Quiero vivir mi vida / Puñal de claveles

Carmen de Burgos (1867-1932), a pioneering Spanish feminist, journalist, and prolific author, was a central figure in Madrid's rapid modernization during the early 20th century. Her work, often controversial, addressed crucial issues for women, from divorce rights to education. This edition brings together two representative and often hard-to-access texts, "Quiero vivir mi vida" (I Want to Live My Life) and Puñal de claveles (Dagger of Carnations), both published in 1931.

Quiero vivir mi vida delves into the then-contemporary debates on female sexuality and “intersexuality,” a concept popularized by Dr. Gregorio Marañón. The novel tells the story of Isabel, a proud and beautiful woman who, exhibiting “viriloid characteristics,” yearns for freedom from bourgeois constraints. Her psychological degeneration, culminating in the tragic murder of her husband with sewing scissors, reflects the period's anxieties about gender roles and the perceived pathological outcomes of female liberation. Marañón himself endorsed the novel as a fictional extension of his theories on sexual identity.

Puñal de claveles, a short story, is inspired by the notorious “Crimen de Níjar" (1928), the same real-life event that famously inspired Federico García Lorca's Bodas de sangre. In contrast to Lorca's poetic tragedy, Burgos offers a mass-market melodrama with a happy ending, where the female protagonist (Pura) successfully escapes an unwanted marriage and finds triumph in passion. Burgos uses the strong, almost sexual, scent of carnations as a symbol of irresistible desire, contrasting it with a less masculine groom and advocating for female autonomy.

Both texts are crucial for understanding the complex interplay between literary representation, societal anxieties about sexual reform, and the evolving role of women in early 20th-century Spain. Carmen de Burgos, as an author, engaged with both serious social critique and more popular, escapist narratives, reflecting a nuanced, often paradoxical, approach to the challenges faced by women. Edited by Susan Larson, this edition provides a vital resource for exploring Burgos's narrative technique and her profound impact on discussions surrounding gender and sexuality.