Corpses and disappeared bodies have become part of the Mexican landscape. Within the overall increase of violence, feminicide has become an urgent matter. Around ten women are murdered each day and most cases remain unsolved. As a response to this spectacle of violence, feminist protests and organized action are gaining prominence throughout the country. ‘Vivas nos queremos’ (‘We want to stay alive’) and ‘Ni una menos’ (‘Not one less’) are some of the chants that resonate among massive protests. Despite the growing numbers of feminicide cases and with the spread of activism, there is surprisingly little research that examines the affects and emotions engendered in the current normalization of violence. Much has been said about feminicide in relation to symbolic violence, and patriarchal structures, but not enough focus has been placed on how living bodies affect and are affected by their contact with the dead. Thus, this project utilizes affect theories (Brian Massumi, 2002) and the language of haunting (Avery F. Gordon, 2008) to unpack the complexity of feminicide, collective mourning, and normalization of violence. Through a close reading of literary fiction, I explore the affective forces engendered between living bodies and dead bodies. By thinking with Massumi and Gordon, I posit that theorizing affective forces should not assume a sharp cut between life and death. Then I follow the ghost of La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) as her wails become the voice of grieving mothers and murdered women. Listening to La Llorona’s wails as they mingle with activists’ chants of resistance makes visible, audible, and palpable a larger haunting that hints towards unequal social structures. Thinking with the concepts of mourning and grief as well as affect and haunting opens new ways of thinking about the unresolved murders and disappearances of women as expressed by literature and artivism. / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/13255 |
| Date | 12 August 2021 |
| Creators | Revilla Sanchez, Sarah |
| Contributors | Garlick, Steve |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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