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reestablished its special place in global
transportation and communication.
attention in 1883 with
La cuestión palpitante
(The burning question). In this series of
essays she both praised and partly dismissed
Émile Zola as well as some of the more prom-
inent Spanish contemporary writers, draw-
ing a preferential distinction between
naturalism and realism. She immediately
attracted both praise and denunciation for
the boldness of her ideas and the forcefulness
of her expression. Among numerous novels
her masterpiece is, undoubtedly,
Los pazos de
Ulloa
(The manorhouse of Ulloa), published
in 1886, with its sequel,
La madre Naturaleza
(Mother nature), which followed in 1887.
Set in rural Galicia and enriched by a sense of
place as well as by insights into character, the
story traces the decline of a gentry family.
Pardo Bazán was also the author of short sto-
ries that have been described as the best
example of this genre produced in 19th-cen-
tury Spain.
The totality of her work, including novels,
short stories, and literary essays, led to offi-
cial recognition with her appointment in
1916 as a professor at the Central University
of Madrid (despite the opposition of some
faculty members to having a female col-
league). There was stronger and more bitter
opposition, however, to her proposed desig-
nation to membership in the Royal Academy.
Her native city of La Coruña was more gen-
erous, erecting a statue to her honor, amid
the proliferation of admirals and generals.
Paraguay
This remote interior region lying at the
intersection of Portuguese claims in B
RAZIL
,
Spanish Andean conquests, and penetra-
tions made through the river systems that
connect it to the Atlantic was first settled at
Asunción in 1538. Spanish presence was
largely represented by Jesuit missionaries,
who created an elaborate structure of
preaching and government among their
Guaraní converts between 1605 and 1767.
Although they organized an effective mili-
tia to resist the depredations of Portuguese
slave raiders, the Jesuits were themselves
expelled from Paraguay by the Spanish
Crown in the late 18th century. Nominally
ruled from Buenos Aires under the Vice-
royalty of L
A
P
LATA
, Paraguay broke away
from the Spanish Empire in 1811 and main-
tained its independence under a succession
of local magnates who constituted a dynasty
of dictators. The country came close to total
destruction in the War of the Triple Alliance
(1865-70), the greatest military conflict in
the continent's history.
Pardo Bazán, Emilia, condesa de
(1851-1921)
Spanish writer
The leading Spanish female writer of her day
and the first Spanish writer to champion nat-
uralism in literature, Pardo Bazán had a
strong commitment to her native region,
G
ALICIA
, although she spent most of her time
in M
ADRID
after her marriage at 18. While
still in her 20s she published biographical and
critical essays but first attracted widespread
Pedrarias Dávila (Pedro Arias de
Ávila)
(1440-1531)
Spanish colonial administrator
The son of a noble Castilian family, Arias de
Ávila (known as Pedrarias) spent his youth
at the royal court and his mature years as a
soldier in the
CONQUEST
OF
G
RANADA
(1492)
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