Novela histórica, salones y mujeres en La esposa del doctor Thorne (1988), de Denzil Romero, y El perpetuo exiliado (2016), de Raúl Vallejo

Abstract

The present investigation entitled Historical novel, salons and women in La esposa del doctor Thorne (1988) by Denzil Romero, and El perpetuo exiliado (2016), by Raúl Vallejo takes up two female characters from the political history of Ecuador. Separated by almost a century, Manuela Sáenz and Corina Parral share the fact of having been companions of two political leaders and, even more, having led a social, artistic and cultural life, in their very particular versions of the very old tradition of the salon. The general objective is to theoretically base the concepts of historical novel, literary salon and female character to analyze the protagonists, Manuela Saénz and Corina Parral, of the two novels. The authors and theoretical categories that will serve as a perspective of analysis are: Fernando Aínsa (1994), “Nueva novela histórica y relativización transdisciplinaria del saber histórico”, which conceptualizes the historical novel; Ana Luengo (2016), "Los salones literarios", in which the salon and its reason for being are defined; Rafael Azuar (1987) and Garrido Domínguez (1993) from which he will start to formulate the concept of a female character together with Gloria Riera (2021) La novela histórica del Ecuador contemporáneo. To achieve the objectives of the research we will use a qualitative methodology, more specifically, the method of literary analysis, which will be based on the hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur (1966), and in addition to Garrido Domínguez (2004). With these reflections we aspire to contribute to the critical debate on Ecuadorian literature, and specifically, the studies in which historical female characters have been fictionalized.