Carmen de Burgos (Colombine) in the Heraldo de Madrid: A Pioneer of Spanish Women's Literary Journalism

Abstract

Carmen de Burgos (1867–1932) is one of the most surprising, prolific, and chameleonic Spanish journalists of the twentieth century. She was a tireless traveler, pro-feminist, pacifist, and republican, and a courageous reporter who was both committed and hostile to convention. She is also a true pioneer in Spanish women’s journalism, the first woman to join the editorial staff of a generalist newspaper in Spain. Between 1903 and 1932, her signature “Colombine” can be readily found at the foot of the country’s main newspaper and magazine columns. This chapter focuses on the uses she made of literary journalism in the stories she produced for more than a quarter of a century for the Heraldo de Madrid, a liberal newspaper with a large circulation. In them, “Colombine” wrote committed journalism from a feminine and feminist perspective that had no precedent in Spain at the time.