«Biquini. Women’s swimsuit reduced to two small pieces that cover the breasts and the union of the legs with the body ». This is the definition that María Moliner included in its celebration ‘dictionary for the use of Spanish’ on the popular swimsuit. Of course, this word was not included in the dictionaries of the Royal Spanish Academy of the time, especially since then the garment were prohibited in most of the Spanish territory. But this anecdotal word, by frivolous that seems, perfectly illustrates Moliner’s subtlety, boldness and ambition with his titanic project. «She would never put on a bikini, of course, but her daughter and nieces yes. Decide that the fairest thing is to include the word. He did not want to indoctrinate with his dictionary, just be faithful to the uses of the words, ”says the author in an interview with ABC.
The writer Andrés Neuman returns to the novel with ‘Until it begins to shine’ (Alfaguara)a count of the personal life of the Lexicographer, since the age of twelve, when her father leaves them to go to Buenos Aires and she is forced to start working, until her death in 1981 of brain arteriosclerosis. «Since I was a student of Philology and read for the first time his dictionary I became obsessed with his figure. There are biographies and different studies, but it is still an unknown personality for the general public, when it is a central figure in the history of Spanish culture, ”says the author of ‘The Traveler of the Century’.
The novel wants to understand the trajectory of a unique character and understand what led her to start, at 50, a project as titanic as the creation of a dictionary that served as a complement and counterpoint to those created in the SAR. «His career is incredible. She is one of the first career women, the first university professor and in parallel her work as a librarian was amazing. And had the determination and ambition to create in its maturity a dictionary with 80,000 entries», Says Neuman.
The injustice of autumn 1972
The novel continues to chronologically the trajectory of Moliner and shows us his domestic life, as who is spying on the lock, and how his personal experiences were mixed directly with the writing of the different entries. So much so that the whole family, their five children and grandchildren, end up with the great work of the matriarch. «Her husband was the Einstein’s first translator And the introducer of his ideas in Spain, so you see what family. What I want to show is that, hidden in the meanings of its dictionary, we can read poorly concealed autobiographical notes, ”says the author of” Bariloche. ”
Since its writing begins in 1950 until it ends it and gives the printing press in 1966 they spend 16 years of intense work. In August, while the whole family rests on the beaches of La Pobla, in Tarragonashe is still immersed in her writing inside. «There is a certain slyness in their definitions and a sense of ironic humor that was characteristic of it. I wanted to respect this characteristic when writing the novel, ”Neuman remarks.
The great vital injustice that the author suffered happened in 1972, when the payroll as a possible candidate to enter the academy, but they end up rejecting it in favor of the philologist Emilio Alarcos. «Many excuse themselves in the prestige of Alarcos to justify the rejection, but the truth is that it was then 20 years younger than Moliner. Worst of all is that it did not end in the vote. The second was the poet José García Nieto, a friend of Cela, who of course would end up entering the institution, ”says Neuman.
One of the most emotional moments of the novel is when the writer Carmen Conde He is carrying out his speech to enter the Academy in 1979. She is the first woman to be part of the institution. María Moliner, with her intellectual capacity reduced after her stroke, looks at the television the historic moment with her family. «The contradiction in Barbara, because she was nominated by the Academy, so there were academics who admired her. It is not the case of Emilia Pardo Bazánthat Juan Valera moved so that he was not even nominated. I think there were people who underestimated her for being a woman and having a heterodox formation like lexicographer, but there were also those who had read her dictionary carefully and saw her as a threat, someone who challenged her work, ”says Neuman.
The book is plagued by wonderful anecdotes about an immeasurable woman, such as when she sends her a copy of her dictionary to the famous Pidal Menéndez and he, already old and held in her bed, returns it with three erratas that nobody had seen. «You have to remember that Menéndez Pidal It was his teacher 50 years ago. Surely this meant a lot to Moliner, as if they were the last duties he sent him, ”laughs the writer.
On March 30, the 125 anniversary of the birth of María Moliner and tributes will not stop happening. However, the figure of Lexicographer is not yet recorded in popular culture. «She managed to modernize the dictionary and shake her dust. Writers enchant, because it is very literary. Family enchants, because it is more understandable and useful already this heights have gone from parents to children. And philologists love their detail. It is a heterodox dictionary, as no one believed that dictionaries could be done. But she did it and that is already a great story, ”concludes Neuman.
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