Speaking on behalf of the other: voices of the marginalized in the indigenista novels of Rosario Castellanos
Milica Djurdjevic-Flatley
Course: PhD in Hispanic and Lusophone Studies
Supervisor: Dr Jeremy Squires
Funding Body: UCD Faculty of Arts Research Fellowship
Contact
Research Interests
Modern Hispano-American novel, in particular women’s writing; issues arising from gender and cultural differences; the work of Rosario Castellanos.
Abstract
My PhD thesis explores the fiction of Rosario Castellanos, in particular three of her indigenista works, Balún Canán, Oficio de tinieblas and Ciudad Real. Rosario Castellanos is generally considered to have pioneered literary feminism in Mexico in the mid 20th century. Her prose differs from the works of her feminist contemporaries as it deals with gender inequalities within the framework of indigenista writing.
The indigenista and feminist aspects of Castellanos’ work are at the core of my PhD research, which looks at the similarities and differences between the two and examines the reasons for the abrupt end of the indigenista themes in favour of feminist issues. The main argument of my thesis consists of dismantling the common interpretation of the indigenista and feminist discourses of Castellanos’ prose as one and the same. This is a common enough interpretation since both feminism and indigenista writing are considered to be anti-patriarchal types of writing which give voice to the often marginalized and silenced sectors of society. This in turn leads to the common assumption that they share the same roots, characteristics and aims. At the time when Castellanos wrote her novels, indigenista writing was readily endorsed by the state, whereas this had not been the case with feminist writing. In my opinion this had led Castellanos to depict in her novels the oppression of Indians and to use their subjugation almost as a metaphor for the equally disadvantaged position of women in Mexican society. However, the similarity of the themes explored through the two discourses does not mean that these should be interpreted in the same way, since they have different roots and in some cases different objectives.
Published work
Conferences presentations
Additional Information
As a PhD student of Hispanic and Lusophone Studies I have contributed regularly to the series of Research Seminars organised by this section of the School. My most recently presented paper is entitled “Limitations of Writing from the Outside: The Indigenista Discourse in Rosario Castellanos Balún Canán”. My other seminar papers include “Gender and Power in Carmen Martín-Gaite’s Entre visillos” and “Unamuno’s Niebla as the first in the series of his nivolas”.
