Marx’s Minerva : Sex, Socialism and Soviet Russia in Matilde de la Torre’s 'El banquete de Saturno' (1931)

Madden, Deborah (2021) Marx’s Minerva : Sex, Socialism and Soviet Russia in Matilde de la Torre’s 'El banquete de Saturno' (1931). Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, 22 (1). pp. 39-57. ISSN 1463-6204

Abstract

Focusing on the 1931 novel El banquete de Saturno: Novela social by Matilde de la Torre, one of the first diputadas in Spain, this article explores the feminist subtexts of a narrative that centres on a workers’ revolution dominated by male characters. In the novel, which is fundamentally a satirical critique of the Russian Revolution and Soviet Union that highlights the disastrous consequences that arise when socialist ideals are misrepresented, De la Torre reflects on socialist doctrine, women’s political autonomy and the debates and policies of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) – the party she officially joined in 1931 and would represent after winning a seat in the 1933 and 1936 elections. Drawing on a range of sources to contextualize the subject matter of the novel, including Marxist writings and criticism, socialist literary models, Spanish travelogues about Soviet Russia and feminist Marxist scholarship, I argue that De la Torre uses El banquete as a means of contributing to contemporary political debates, proposing a reconceptualization of socialist rhetoric and policy that would benefit from female input.