“A las niñas no toca sino obedecer”. Comportamiento verbal y no verbal en las "Reglas sencillas de cortesía para las niñas" (1848), de Joaquín Roca y Cornet. Cambios a través de las ediciones

Abstract

This article compares the eight known editions of Reglas sencillas de cortesía para las niñas (1848), by the lawyer, writer and publicist Joaquín Roca y Cornet. As stated in the prologues to the first and second editions, the author was reacting to the needs of the educational system of his time, in which there was still a shortage of books on manners specifically for girls. It also shows that Roca y Cornet subjected the second edition to a profound restructuring and enlargement following the principles of strict Catholic conservatism. Among the sections that remain unchanged are the basic principles of politeness, as well as the greetings and routine formulae that initiate a conversation. The modifications, on the other hand, concern such important rules as the treatment of parents or obedience, while the additions tend to concern principles of female education and socio-cultural habits introduced in nineteenth-century society.