The present dissertation discusses primary dichotomies in discourses, cultural and economic practices which operate to entrench divisions and fetter notions of identity in two of Elena Poniatowska's (b. 1932) novels: La 'Flor de Lis' (1988) and Hasta no verte Jesús mío (1969). More specifically, this study has taken relevant concepts provided by Cultural Studies, such as power and hegemony, in order to bring forward questions of economic transnationalism and cultural practices in the main characters. Through the parameters of deconstruction and demythologization we interrogate how binary oppositions such us the paradigms of Modernity and Postmodernity converge in Poniatowska's works. We observe that notions of logocentrism are present in the friendship between two of the characters in La 'Flor de Lis': on one side, there is Magda the peripheral subject, whose orality permeates Mariana's lettered culture. Thus, we establish the connection between the city and Modernity, and at the same time, we emphasize how the Other's voice, under the paradigm of Modernity, is associated with barbarians, while under Postmodernity it acquires a space among hegemonic forces. In both novels we notice how, after the Revolution (1910), the Mexican state generates a modernizing project by fomenting the idea of a modern national subject; this is done in order to transcend social fragmentation. The process that Étienne Balibar denominates fictive ethnicity helps the State to create a national- popular representation based in the triad formed by a shared language, history and origins; however, the four characters in Poniatowska's novels do not comply with the State's efforts. Instead, they challenge those representations that ultimately expose the failure of the two main grand narratives: Modernity (the idea of progress and equality), and the Nation. In conclusion, we emphasize that the dialogue between the characters in Hasta no verte Jesús mío and La 'Flor de Lis' completes a circle in which Magda is the liberating trigger for Mariana's actions, as Jesusa is for Poniatowska. In particular, social differences between Mariana and Jesusa make possible a reading in which they not only establish a dialogue but also, through that dialogue, the reader may observe economic and social structures through two paradigms: Modernity and Postmodernity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/243691 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Hall, Rosario R. |
| Contributors | Rivero, Eliana S., Gutiérrez, Laura G., Morales, Mónica, Rivero, Eliana S. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | Spanish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Dissertation |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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