need to justify women's place in the book market, to convince consumers that they should read women's writing. This claim about the obligation to read women's literature resonates with many of us in eafly modern Spanish studies. For over two decades, Hispanists have been studying women, so one might assume that we do not need to be reminded of our commitment to teach, study, and edit women's writing from the early modern period. While we should recognize that excellent work has been done, we also need to take stock of certain realities and trends that might affect the future ofthe field adversely. One of the most disturbing reports relates to the literary canon in U.S. universities: in spite of our efforts, only Santa Teresa appears on a significant number of graduate reading lists.2 Outside ofthe classroom, the situation is more promising, yet the focus of scholarship also causes some concern. As conference papers, dissertations, and recent publications suggest, research in this field remains somewhat limited to a small number of women and texts. While a minority of scholars is studying lesset known secular and religious women, the majority of scholarship continues to focus on a few highprofile women, namely Santa Teresa, Sor Juana, Zayas, and, of late, Ana Caro and Catalina de Erauso. This is not to deny the importance of research on a variety of other women—including Sor Marcela, Ana and Isabel de Jesús, Luisa de Carvajal, Mariana de Carvajal, and Leonor de Meneses—nor the impoftance of the modern editions that have helped us incotpotate women authots into out classes.3 By calling attention to an imbalance, I mean to encourage us to continue our recuperative efforts and consciously expand our lines of inquiry so as to avoid die same limited canonization that occurred during the process of canon formation in the nineteenth century.4 In order to build on the solid foundation of...