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Self-)Censorship and the Ideologies of Criticism: Latin American Feminisms Within and Outside the Anglo-American Institution

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Self-)Censorship and the Ideologies of Criticism: Latin American Feminisms Within and Outside the Anglo-American Institution (SELF-)CENSORSHIP AND THE IDEOLOGIES OF CRITICISM: LATIN AMERICAN FEMINISMS WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE ANGLO-AMERICAN INSTITUTION I. Cristina Santaella B.A., Columbia University, New York, N.Y., 1984 M:A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1991 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy under Special Arrangements in the Faculty of Arts O I. Cristina Santaella, 1997 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August, 1997 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author Approval Name: I. Cristina Santaella Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of thesis: (Self-)Censorship and the Ideologies of Criticism: Latin American Feminisms within and outside the Anglo-American Institution Examining Committee: Dr. Phyllis Wrenn, Chair Associate Dean of Graduate Studies - Dr. A tonio CSomez-Moriana, Senior Superviscll Profe$ or, Interdisciplinary Studies Dr. ~eraldZaslove Professor, Humanities and English Dr. Teresa Kirschner Professor, Humanities Drl Mary Lynn atewart, Internal-External bxamirit~ Professor, Hdory and Women Studies Dr. &a Paula E'erreira, External Examiner Associate Professor, Spanish and Portuguese University of California, Irvine Date Approved: ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the ways in which the work of Latin American feminist critics affiliated with Anglo-American universities has been marked by adherence to the tenets of mainstream feminisms. As a result, they often ignore the particular Latin American socio-cultural realities they purport to study. The approach to this cultural problematic is by means of the critical analysis of the Latin American dominant feminist discourses in contrast with material from cultural production, which has been "sifted" and discarded by institutional academic practices. The main objective of the dissertation is therefore heuristic-epistemological. It exposes the considerable gaps that exist between two ways of understanding and representing reality. The argument is carried forward using the method of discourse analysis as sociocriticism The dissertation is divided into two distinct parts in order to emphasize the breach that exists between the academic practices discussed in Part One and the cultural practices described in Part Two. The first chapter reviews the mainstream feminist theories that have most influenced Latin American women authors and critics. The second chapter presents two case studies which illustrate the dynamic of neo-colonization described above. The omissions in the critical works of Sara Castro Klaren (John Hopkins University) and Lucia Guerra-Cunningham (University of California, Irvine) show that their authors are held back by self-censorship and academic constraints. The third chapter discusses idiosyncratic female behaviors that have undermined the totemic value of men in Latin American patriarchal societies. The final chapter discusses the non- Cartesian way of thinking and perceiving prevalent in Latin America. As an example of these practices, a discussion of women's roles within the ancient cult to the goddess Maria Lionza, particularly the rituals enacted by women for the domination and submission of men, is included in the second part of the chapter. The dissertation concludes that Latin American feminist discourses that originate within Anglo-American universities fail to theorize some tabooed "feminine" subjects and social practices. By perpetuating the problem of presenting (self-)censored female subjectivities, these discursive academic practices continue to undermine feminist critical projects more relevant to Latin American contexts . Dedication To And& and Manuela Sosa Acknowledgments Research for this dissertation was made possible by a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). It was written as part of the research project entitled "National Identities and Sociopolitical Changes: Latin America between Marginalization and Integration," directed by Dr. Antonio G6mez-Moriana and also funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I wish to thank my fellow student-researchers, Mercedes F. Duran-Cogan, Karyn Scott, Jaime Cisneros, and Lidia Gcimez for having contributed, at different stages of the research, to shape my ideas. To the extent that I have followed their suggestions, this dissertation has been considerably improved. I am grateful to my supervisory committee. To Antonio G6mez-Moriana, my senior supervisor, who not only provided intellectual and material means to pursue this research, but also gave me the courage to explore these ideas in writing. Without his wisdom, generosity and patience, this project would not have been possible. To Teresa Kirschner, for her sharp ideas and her fine and generous editing, and for having kept this research project in drive when it might otherwise have stalled; and to Jery Zaslove, for his inspiring insights, his intellectual openness and his unfailing support throughout this research I am also indebted to Juan M. Sosa, for his logistic and technical support. and to Alicia Perdomo, Daisy Barreto, Laura Carias, Teresa Campos and David Ephraim for long and stimulating conversations and for having provided otherwise inaccessible materials. Table of Contents Approval .......................................................................................................ii ... Abstract ........................................................................................................I.U Dedication ......................................................................................................v Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................vi Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 Part One Chapter I . Voices in Conflict .....................................................................13 I . 1 Antecedents .......................................................................................................... 13 . I. 2. Academic vs . Lived Realities........................................................... -20 I . 3 . Identity in the Present Latin American Cultural Debate .............................. 24 I . 4. Sameness over Difference between the Sexes......................................... 34 I . 5. Conclusions ..............................................................................-41 Chapter I1. (Self') Censorship on Academic Grounds ..................................... 43 II.1. i . Discerning the Discourses of Sara Castro Klarkn ..................................... 43 11.1 .ii. Institutionalized or Subjugated Knowledges? .........................................51 II. 1 .iii . Feminist Poetics or Critical Pastiche? ................................................... 58 II .1 . iv An Anthologized Map of the Self ........................................................66 II.2.i. Lucia Guerra and the Shadows of Critical Writing ..................................... 76 II.2.ii. Feminine vs . Feminist Elements in the Academy ...................................... 79 II.2.iii. The Anti-Phallic Crusade ..................................................................84 II.2.iv. Prostitution .................................................................................-87 II.2.v. Bodily Fluids ............................................................................... 92 II.2.vi. The Feminine Unleashed in Fiction ...................................................... 96 II.2.vii. Conclusions............................................................................... 109 Part Two 111 . Chapter I11 . Power(1ess) Totems ..........................................................11 111.1. Feminine Double Standard ..............................................................111 111.2. Alternative Power Strategies ............................................................ 117 111.3. Feminine Code of Ethics ................................................................. 119 111.4. Machismo and Marianismo: Two Sides of the Same Coin .......................... 133 111.5. The Power of Motherhood and the Power of Eroticism ............................. 144 111.6. Conclusions ............................................................................... 151 Chapter IV. "Yo no creo en brujas, pero de que vuelan, vuelan" ................... 156 IV . 1 . Mimesis, Appropriation and the Rational Control of the Imaginary ................ 156 IV.2.i. Dynamic of Domination and Submission in Maria Lionza's Cult .................. 164 IV.2.ii. The State within the Cult, or the People against the State? .......................... 167 IV.2.iii. Aura, Mana and Maga as hinges of the Cultic ........................................171 IV.2.iv. Love and Eroticism in Maria Lionza's Cult ............................................175 IV.2.v. Conclusions ..............................................................................181 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 186 Bibliography .............................................................................................198 ... Vlll Introduction In its remote beginnings this research grew out of my sense of cultural inadequacy as a Latin American student living and studying in the United States and Canada. The first "encounter" dates back
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