GUATEMALAN FEMALE ARTIVISTS ENVISAGE VIOLENCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: REGINA JOSÉ GALINDO, ROSA CHÁVEZ, AND DENISE PHÉ-FUNCHAL by Leslie Elizabeth Dávila BA in Spanish, University of California Los Angeles, 2007 MA in Spanish, California State University Long Beach, 2012 MA in Hispanic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh, 2015 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and Literatures University of Pittsburgh 2019 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This thesis was presented by Leslie Elizabeth Dávila It was defended on April 5th, 2019 and approved by Thesis Director: Áurea María Sotomayor-Miletti, Professor, Hispanic Languages & Literatures Juan Duchesne Winter, Professor, Hispanic Languages & Literatures Elizabeth Monasterios, Professor, Hispanic Languages & Literatures Rita M. Palacios, Professor, Conestoga College David Tenorio, Assistant Professor, Hispanic Languages & Literatures Jennifer Waldron, Associate Professor, English Literature ii Copyright © by Leslie Elizabeth Dávila 2019 iii GUATEMALAN FEMALE ARTIVISTS ENVISAGE VIOLENCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: REGINA JOSÉ GALINDO, ROSA CHÁVEZ, AND DENISE PHÉ-FUNCHAL Leslie Elizabeth Dávila, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 2019 This dissertation is the first systematic critical study that examines the language of violence against women as is produced by machista discourse vis-à-vis the language expressed in the works of Regina José Galindo, Rosa Chávez and Denise Phé-Funchal. Following Mary Louise Pratt and Judith Butler’s speech act theories, I argue that Galindo, Chávez and Phé-Funchal redistribute the power that the discourse on violence attempts to have over women’s bodies and social existence in language. Across seven chapters I analyze how Machistañol, a term I coined to define the language spoken by machistas, who commit acts of violence against those perceived to be inferior to them, has intentionally made feminicide an unintelligible phenomenon. By producing insurrectionary speech acts, the artists in this study respond to the current violent reality of Guatemalan women. They meticulously clarify the nuances of violence and the actors and systems that function by violence, to ultimately disarticulate Machistañol. In chapter one, two and three, I set the historical background of Guatemala as well as the theoretical tools that frame my analysis. In the fourth chapter I analyze how Rosa Chávez’s poetry presents a Maya woman in a constant process of transformation that defies the discriminatory predominant discourse today. In chapter five and six, I examine a selection of Regina José Galindo’s performances and poetry which shows us how both her body and word contest the power dynamics of Machistañol. In the seventh chapter, I trace how in Denise Phé-Funchal’s poetry and short stories, woman speaks up in patriarchal spaces that attempt to invisibilize her. iv In the context of the emerging scholarship on feminicides and violence against women, my dissertation contributes to a reflection on literature and art’s relationship to these broader sociopolitical processes. If the male-dominated language used to talk about violence against women was meant to be understood and spoken only amongst men, the artivists in this study are intervening, visibilizing, and bringing a sense of justice to a phenomenon the State is incapable or unwilling to provide for women. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................IX 1.0 INTRODUCTION: THE ARTIVISTS THEORIZE VIOLENCE .......................... 1 1.1 FRAMING GUATEMALA’S HISTORIES OF VIOLENCE ....................... 11 2.0 FEMINICIDE, A MACHISMO THAT KILLS ...................................................... 21 2.1 BEFORE THE LAW: MACHISTAÑOL ......................................................... 44 2.2 MACHISTAÑOL, A LANGUAGE FOUNDED ON VIOLENCE ................. 56 3.0 REBELLIOUS SPEECH ACTS: THE ARTIVISTS’ AXES OF ALLOCUTIONS ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 64 3.1 HOW SPEECH ACTS (RE)DISTRIBUTE THE SENSIBLE....................... 70 4.0 A MAYA WOMAN IN (RE)CONSTRUCTION IN ROSA CHÁVEZ’S POETICS ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 89 4.1 CHANGING THE SENSORY FABRIC OF SOCIETY .............................. 104 4.2 HOW A MAYA WOMAN SETS HERSELF FREE .................................... 126 5.0 TEXTUAL BODIES, ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATIONS IN REGINA JOSÉ GALINDO ...................................................................................................................... 