How Word Gets Around: A Study of Chismografía in Fortunata y Jacinta and Los Pazos de Ulloa

Abstract

This essay explores the use of chismografía or gossip by Galdós and Emilia Pardo Bazán in two of their most-well known works: Fortunata y Jacinta (1886-87) and Los Pazos de Ulloa (1886). Gossip conversations between characters are a major theme and gossip propels plot in both novels. Applying Pierre Bourdieu's theories on bourgeois practices of distinction and the different capitals at play in social exchanges (economic, cultural, social, and symbolic) reveals an economy of gossip in Fortunata y Jacinta. Illicit and informal modes of talk, eavesdropping, and gossip mediate the relationship between Jacinta and Fortunata from beginning to end, connecting them. In contrast, in Los Pazos Emilia Pardo Bazán focuses on the (gender) politics of gossip, turning on its head the stereotypical belittling of women and women's discourse as gossips and gossip, to focus on male gossip and to expose male anxiety around gossip and status. Additionally, gossip acts as a productive metaphor for the relationship between narrator and readers. The narrators of both novels use an intimate, gossipy narrative voice and gossip-like narrative strategies, albeit in different ways and with different emphasis.