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Neoliberalism and its Discontents: Three Decades of Chilean Women’s Poetry (1980-2010) Bárbara Fernández Melleda School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures PhD in Hispanic Studies The University of Edinburgh 2018 DECLARATION This is to certify that the work contained within has been composed by me and is entirely my own work. No part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Signed: Bárbara Fernández Melleda ABSTRACT This thesis explores reactions of Chilean women’s poetry to neoliberalism in three chronological stages between 1980 and 2010. The first one focuses upon the years between 1980 and 1990 with the poems Bobby Sands desfallece en el muro (1983) by Carmen Berenguer and La bandera de Chile (1981) by Elvira Hernández, which are analysed in Chapters 2 and 3. These poems are reactions not only to the violence exerted during Pinochet’s regime (1973-1990), but also to the ideological purpose behind it: the overturning of the welfare state in favour of the privatisation of all public services. Both texts address these issues by developing themes of isolation and national identity. The second stage comprises the decade between 1990 and 2000. The poems selected to study this phase are Escrito en Braille (1999) by Alejandra Del Río and Uranio (1999) by Marina Arrate, which are developed in Chapters 4 and 5. Both texts express utter disillusion with their times. For these authors, the return of democracy after the 1988 plebiscite reveals that the country is not at ease with itself nor has it healed the wounds of its recent past. The poems enunciate an endless hopelessness based on the impossibility to overcome the commodification of daily life. Finally, the period between 2000 and 2010 shows the most explicit criticism of neoliberalism in the cohort, which also means that the economic model is fully functional. Both, Copyright (2003) by Nadia Prado and Bracea (2007) by Malú Urriola, studied in Chapters 6 and 7, are texts that express the discontents of living in a society ruled by neoliberalism, where those who see themselves as subjects and not consumers are in some ways alienated and deemed as freaks. This thesis proposes that women poets react to neoliberalism from a deep concern for Chilean society and its future. LAY SUMMARY The present work seeks to study how Chilean women’s poetry reacts to the imposition, development and consolidation of neoliberalism in Chile between 1980 and 2010. The first stage explores poems Bobby Sands desfallece en el muro (1983) by Carmen Berenguer and La bandera de Chile (1981) by Elvira Hernández, which constitute Chapters 2 and 3. These works signpost the main ideological purpose of the dictatorship: the imposition of neoliberalism through the privatisation of state-owned institutions and services. The second stage studies Escrito en Braille (1999) by Alejandra Del Río and Uranio (1999) by Marina Arrate which are analysed in Chapters 4 and 5. The 1990s are characterised by utter disillusion and a recent past still haunts Chilean society. The hopelessness expressed in the poems studied signals the impossibility to escape neoliberal rule. Finally, Chapters 6 and 7 explore Copyright (2003) by Nadia Prado and Bracea (2007) by Malú Urriola as texts that are even more explicit in developing a neoliberal critique. The 2000s would encompass the consolidation of neoliberalism and the texts studied certainly refer to its discontents. In sum, this thesis demonstrates that the poems studied react against neoliberalism in implicit and explicit ways, and their reactions shed light on the poets’ concern for Chilean society and its future. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would firstly like to thank the State of Chile for financing my doctoral studies through the CONICYT Becas Chile programme. I should also like to thank the following: Both my doctoral supervisors Dr Fiona Mackintosh and Professor Peter Davies for their guidance, work ethics and advice throughout these 4 years. Dr Iona MacIntyre, Dr Huw Lewis, Dr Charlotte Gleghorn from the SPLAS Department for their support and advice. Dr Zvi Septimus and Dr Anja Klein who helped me with my biblical readings and interpretations. The University of Aberdeen for granting me space to finish my thesis while taking up work there. Thanks to my colleagues Jesse, Itziar, Constanza and Marian. My poets: Carmen Berenguer, Elvira Hernández, Alejandra Del Río, Marina Arrate, Nadia Prado and Malú Urriola. I thank them for their wonderful work and for their cooperation when analysing their texts. Elizabeth Cárdenas and La Joyita Cartonera who have taught me how to resist neoliberalism in concrete ways. My friends from University: Chris, Ida, Clara, Yumiao, Julia, Elaine and Paul. My friends from life in Edinburgh: Valeria, Pepi, Fernanda, Carolina, Consuelo, María, and Ana. My dear parents and sister, and my aunts for their everlasting support. Rose White for being a supportive and caring mother-in-law. My accomplice in life, my husband Gordon White for comforting me in times of need and, above all, for loving me. I thank too our wee doggie Holly for being extremely cute and lightening me up on dark days. AWANTE Neoliberalism and its Discontents: Three Decades of Chilean Women’s Poetry (1980-2010) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1: Introduction.......................................................................... 15 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 15 1.2 The Project ......................................................................................... 17 Hypothesis and Justification .................................................................. 18 Methodology and Corpus ...................................................................... 20 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................... 23 1.3 Politico-Economic and Cultural Context 1980-2010............................ 31 1980s: Cultural Blackout and Censorship.............................................. 31 1990s: Transition, Impunity and Disillusion ........................................... 34 2000s: ‘End’ of Transition, the Third Way, the first woman in Office ..... 37 CHAPTER 2................................................................................................. 41 Bobby Sands desfallece en el muro (1983) by Carmen Berenguer: ............ 41 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 41 The Poem: Production, Circulation and Re-Editions ............................. 42 The Coverage of Bobby Sands’ Death in the Chilean Press ................. 43 Dedication and the Version Currently Being Studied ............................. 45 Form: Epitaph and Closing Lines .......................................................... 47 2.2 Analysis .............................................................................................. 50 Physical and Ideological Starvation ....................................................... 51 Torture and the Breaking of Language .................................................. 56 Symbols of Hope ................................................................................... 61 The Voice against the Wall: The Use of Graffiti ..................................... 68 2.3 Conclusions ........................................................................................ 78 ix CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................. 81 La bandera de Chile (1981 [1991]) by Elvira Hernández .............................. 81 3.1 Introduction.......................................................................................... 81 Brief Review of Hernández’s Detention.................................................. 83 The Book’s Path to Publication .............................................................. 85 The Poem’s Critical Responses ............................................................. 86 3.2 Analysis ............................................................................................... 90 The Flag as Totem and Symbol ............................................................. 91 The Different Chilean Flags through History .......................................... 92 An Ambivalent Flag and its Multiple Re-Significations ........................... 95 The Military Flag .................................................................................... 96 The Verbalisation of Absence .............................................................