Emilia Pardo Bazan, "Cronicas en La Nacion de Buenos Aires"

Over the twelve-year period immediately preceding her death, Pardo Bazan regularly contributed articles to the prestigious Argentine periodical La Nacion. Surprisingly, these pieces have not been reproduced in previous collections of her works, and few references have ever been made to their existence. Cyrus DeCoster rectifies this omission by bringing together fortysix of what he considers to be the most interesting of the articles. The vast majority of those selected deal with literature and the other arts. Some are eulogies to eminent figures either recently deceased or being honored by centennial celebrations (e.g., Marcelino Menendez y Pelayo, Aure-liano de Beruete, Teofilo Gautier, and Jose Zorrilla). Others are reviews of theatrical productions by such writers as Benavente, Echegaray, Galdos, and Oscar Wilde. Pardo Bazan also comments on the operas of Wagner and discusses the merits of El Greco, Velazquez, Murillo, Cervantes, and Shakespeare. A strong critique of Futurism is included among her observations concerning literary movements. Overall, Pardo Bazan's greatest praise is reserved for literary and artistic works that capture the realism of life in all its complexity. This preference even extends to erotic literature when it is well written and portrays human sexual desire realistically.