The treatment of the feminine gender in the lexicographical sections of F. Marín’s L’italiano istruito…

Abstract

This article examines how the feminine gender is addressed in the lexicographical sections of Francisco Marín’s L’italiano istruito nella cognizione della lingua spagnuola, with a focus on both linguistic and sociocultural perspectives. On a linguistic level, the graphic and typographic mechanisms used to represent grammatical gender will be analyzed. On a sociocultural level, both explicit and implicit ideas regarding womanhood will be explored. The graphic strategies used to represent grammatical gender will be shown to be varied and, in some respects, asymmetrical. However, from a sociocultural perspective, the main associations made are with traditional values and roles, representing womanhood primarily in relation to family, marriage, motherhood and as having a subordinate role in the public sphere. The overall analysis will demonstrate how Marín’s work not only serves a pedagogical function in the teaching of Spanish, but also offers valuable insight into the ideological conceptions of its time.