DescriptionIn my dissertation I analyze how Spanish women writers have used the historical and autobiographical novel in order to reinvent both personal lives and national histories and to reconfigure new feminine communities. While the primary goal is Spanish literature, I approach the definition of women’s community from a multidisciplinary perspective that includes political, sociological, economic, religious, and anthropological issues, paying special attention to instances of resistance and social change reflected in recent narratives written by Spanish women. Counteracting previous metaphysical and religious conceptions of a homogeneous community, I analyze the reflection of a multiple, plural feminine subject, as found in different spaces and relationships. I begin the dissertation by exploring the specific family ties created between women: thus, while chapter one studies the bonds between mothers and daughters, chapter two focuses on the relationship between sisters. The rest of the dissertation moves from the private to the public realm. In chapter three, I analyze how feminine friendship is the first form of public association that allows for the creation of a women political community. The fourth chapter deals with the creation of communities of feminine readers and authors, and how they are shaped by editorial ideologies and practices. In chapter five, I analyze the intersections between feminism and nationalism in the Historic Communities of Spain: Catalonia, Basque Country, and Galicia.