Mediated Intimacies: Legal, Literary, and Journalistic Textualities of Gender Violence in Post-War Nicaragua DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Alicia Zoe Miklos, M.A. Graduate Program in Spanish and Portuguese The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Ileana Rodríguez, Advisor Ignacio Corona Laura Podalsky Copyright by Alicia Zoe Miklos 2015 Abstract My dissertation examines representations of femicide as gender violence in legal, journalistic, literary, and online cultural production in contemporary post-war Nicaragua. I begin with the passing of Law 779, the Integral Law Against Violence Towards Women, approved by the Nicaraguan National Assembly in February 2012. The law fills a legal vacuum in the country by codifying femicide, as well as sexual, psychological, patrimonial, and labor abuse into Nicaraguan law as gender specific crimes. Prohibiting the long-standing practice of police and judicial mediation between accusers and aggressors, Law 779 set out to endow women with judicial agency in what had been largely hostile and re-victimizing institutional spaces. The focus of the project is cultural, examining representations of gender violence as part of a social dialogue about Law 779, covering a variety of textual realms. The goal of the project is to explain how different mediums and social actors explain gender violence by studying discourse and narrative modes. The debate centered on Law 779’s re-balancing of power relations and its controversy stemmed from its challenge to existing family structures, which disguise masculine authority and impunity. The inertia of the status quo proved strong, with Law 779 being reformed and regulated between 2012 and 2014, reverting its original radical spirit. ii The chapters are divided into discursive mediums. In the first chapter I study the legal texts of Law 779: the legislative debates, the law’s original text, the Reform of the law, and the Regulation of the law. I conclude that its eventual deformation resulted from conservative and religious sectors’ anger over the prohibition of judicial mediation, and the reinstatement of mediation constituted a regressive reestablishment of masculine authority—a renewed politics of control over the feminine. The second chapter focuses on the Nota Roja crime section of the Nicaraguan newspaper, El Nuevo Diario, examining how hegemonic notions of femininity determine representations of femicide victims. I also analyze the spectacle of femicide perpetrators, monstrous masculinities portrayed as outside of culture. The third chapter is about contemporary Nicaraguan detective and novela negra fictions by Sergio Ramírez and Franz Galich. I study the “criminal-protagonists,” whose characterization and development include violent intimate implosions that end in femicide, signaling crisis tendencies in Nicaraguan masculinities. Finally, the fourth chapter extracts public comments from the online forums of Nicaraguan newspapers about the Law 779 controversy. These comments reveal fear over balancing out power relations in favor of women, with extreme polarization over the meaning of intimate relations. My dissertation leans on diverse geopolitical expressions of feminist theory that critique the legal, physical, and symbolic manifestations of asymmetrical power relations favoring masculine dominance and impunity. In the same vein of systemic criticism, I turn to inquiries about neoliberal models of thought and social organization that critique their polarizing and binary view of human relations. At this conjuncture in neoliberal iii governance the law is malleable and subject to partisan maneuverings. This affirms that seeking the protection of the State continues to be a conflictive proposition for feminist movements against gender violence. iv Dedicated to my mom, Susan, for all her love and support. Also dedicated to my stepdad, the late Steven J. Czeiszperger, in loving memory. v Acknowledgements A few times in our lives, we come across those souls who are teachers in the most profound sense of the word. My adviser and “madre académica,” Dr. Ileana Rodríguez, shines as one of those true teachers. With the most profound sense of gratitude in my heart, I look back on her support, measured criticism, and boundless energy and I know how blessed I am to have her in my life. With humor and with personal engagement she helped me find my voice as a scholar. Beyond her status as one of the most prolific scholars of Latin American feminist theory and Cultural studies, she dedicates herself to her students with her whole heart and mind. She thinks with us and alongside us as we travel along in our academic journey. I can’t begin to count