La infelicidad como condena sociosexual: género y modernidad en Dos mujeres (1842), de Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda y Teresa la limeña (1868), de Soledad Acosta de Samper
Date
2025-01-17
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Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Abstract
Esta tesis analiza dos novelas decimonónicas: Dos mujeres (1842) de la escritora cubanoespañola
Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda y Teresa la Limeña (1868) de la autora
colombiana Soledad Acosta de Samper. Estas novelas han sido angulares en las historias
literarias latinoamericanas y, al igual que sus autoras, han tenido un rol clave en la
configuración y articulación de las ideologías feministas dentro del contexto
latinoamericano del siglo XIX, sobre todo dada la forma en que visibilizan
problematizaciones a los imaginarios dominantes de nación y modernidad.
En medio de sus diferencias, las novelas aquí estudiadas convergen en representar un
abanico de personajes femeninos que, de distintas formas, desafían la ideología patriarcal,
pues muestran sus contradicciones en los imperativos conductuales de las mujeres, en
contraste con los márgenes de acción que detentan los sujetos masculinos. Ahora bien,
aun cuando vemos en estas novelas formas de rebeldía en las mujeres, también resulta
evidente la futilidad de estos proyectos emancipatorios. Por su parte, las mujeres que
intentan adecuarse a los arquetipos modélicos tampoco parecen salvarse de la condena
social. Así, las novelas muestran un repertorio de personajes femeninos que terminan
siendo idénticos pese a sus diferencias, ya que están condenados a la infelicidad y la
muerte.
En este trabajo, leo estas representaciones de la inexorable infelicidad o muerte
femeninas como contestaciones contundentes a las narrativas dominantes que planteaban
una visión positiva del progreso y la modernidad, entendidas como garantías
democráticas y universales de mejores condiciones de vida.
This thesis analyzes two 19th century novels: Dos mujeres (1842) by the Cuban-Spanish writer Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, and Teresa la Limeña (1868) by the Colombian Soledad Acosta de Samper. These novels are key in Latin American literary history and their authors have played a fundamental role in the configuration of Latin American feminist ideologies, especially considering how they visibilize articulation of feminist ideologies within the Latin American context of the 19th century. Furthermore, they offer critical reflections and problematizations of the predominant notions of nation and modernity. Amidst their differences, these novels present an array of female subjects defying the patriarchal ideology, as they showcase the contradictions between the demands posed on women in contrast with the flexibility and freedom that male subjects enjoy. However, even though we can trace forms of rebellion in female characters, their futility becomes evident. Additionally, the female characters that opt for obeyance and adaptation to the patriarchal rule are depicted as equally unhappy. Thus, these novels present a complex repertoire of divergent female subject that end up being identical despite their differences, since they are all condemned to unhappiness and death. I read these depictions of the unavoidable female death as acute confrontations to dominant celebratory narratives about modernity and progress, since, as it is shown in these novels, such promises of a democratically happy and good life are impossible for female subjects.
This thesis analyzes two 19th century novels: Dos mujeres (1842) by the Cuban-Spanish writer Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, and Teresa la Limeña (1868) by the Colombian Soledad Acosta de Samper. These novels are key in Latin American literary history and their authors have played a fundamental role in the configuration of Latin American feminist ideologies, especially considering how they visibilize articulation of feminist ideologies within the Latin American context of the 19th century. Furthermore, they offer critical reflections and problematizations of the predominant notions of nation and modernity. Amidst their differences, these novels present an array of female subjects defying the patriarchal ideology, as they showcase the contradictions between the demands posed on women in contrast with the flexibility and freedom that male subjects enjoy. However, even though we can trace forms of rebellion in female characters, their futility becomes evident. Additionally, the female characters that opt for obeyance and adaptation to the patriarchal rule are depicted as equally unhappy. Thus, these novels present a complex repertoire of divergent female subject that end up being identical despite their differences, since they are all condemned to unhappiness and death. I read these depictions of the unavoidable female death as acute confrontations to dominant celebratory narratives about modernity and progress, since, as it is shown in these novels, such promises of a democratically happy and good life are impossible for female subjects.
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Keywords
Análisis literario, Literatura latinoamericana--Siglo XIX, Crítica literaria, Literatura hispanoamericana--Estudio y crítica, Romanticismo (Literatura)--Siglo XIX--Estudio y crítica
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