Consuming Isabel Allende

Earlier this year Maria Fanjul Fanful gave a conference paper based on her research into the significance for Isabel Allende's work to her readers.

She argued that previous work on Isabel Allende’s fiction has largely focussed on the analysis of textual elements. However, what has received little attention is the production and consumption of Allende’s writings in specific cultural contexts. With that in mind, her research analyses Spanish readers’ responses to Clara del Valle in The House of the Spirits.  This approach is part of a larger project whose main aim is to explore and critically interrogate Allende’s popularity cross-culturally among groups of readers in Britain and Spain. What this means is that the focus of this study has moved from texts to readers although Allende’s writings are not being neglected since they still constitute an important starting point to understand her popularity.

Maria Fanjul Fanjul, 'Isabel Allende’s Popularity from a Readership Perspective: Spanish Readers’ Responses to Clara del Valle in The House of the Spirits', XXXIX CONGRESO DEL INSTITUTO INTERNACIONAL DE LITERATURA IBEROAMERICANA (IILI) DIÁLOGOS CULTURALES, CÁDIZ, (SPAIN) 3- 6 JULY 2012

Feminism and the Politics of Consumption

In her recent article in Feminist Media Studies, Joanne Hollows examines the significance of representations of both consumer culture and consumption practices in the British feminist magazine Spare Rib during its initial years of publication from 1972 to 1974. 

Her analysis identifies how the magazine combined an established feminist critique of consumer culture with guidance on responsible consumption practices. The dispositions towards consumption that are recommended to readers are shaped by four key values: these are health, the natural, economy and craft production. These values underpin a politics of consumption during a period in which Spare Rib attempted to negotiate a feminist identity. However, once this feminist identity was established, content centred around consumption rapidly diminished as it was apparently not “feminist” enough. The article questions how a “conventional” position was established against both consumer culture and consumption practices within second-wave feminism and raises questions about the impact of this position on feminism’s relationship to both consumer culture and consumption practices today. 

Joanne Hollows (2012), 'Spare Rib, Second-wave Feminism and the Politics of Consumption', Feminist Media Studies, DOI:10.1080/14680777.2012.708508