Chicana Perspectives on the Politics of Public Mourning
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CHICANA PERSPECTIVES ON THE POLITICS OF PUBLIC MOURNING María J. Durán A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English and Comparative Literature in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chapel Hill 2019 Approved by: María DeGuzmán Shayne Legassie Ashley Lucas Michelle Robinson Ariana Vigil © 2019 María J. Durán ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT María J. Durán: Chicana Perspectives on the Politics of Public Mourning (Under the direction of María DeGuzmán) Recent studies of late twentieth-century loss, grief, and mourning have turned to political theory to address mourning’s transformative, future-oriented vision for democratic society. My dissertation builds on this political theory discourse to argue that manifestations of public mourning in Marisela Treviño Orta’s Braided Sorrow (2009), Cherríe Moraga’s Heroes and Saints (1994), and Luis Alfaro’s Electricidad: A Chicano Take on the Tragedy of Electra (2003) give rise to a new formulation of political agency for Chicanas and advance a means for political dissent. These three Chicana/o plays reveal the ways structural forms of violence differentially impact marginalized and disenfranchised Chicana/o communities, including farmworkers in central California, working-class women in Ciudad Juárez, and chola/os in East Los Angeles. Examining the loss resulting from different forms of violence that transpire in these plays, my project concludes that Chicanas become political agents who disrupt the disavowal of loss in Chicana/o communities by dominant society; reject the privatization of mourning; expand notions of what mourning can look like in the public sphere; question whose losses “count” or carry forth social significance; defend the grievability of Chicana/o bodies; challenge the social invisibility of loss and social injury; urge public recognition for loss; and demand both responsibility and accountability from state authorities. In these ways, Chicanas’ public mourning positions them as leaders in their communities in the pursuit of social change. Though it might be argued that, within the context of grief, Chicanas are suffering subjects and/or iii relegated to a status of victimhood, my dissertation sheds light on how their acts of mourning are political affective responses to loss that actively move beyond victimhood, creating spaces for Chicanas to move in defiance of oppressive institutions and to redefine their relationship to the world around them. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Above all, I thank God for the opportunity to do the intellectual work that I do and for bringing people into my life who have helped me grow as a junior scholar. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my advisor, Dr. María DeGuzmán, for her guidance, mentorship, and unwavering support. Over the years, she has encouraged me to chase footnotes, read widely, and make interdisciplinary connections. Her intellectual rigor is matched only by her wit and genuine humility. I am truly fortunate to have been one of her mentees and to have worked under her fearless leadership for the UNC Latina/o Studies Program, the first program of its kind in the Southeast. I hope one day I can be the kind of engaged-scholar she is: a luminary of Latina/o intellectual cultures, an advocate for Latina/o communities, and a champion for social justice. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my committee members, Drs. Laura Halperin, Ashley Lucas, Ariana Vigil, Michelle Robinson, and Shayne Legassie, for the insightful suggestions and collegiality that each of them offered to me over the years. Special thanks to Dr. Lucas, who has mentored me since before I started my graduate studies. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the financial support for my dissertation research and professional development from the UNC Graduate School, the Institute for the Study of the Americas, and the Initiative for Minority Excellence (IME). I am also thankful to the Department of English and Comparative Literature for funding my travel to present at various conferences. v My heartfelt gratitude to my best friend, Monet Phillips, whose unrelenting support from afar has never let me forget that the voices of women of color in the academy matter. My mentor, esteemed colleague, and best friend, Gale Greenlee, always nurtured me in more ways than one. Special thanks to IME’s co-directors, Kathy Wood and Maria Erb, who have provided countless opportunities for networking and professional development. But, in everything, they have reminded me to celebrate my accomplishments as a first-generation and working-class Latina, because traveling this road embodying these identities is not easy. Thanks to Yesenia Pedro Vicente for her smiling and encouraging face, and for always having breakfast ready for IME’s Writing Wednesdays. Thanks also to my IME family: Candace Buckner, Brionca Taylor, Diamond Holloman, Sertanya Reddy, Joyce Rhoden, Yanica Faustin, and Don Holmes. Candace consistently reminded me that I could do this work and do it well. The completion of my dissertation would not have been possible without the support of Jen Boehm and Amy Reynolds, who worked with me all hours of the day and night—in-person and via video-conferencing. I so appreciate all of our moments of joy and panic, as well as the calm reassurances that everything was going to be okay. I appreciate Raquel Soto and Mariana Ingram for being my prayer warriors, especially during the last months of my dissertation writing. I also cannot forget to thank Jorge Montañez, who always casually, but genuinely, asked me how my dissertation was going. I also want to thank special friends and colleagues who supported me along this journey, with constructive criticism for my work and good wishes: Jane Lim, Rebecca Garonzik, Earl Brooks, Erin Lodeesen, Susan Thananopavarn, Bethany Lam, Laurel Foote-Hudson, Eddie Moore, Gabrielle Scronce, Natalie Gwishiri, Geovani Ramírez, Sarah Workman, and Pat Horn. vi Gracias a mi familia. Aunque quizás no entiendan, precisamente, a lo que me dedíco, siempre me han demostrado su apoyo y cariño. Mi mamá siempre me preguntaba como me iba con mis clases y mis estudiantes, siempre bromeando que como es possible que me volví profesora. Karen always encouraged me and never let me down. I am so grateful to her. Finalmente, le doy gracias a mi compañero y mi mejor amigo—a mi amado esposo, Jonathan. I could not have finished this work without him. Le doy gracias por siempre creer en mi y por apoyarme, without hesitation, en absolutamente todo. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for the both of us. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: FOUNDATIONS FOR THE POLITICS OF PUBLIC MOURNING IN CHICANA/O THEATRE ............................................................1 Introduction ..................................................................................................1 Public Mourning, Affect, and Performance .................................................6 Chicanidad and the History of Loss .............................................................9 Review of Chicana/o Literature on Loss, Grief, and Mourning ................10 Theoretical and Methodological Approaches ............................................13 Mourning Becomes Pathology: The Influence of Freudian Psychoanalysis ...........................................................................................18 The Politics of Mourning in Political Theory ............................................22 CHAPTER 1: THE WAILING WOMAN, OR LA LLORONA: MATERNAL MOURNING AS RESISTANCE IN MARISELA TREVIÑO ORTA’S BRAIDED SORROW (2009) ....................................................................................................39 Introduction ................................................................................................39 Ciudad Juárez and the Contexts for Femicide ...........................................45 Representations of Femicide in Transborder Cultural Productions ...........50 La Llorona Reimagined: From Tenochtitlan to the Borderlands ...............56 La Llorona’s Grief: Public Expressions of Emotional and Physical Pain .62 Parental Grief: Freud Reexamined and the Metaphor of Amputation .......64 Grievability and The Concept of Bare Life in Ciudad Juárez ...................66 Juárense Women Abandoned: The Problem of Criminal Impunity and Blaming the Victim ....................................................................................69 Deprivatizing Loss, Politicizing Mourning ................................................75 Public Mourning: Acts of Resistance Against Femicide ...........................76 viii CHAPTER 2: MOURNING SLOW VIOLENCE AND CONTESTING INVISIBILITY: MIGRANT FARMWORKERS IN CHERRÍE MORAGA’S HEROES AND SAINTS (1994) ..............................................................................79 Introduction ................................................................................................79 McLaughlin and The Subaltern Status of Farmworkers ............................86 Re-defining What Constitutes Violence ....................................................87 The Visceral Head of Cerezita ...................................................................91 Crucifixion in the Vineyards: A Haunting Act of Mourning .....................93 Mapping Violence on Land .......................................................................99 Dying Children and Dead