Sex and Sexuality in Contemporary Female-Authored Spanish Drama
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EROTICIZING THE MARGINS: SEX AND SEXUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY FEMALE-AUTHORED SPANISH DRAMA Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Laurie Lynne Urraro, B.A., M.A. Graduate Program in Spanish and Portuguese The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Stephen Summerhill, Adviser Elizabeth Davis Rebecca Haidt Copyrighted by Laurie Lynne Urraro 2011 Abstract This dissertation fixes a critical eye on the multiple uses of sex and sexuality in the works of four contemporary Spanish playwrights: Paloma Pedrero, Yolanda Pallín, Yolanda Dorado, and Margarita Reiz. All four authors examine issues of sexuality in their plays with regard to the characters, and demonstrate how these issues are inflected by the body and power. This project specifically seeks to analyze crisscrossed sexes and sexualities at the threshold of the difference between the sexes, as well as the notion of (em)powered bodies as they become manifest through the characters in two plays by each of the four authors. While the approach of each is different, the four playwrights in this study all present sex and the sexual in ways that undo typical, normative, or binarized views of such topics and instead proffer means of consideration that concentrate more on the interstices and slippages between traditional categories or manifestations, and, as such, merit inclusion in this project. The theoretical framework implements postmodern theories of gender and sexuality throughout the entire study, drawing chiefly from Judith Butler, whose theorizations seek to move hegemonic views of sexuality and gender away from the binarized notion of ‗male‘/ ‗female‘ and toward the margins, where much deeper meaning may be derived. In addition, specific chapters concentrate on Foucauldian theories of power, Freudian theories of (homo)eroticism and gendered sexuality, as well as additional theories from Wittig, Bornstein, Wilchins, and others. ii This study specifically seeks to demonstrate how the works of Spanish playwrights Pedrero, Pallín, Dorado, and Reiz offer a new understanding of sex and sexuality, characterized by a distancing from traditional or clearly-defined roles in favor of mixed or blurred understandings that transcend limitations. These theatrical works by the playwrights emphasize ‗liminal‘ or ‗marginal‘ sexes and sexualities so that typical notions of ‗man‘ or ‗woman‘, ‗masculine‘ or ‗feminine,‘ in addition to other traditional binaries are subrogated by that which succeeds in challenging the (hetero)normative or (hetero)patriarchal, thus demonstrating how these contemporary playwrights ‗eroticize the margins.‘ iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my adviser, Stephen Summerhill, for the immense amount of patience, time, support, and understanding he has granted me during this entire process. His steady encouragement and willingness not to give up on me despite very trying circumstances has reminded me of what true partnership means. I also would like to thank my committee members, Elizabeth Davis and Rebecca Haidt, whose immeasurable knowledge and experience have guided me throughout my time in the graduate program, and whose personal concern has always added a very necessary and appreciated human touch to the process. A special thank you goes out to the playwrights in this study: Paloma Pedrero, Yolanda Pallín, Yolanda Dorado, and Margarita Reiz. Thank you for granting me the time and opportunity to interview you, for all of the additional literature you provided me with, and for your openness and availability to utilize your invaluable tools to make this project happen. To Margarita Reiz, thank you especially for being my personal liaison between my project and the often times difficult-to-obtain works in Spain, and to all of the Marías Guerreras, thank you for your verve and excitement for what I am doing, and for letting me feel like I am a member of ‗la familia.‘ iv I wish to acknowledge the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the Ohio State University for the educational avenues that they have provided me, as well as for bestowing on me various awards that made possible my travel and research abroad, with an additional thank you to LoAnn Crane and Suzanne Karpus for their scholarships that permitted me to study and live in Madrid, Spain while conducting research there. I also want to thank all of the faculty and staff in the Department whose guidance and knowledge these last few years have directed me properly to be able to arrive at where I am now. A huge debt of gratitude goes out to my friends and family, chiefly my mother and father, without whose love and encouragement this project would never have occurred. My parents have served as both my rock and my shoulder to cry on, and I am eternally grateful to them for all they have done for me, both during this process and beyond. Last but not least, I wish to thank my amazing and loving fiancé Howard, whose patience and understanding these last few years have encouraged me to strive to do my best. I look forward to life with you after this project, and I thank you for allowing me to realize that the best version of myself is when I am with you. And to my cat Tuxedo, whose carefully placed paw on my keyboard always allowed me to make the best word choice. v Vita 1993 ...............................................................McDowell High School, Erie, PA 1997 ...............................................................B.A. Spanish, John Carroll University 1999 ...............................................................M.A. Spanish literature, Kent State University 1997 – 1999 ………………………………….Teaching Assistant, Kent State University 2002—2006 ...................................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the Ohio State University 2008 – 2010 ………………………………. Adjunct faculty member, Gannon University Publications ―Las aportaciones bestiales en cuatro películas de Buñuel‖ (Monographic Review Vol. XX, 2004) ―El travestismo y sus aportaciones cómicas en dos comedias del Siglo de Oro‖ (Selected Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Foreign Language Conference, 2003) ―Ciclo Mujeres = Creación: Los trabajos teatrales de las Marías Guerreras‖ (Primer Acto 318, 2007) Field of Study Major Field: Spanish and Portuguese vi Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments............................................................................................................. .iv Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 Crisscrossed sexes and sexualities at the threshold .......................................................... 56 Chapter 2: Crisscrossed sexes and sexualites at the threshold: Paloma Pedrero…………………………………………………………………………………..58 Violent penetrations: Cachorros de negro mirar………………………………………...70 Age as a function of liminal eroticization: En la otra habitación……………………….97 Chapter 3: Crisscrossed sexes and sexualities at the threshold: Yolanda Pallín............. 122 Interspatial reflections: Liminal spaces = marginal selves: Los restos de la noche ....... 135 Containing the liminal?: Memoria……………………………………………………...156 (Em)powered bodies ...................................................................................................... 184 Chapter 4: Sexing Themselves: (Em)powered bodies: Yolanda Dorado………………187 Constitutive confessions: Confesiones………………………………………………….195 Acting 'out': Role rejection and role embracement in Lo que callan las madres………225 Chapter 5: Sexing Themselves: (Em)powered bodies: Margarita Reiz………………..245 vii Hungering for power and powerful hunger: Consuming/ consummating the liminal in Hambre ciega…………………………………………………………………………...256 The performance of power: Revealing the true through deception in Nada es lo que parece…………………………………………………………………………………...283 Final Conclusions............................................................................................................ 317 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 325 viii Chapter 1 Introduction 1 A) Brief overview A number of researchers and critics would argue that some of the most interesting and provocative literature in the contemporary world is that written by women, for its focus on women-related issues, its feminine sensibility, or the different perspective it offers. However, despite the individual successes of some Spanish women writers, much female-authored literature has been fraught with setbacks and obstacles, especially when it involves controversial topics. Although the role of women as authors and literary figures has changed greatly in Spain over the years, many would argue that much female-authored literature still remains unexplored and unstudied, and that other authors and society as a whole are reticent to accept female writers and their literature. As in earlier periods, contemporary female-authored literature in Spain has also encountered difficulties taking root and becoming absorbed into mainstream culture. Although to a certain degree this problem has