Title Subversive seduction : Darwin, sexual selection, and the Spanish novel / Travis Landry

Published Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2012] ©2012

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Description 1 online resource (viii, 335 pages) Series Modern Language Initiative Modern Language Initiative Contents Introduction : The Indeterminacy of Natural Law -- Origins. The Very Notion of "Real" Reciprocity between Literature and Science ; The Power Dynamics of Sexual Selection ; Translations, Translators, and the Sexual Politics of Sexual Selection in Spain -- Adaptations. Suitors and Selectors - Jacinto Octavio Picón ; Rivalries and Rituals - Leopoldo Alas (Clarín) ; Heirs and Errors - Benito Pérez Galdós -- Speciations. A Romance with Darwin in the Evolutionary Noche of Alejandro Sawa ; The Religious Descent of Armando Palacio Valdés ; Emilia Pardo Bazán, Reproduction, and Change -- Conclusion : The Imperfect Science of Conscience Summary Male-male rivalry and female passive choice, the two principal tenets of Darwinian sexual selection, raise important ethical questions in The Descent of Man - and in the decades since - about the subjugation of women. If female choice is a key component of evolutionary success, what impact does the constraint of women's choices have on society? The elaborate courtship plots of 19th century Spanish novels, with their fixation on suitors and selectors, rivalry, and seduction, were attempts to grapple with the question of female agency in a patriarchal society. By reading Darwin through the lens of the Spanish realist novel and vice versa, the author brings insights to our understanding of both: while Darwin's theories have often been seen as biologically deterministic, the author asserts that Darwin's theory of sexual selection was characterized by an open-ended dynamic whose oxymoronic emphasis on "passive" female choice carries the potential for revolutionary change in the status of women. -- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages [265]-326) and index Notes English Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher Subject Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 -- Influence SUBJECT Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 fast Subject Sexual selection in literature. Spanish fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism Spanish fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism Literature and science -- Spain LITERARY CRITICISM / European / Spanish & Portuguese. SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution. HISTORY / Modern / 19th Century. Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.) Literature and science Sexual selection in literature Spanish fiction Spain Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. Form Electronic book Author Modern Language Initiative. LC no. 2021694435 ISBN 9780295804422 0295804424

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