Bodies and Texts
Configurations of Identity in the Works of Albalucía Ángel, Griselda Gambaro, and Laura Esquivel

Claire Taylor

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MHRA Texts and Dissertations 59

Maney Publishing for the Modern Humanities Research Association

1 January 2004  •  208pp

ISBN: 978-1-904350-12-5 (paperback)  •  RRP £25, $40

ContemporarySpanishFiction

This book considers the novels of three Latin American writers, the Argentinian Griselda Gambaro, the Colombian Albalucía Ángel, and the Mexican Laura Esquivel, and examines their work in relation to the formation of feminine identity. Concentrating on two novels of each writer in turn, this book considers how their writings may be seen to engage with the production of identity in the era of transference from a modern to a postmodern aesthetic.

Two broad focuses are used in the reading of these novels: the reworking of the intertext, and the crafting of the body. With relation to Gambaro, the two novels under consideration are her works Nada que ver con otra historia and Dios no nos quiere contentos which are examined in the light of their reworkings of the Frankenstein trope and representations of circus performances, and their investigation into the marking of the body by the discourse of power. With regard to Ángel, her novels Dos veces Alicia and Las andariegas are used to trace the development from the space of literary play of the first novel to the space of politicized feminist play of the later, where intertextual reworking and bodily transformations come to form part of a feminist praxis. In the final chapter, Esquivel's Como agua para chocolate and La ley del amor are examined with regard to the proliferation of bodies and codes which constitute a movement towards the status of postmodern pastiche, providing an ambiguous space for the feminine subject.

Reviews:

  • ‘[Taylor's] innovative way of reading offers significant possibilities for the interpretation of other postmodern texts, and particularly those by women. Her study represents an important contribution to the study of Spanish-American feminism, and has broad and intriguing future application.’ — Susan Carvalho, Bulletin of Spanish Studies 83.2, 2006, 301-02

Bibliography entry:

Taylor, Claire, Bodies and Texts: Configurations of Identity in the Works of Albalucía Ángel, Griselda Gambaro, and Laura Esquivel, MHRA Texts and Dissertations, 59 (MHRA, 2004)

First footnote reference: 35 Claire Taylor, Bodies and Texts: Configurations of Identity in the Works of Albalucía Ángel, Griselda Gambaro, and Laura Esquivel, MHRA Texts and Dissertations, 59 (MHRA, 2004), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Taylor, p. 47.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

Bibliography entry:

Taylor, Claire. 2004. Bodies and Texts: Configurations of Identity in the Works of Albalucía Ángel, Griselda Gambaro, and Laura Esquivel, MHRA Texts and Dissertations, 59 (MHRA)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Taylor 2004: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Taylor 2004: 21.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

This title was first published by Maney Publishing for the Modern Humanities Research Association but rights to it are now held by Modern Humanities Research Association.

This title is now out of print.

Permanent link to this title:

www.mhra.org.uk/publications/Bodies-Texts
www.mhra.org.uk/publications/td-59