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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographicaHy in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. ProQuest Information and teaming 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI' UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE REVISIONS OF DOMESTICITY: SELECTED TEXTS OF ELENA PONIATOWSKA, GABRIEL GARCiA MARQUEZ, AND ISABEL ALLENDE A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Lois K. Lawler Norman, Oklahoma 2001 UMI Number; 3028805 UMI* UMI Microform 3028805 Copyright 2002 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Beil & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 © Copyright by Lois K. Lawler 2001 All Rights Reserved REVISIONS OF DOMESTICITY: SELECTED TEXTS OF ELENA PONIATOWSKA, GABRIEL GARCiA MÂRQUEZ, AND ISABEL ALLENDE A Dissertation APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF MODERN LANGUAGES, LITERATURES, AND LINGUISTICS Acknowledgments Undoubtedly, this dissertation would not have come to fruition without the guidance of a number of individuals. At this time, I would like to take the opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to each of them. First and foremost, I wish to convey my heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Mary E. Davis, whom I consider a mentor, role model, and friend. I have always regarded Dr. Davis as a consummate scholar and writer, and during the formulation of this dissertation her literary expertise directed me to investigative paths that enhanced my analytical approach. Her insightful revisions clarified my writing and helped me to discover my own voice. Most importantly, she offered me consistent encouragement at every step of this project, and for this I am forever indebted to her. I would also like to express my gratitude to the other members of my committee. I am deeply appreciative of Dr. Bruce Boggs for his prompt readings and close analysis of my work. His comments offered me validation throughout the process. In turn, I have learned much from Dr. Ismael Marquez, particularly from his informative guidance in genre research. Dr. Marquez consistently challenged me to approximate a text from a variety of theoretical perspectives. I am also thankful for the patient reading of Dr. Michael Langenbach who took time from his extraordinarily busy schedule to assist me in an area outside his own expertise. Also, I would like to thank my dear friend and colleague. Dr. Grady Wray who shares my love of Latin-American women writers. His instructive comments greatly facilitated the process of writing, and his unwavering support encouraged me throughout my doctoral program. In addition, I am grateful for the assistance of Dr. Luis Cortest for his reading of several of the chapters. His expertise in editing proved invaluable. My gratitude also extends to Danny Lovett whose computer proficiency rescued me from several near disasters. Most of all, I would like to thank my husband, Pat, and my children, Dan, Carrie, and David for their immeasurable patience and support during the iv completion of this dissertation. While I wrote on redefining domesticity, they experienced it firsthand. I am especially grateful to my husband for his wonderful disposition that brightens my life, even during the darkest of days. I proudly share this accomplishment with him. Table of Contents Acknowledgments......................................................................................................... iv Abstract......................................................................................................................... vil Chapter One Introduction..........................................................................................................1 Chapter Two Hasta no verte Jesus mio: A Feminine View from the Pyramid................................................................ 39 Chapter Three Eréndira’s Magical Flight................................................................................100 Chapter Four Afrodita: An Anatomy of Eroticism.............................................................. 156 Chapter Five Conclusion...................................................................................................... 208 Bibliography ................................................................................................................213 VI Revisions of Domesticity: Selected Texts of Elena Poniatowska, Gabriel Garcia Màrquez, and Isabel Allende Lois K. Lawler Director: Dr. Mary E. Davis Abstract The figurative movement of women from the private space of the home to the public forum gradually materialized in Latin-American literature over the course of the twentieth century. This particular literary transition substantially mirrored the progress of the feminist sociopolitical movement, in which women retained their affiliation with the home as an integral component of their identity, even as they sought to escape its confines. My investigation treats the utilization of the domestic sphere as a microcosmic model of dominance in Hasta no verte Jesus mio by Elena Poniatowska, "La increlble y triste historié de la candide Eréndira" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Afrodita: cuentos. recetas y otros afrodisiacos by Isabel Allende. Through the discursive portrayal of women as strong, resilient characters, and the home as an educative site, these works subvert the masculine representation of authority and reconfigure women as symbolically empowered forces of transformation. Each of these works reframes historical truth from the context of its own geographic and temporal perspective by the deployment of revisionist narrative approaches, in the first chapter of this study the works are situated within the literary production of each of the authors, as well as within the context of the historical and cultural development of Latin-American gender relations. In addition, the chapter provides an overview of the literary and anthropological interpretations of domesticity in Latin America. Chapter Two discusses Poniatowska's use of the testimonial narrative approach in order to examine the marginalization of subaltern classes in Mexican society from the feminine Vll perspective of Jesusa Palancares. a domestic worker whose life spans the greater portion of the twentieth century. In Chapter Three. Garcia Màrquez’s creative interpretation centers on Eréndira as a non-traditional fairy tale protagonist whose emancipation from domestic and familial subjugation metaphorically deconstructs the mythological history of Latin-American imperial dominance. The focus of the fourth chapter is on Allende’s use of the narratologicai elements of the literary anatomy and the symbolic properties of food as a framework for a feminine manifesto of sexuality that incorporates the author’s own metafictional memoir of her development as a woman and writer. The final chapter of this study identifies the works analyzed as integral components of the literary development of revisionist approaches to traditional genres and the renewed interest in domestic motifs. Vlll Chapter One Introduction El secreto de la escritura, como el de la buena cocina notiene absolutamente nada quaver con el sexo, sine con la sabiduria con que se combinan tos ingredientes. - -Rosario Ferré Sitio a Eros In Ovid’s Metamorphosis, the story is told of King Tereus who violates Philomela and removes her tongue, stripping her of the ability to testify to his atrocity. However, Philomela draws on her accomplished domestic talents and weaves a tapestry so expressive that it immediately conveys the story of her brutalization to her sister, Procne. In many ways, Philomela’s narrative reflects the depiction in Latin-American literature of empowered women who utilize their domestic education in order to reveal hegemonic cultural systems. Three twentieth-century narratives, Hasta no verte Jesus mio (1969), by the Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska, “La increlble y triste historié de la candide Eréndira y de su abuela desalmada ” (1972), by the Colombian Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Màrquez, and Afrodita: cuentos. recetas. y otros afrodisiacos (1997), by the Chilean author, Isabel Allende serve as models of this narrative practice. Each of these authors