144 5.1 CORPORAL AND TEXTUAL ACTS ........................................................... 155 5.1.1 POETRY IN ACTION ............................................................................. 159 5.1.2 PERFORMING FEMINISM ................................................................... 163 5.2 BODILY UTTERANCES ............................................................................... 169 vi 6.0 AN INVITATION TO SENSE THE WORLD WITH FEMALE EYES ............ 174 6.1 HOW MAYA WOMEN DEFEATED AN ARMY TRAINED TO KILL THEM ………………………………………………………………………………... 175 6.2 DEMYSTIFYING FEMINICIDE IN 21ST CENTURY GUATEMALA .... 209 6.3 BODY LANGUAGE CATALOGUE ............................................................. 244 7.0 EXAMINING A MACHISTA’S PARADISE IN DENISE PHÉ-FUNCHAL .... 246 7.1 A PARADISE OF HER OWN ........................................................................ 251 8.0 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... 277 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................ 283 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 295 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Regina José Galindo, Testimonios/ Testimonies......................................................... 144 Figure 2. Regina José Galindo, Hermana / Sister. ...................................................................... 179 Figure 3. Regina José Galindo, Mientras, ellos siguen libres / Meanwhile they remain free. .... 186 Figure 4. Regina José Galindo, La verdad / The Truth. .............................................................. 198 Figure 5. Regina José Galindo, Isle’l In / I Am Alive. ............................................................... 204 Figure 6. Regina José Galindo, El dolor en un pañuelo / Pain on a handkerchief. ..................... 213 Figure 7. Regina José Galindo, Perra / Bitch. ............................................................................. 225 Figure 8. Regina José Galindo, Exhalación (Estoy viva) / Exhalation (I am alive). .................. 236 Figure 9. Regina José Galindo, Nada nos calla / Nothing can silence us. .................................. 242 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my dissertation director, Áurea María Sotomayor, whose guidance and kindness empowered me to write this doctoral thesis. Her invaluable expertise helped me build the groundwork for this dissertation. I owe special thanks to the rest of my committee, each of whom contributed to this project in their own way: to Juan Duchesne-Winter who introduced me to indigenous narratives and theories and advised me to translate the artists’ works; to Jennifer Waldron who introduced me to theories of gender and the body and for her insightful contribution to my work on Regina José Galindo; to David Tenorio who generously agreed to join the committee at a late stage and provided me with constructive feedback in regards to performance studies; to Elizabeth Monasterios who also generously agreed to join the committee at a late stage and introduced me to feminist theories in Latin America; to Rita M. Palacios who introduced me to Rosa Chávez and Regina José Galindo’s work during my master’s program at CSULB, and warmly encouraged me throughout my doctoral career; and to John Beverley who due to his retirement could no longer participate in my committee but whose work has been instrumental since the beginning of my undergraduate career. I am forever grateful to Emy Takada, Gustavo Vargas, Gustavo Quintero, Carolina Bonilla, Pedro Salas, Eduardo Morales-Hernández, and my colleagues in the department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures for their tremendous support throughout the years. They all truly made my Ph.D. journey a lighter and more enjoyable experience. ix I’d also like to extend my gratitude to Erica Quintero, Brenda García, Klaude Kimura, Lyndsey Wilson-Dupuies and Leopoldo Peña who encouraged and motivated me to keep on writing under the sunny skies of Los Angeles. A special thanks to Kiri Sailiata for sharing her writing journey with me and for introducing me to Kerry Ann Rockquemore and the NCFDD community and Janine Carlock. I’d like to also acknowledge Lucy DiStazio, Monika Losagio, Patrick Fogarty and Keanna Cash who throughout my Ph.D. study assisted me with bureaucratic matters and offered a smile during those long Pittsburgh winters. I could not have completed this journey without the unconditional love and support of my sister Frances and mother Leslie. Our shared experiences as three Guatemalan-American women were the inspiration of this project. x 1.0 INTRODUCTION: THE ARTIVISTS THEORIZE VIOLENCE Para