the invaluable gifts she has given me. I would also like to thank Dr. Laura Podalsky for her encouragement, positive attitude, and extremely thoughtful input and criticism. Dr. Podalsky takes the time to reflect deeply on her students’ projects, giving them the gift of profound engagement with their work. Also, my deepest gratitude goes to Dr. Ignacio Corona for inspiring me to delve into Modernist poetry and prose, renewing my passion for literature. His eloquence and critical perspective influenced me during coursework and as I wrote this dissertation. One of the greatest gifts Dr. Rodríguez gives her students is their connection to a Central American community of scholars at the Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y vi Centroamérica (IHNCA) in Managua. I am profoundly grateful to Margarita Vanini, the director of the IHNCA, for always welcoming us and providing a forum for immensely challenging scholarly debate. I would also like to thank the researchers at the IHNCA and the Universidad Centroamericana for their friendship and academic inspiration: Juan Pablo Gómez, Adriana Palacios, Eimeel Castillo, Antonio Monte, Camilo Antillón Najlis, Carlos Villanueva, Dariana Valenzuela, Gabriela Montiel, and Ana Portocarrero. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my partner Mark Speer for his patience and encouragement. And of course, my most profound gratitude goes to my compañeras in ex/centrO, John Petrus, Bradley Hilgert, Nyanda Redwood, Jared List, and Juan Pablo Gómez. We experienced it all together: academic growth, humor, working our tails off, and “celebrando la vida.” Thank you for thinking with me, challenging me, and supporting me over these last four years. vii Vita 2007................................................................B.A. Ohio University 2009................................................................M.A. Ohio University 2011 to present ...............................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University Publications Miklos, Alicia. “Justicia estatal y revictimización de género en Nicaragua: El día que me quieras (Jaugey, 1999).” Revista de historia IHNCA-UCA 29 (2013). Fields of Study Major Field: Spanish and Portuguese viii Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………v Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………...vi Vita…………………………………………………………………………………......viii List of Figures……………………………………………………………….…….…….x Introduction……………..………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 1, Mediated intimacies: State intervention and Gender violence…..…………..15 Chapter 2, Gender Violence in the Nicaraguan Nota Roja: Myth, Melodrama, and the Polarization of Gender difference…………………………………………………..……72 Chapter 3, The imaginary of intimate disintegration: Femicide and gender violence in contemporary Nicaraguan detective and novela negra fictions ………………………..131 Chapter 4, Public polarization: Anti-feminism takes on Law 779…………………..…184 Conclusion…….………………………………………………………………………..234 References/Works Cited……………………………..…………………………………240 Appendix A, Cases Studied, Chapter 2……...………………………………………….258 Appendix B, Online Comments in the Nicaraguan Press, Chapter 4.………………….268 ix List of Figures Figure 1, First article in the Contreras-Jiménez case...…………………………………84 Figure 2, Inset photo from Contreras-Jiménez case. .……………………..……………86 Figure 3, Photo of Yader Ismael Jirón Cruz, accused of femicide ...……………..……107 Figure 4, Photo of Juan Pablo Gadea Salmerón, accused of femicide .…………..……111 Figure 5, Photo of Juan Pablo Gadea, accused of femicide .……………………..……112 Figure 6, Photo of “Los Patitas,” after being sentenced to preventative imprisonment..113 x Introduction In February 2012 the Nicaraguan Assembly passed Law 779, the Integral Law against Violence towards Women, which codified the crime of ‘femicide’ into Nicaraguan law, prohibited police or judiciary mediation between aggressors and accusers, and mandated inter-institutional, governmental, and civil society coordination to address violence against women. Springing from a transformative impetus with broad-based societal support, Law 779 set out to inaugurate a legal, criminological framework for gender violence. Nor did it neglect women’s substantive rights, framing gender violence as a result of the asymmetrical power relations between men and women, mandating educational campaigns for sensitization, and promoting conscientious media coverage that would not “use the image of women as sexual-commercial objects” or “encourage violence against women” (1367). I first traveled to Nicargua that very summer when Law 779 went into effect. I was intrigued when Adriana Palacios, a colleague at the Institute