Women and Print Culture in Post-Independence Buenos Aires

The woman question was a subject of discussion in post-independence Buenos Aires, reflected in the press and in the book world where writers contemplated the nature, role and status of women, linking the subject to topics such as political transition, reform, modernisation, regional conflict and patriotic culture. This examination of a varied body of works dating from the 1820s, consisting of pamphlets, a history book, conduct literature and periodical literature, demonstrates the impact of transatlantic print networks such as the book trade, and translations from Britain, France, and Spain. Developing our understanding of the post-independence cultural landscape, the study investigates a hitherto unexamined debate that was at the heart of state building in Buenos Aires. It simultaneously challenges traditional male-centred accounts of the period and serves as a counterpoint to historic feminist approaches to print culture. IONA MACINTYRE lectures in Hispanic Studies at the University of Edinburgh.