Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Commons^™

Una Niña Decente… ¿E Inocente?: La Intersección De Clase Y Raza En Ana Isabel, Una Niña Decente De Antonia Palacios, Nathan J. Schmid

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

This paper explores the social changes, divisions, and hierarchies that are present in Antonia Palacios’ novel Ana Isabel, una niña decente (1949). Employing Marxist Literary Theory as a basis for investigation and analysis, the paper illustrates the complexities of class and race, ultimately demonstrating how these two concepts are both intimately related and interdependent. As a result of the transition from feudalism to capitalism within Venezuelan society, longstanding traditions of social status and power are threatened, leading some to attempt to manipulate social structures concerning class and race in order to preserve family prestige. The parents of the novel’s main …