Abstract

The goal of this thesis is to claim the Spanish philosopher Maria Zambrano as a literary critic. Her texts on Spanish literature are found dispersed throughout her philosophical work and present a non-systematic structure of thought. However, when considered as a group, they show that Zambrano developed an intense, independent and sometimes controversial activity as a literary critic. This dissertation not only reveals an unknown side of Zambrano's philosophy, but also questions some commonly-accepted ideas of Spanish literary historiography. It is complemented by the first bibliography to list and classify Zambrano's texts on literature, both chronologically and by authors. ;By drawing on some ideas from contemporary philosophy , this thesis proposes a new method to encompass Zambrano's complexity. It considers her texts as a group of fragmented but interconnected pieces, not meant to be read in a logical progression. ;This new approach shows how Zambrano established loose connections between disparate authors. Whereas she has usually been examined as a lesser disciple of Ortega y Gasset, this thesis demonstrates that she is rather indebted to those poets who represent her own notion of the poet-philosopher: Unamuno, Machado, Bergamin, Prados, and Valente, among others such as Cernuda and Lezama. This new frame reveals that Zambrano's work is more intimately related with noventayochismo, Christianism, and humanized and engaged art; and further removed from the avant-garde movements, elitism, and Ortega's dehumanized art than she has been thought to be. ;The examination of Zambrano's work also contributes to Spanish literary historiography. It sheds new light on Gerardo Diego's Antologia , Galdos' reception in the 30's, or the polemics between Ortega and Unamuno, for example. In sum, Zambrano's proposals call for an innovative view of Spanish literary studies in general, and of twentieth-century poetry in particular