Representations of the New Woman in "The Irish Times" and "The Weekly Irish Times". A Preliminary Approach

Abstract

[Abstract] This article presents a preliminary approach to the study of the images of the New Woman in the publications The Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times at the turn of the twentieth century. From the theoretical framework of women’s studies the concept of New Woman is analysed in relation to that of New Journalism, which arose at the same time. Additionally, the aetiology and features of the two publications, plus the criteria for corpus selection, are described, and the corpus texts are compared to similar English publications of the period. The complex political situation in Ireland at the turn of the century is also considered. The role of women and the various perceptions of them are analysed, both in the sections of letters to the Editor and in essays. The roles of women in The Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times are also compared to those depicted in journals and newspapers addressed to a female readership. The study concludes with excerpts of the two publications in question and the analysis of the contradictory opinions on the lives and roles of women in the nineteenth-century fin de siècle

[Resumen] Este artículo presenta una primera aproximación al estudio de las representaciones de la figura de la Mujer Nueva en las publicaciones irlandesas The Irish Times y The Weekly Irish Times en la época Victoriana, a finales de siglo XIX. Para ello se analiza en primer lugar el concepto de Mujer Nueva y su coincidencia en el tiempo con el denominado Nuevo Periodismo, desde el punto de vista de los estudios de mujeres. Se estudia, en segundo lugar, la etiología y características de las publicaciones utilizadas como corpus, los criterios de selección de las mismas, y se comparan con las publicaciones inglesas en este período. También se explora el reflejo de la convulsa situación política finisecular irlandesa en estas publicaciones. Otro de los ejes del trabajo es el estudio de la situación de la mujer en el período y las diferentes percepciones sobre la misma, a veces contrapuestas, y cómo éstas se reflejan en estas publicaciones, tanto en diferentes artículos de opinión como en la Sección de Cartas al Director. Se comparan, asimismo, los roles de las mujeres en estas publicaciones con los de la prensa dirigida exclusivamente a lectoras y sus rasgos distintivos. En tercer lugar, se analizan extractos de diferentes artículos y las sorprendentes y contradictorias opiniones vertidas sobre las vidas de las mujeres del período. This article presents a preliminary approach to the study of the images of the New Woman in the publications The Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times at the turn of the twentieth century. From the theoretical framework of women’s studies the concept of New Woman is analysed in relation to that of New Journalism, which arose at the same time. Additionally, the aetiology and features of the two publications, plus the criteria for corpus selection, are described, and the corpus texts are compared to similar English publications of the period. The complex political situation in Ireland at the turn of the century is also considered. The role of women and the various perceptions of them are analysed, both in the sections of letters to the Editor and in essays. The roles of women in The Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times are also compared to those depicted in journals and newspapers addressed to a female readership. The study concludes with excerpts of the two publications in question and the analysis of the contradictory opinions on the lives and roles of women in the nineteenth-century fin de siècle.