Troubled memories : iconic Mexican women and the traps of representation / Oswaldo Estrada.

"In Troubled Memories, Oswaldo Estrada traces the literary representations of several iconic Mexican women in the midst of neoliberalism, gender debates, and the widespread commodification of cultural memory. Specifically, Estrada examines recent fictionalizations of Malinche, Hernán Cortés's indigenous translator during the Conquest of Mexico; Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the famous baroque intellectual of New Spain; Leona Vicario, a supporter of the Mexican War of Independence; the soldaderas (women soldiers) of the Mexican Revolution, popularly known as Adelitas; and Frida Kahlo, the tormented painter of the twentieth century. Long associated with gendered archetypes and symbols, these women have achieved mythical status in Mexican culture and continue to play a complex role in Mexican literature. Focusing on contemporary novels, plays, and chronicles, Estrada interrogates how and why authors repeatedly recreate the lives of these historical women from contemporary perspectives, often generating hybrid narratives that fuse history, memory, and fiction. In so doing, he reveals the innovative and, sometimes, troublesome ways in which authors can challenge or perpetuate gendered conventions of writing women's lives. Consequently, this study highlights not only the central place of historical women in contemporary Mexican culture, but also the malleability of cultural memory, the role of affect in commercializing iconic figures, and the persistence of gender norms and violence in Mexico"--

Includes bibliographical references.

INTRODUCTION: Iconic Mexican Women at the Threshold of a New Century -- CHAPTER I. Forget Me Not: Malinche's Struggles in Twenty-First Century Mexico -- CHAPTER II. Impossible Nun: Sor Juana and the Traps of Representation -- CHAPTER III. Leona Vicario: The Sweet Mother of the Nation -- CHAPTER IV. Si Adelita se fuera con otro¿ Soldaderas of an Unfinished Revolution -- EPILOGUE. Espero alegre la salida: Frida Kahlo and the Never-Ending Torments of a Female Icon.

Intro; Contents; List of Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction Iconic Mexican Women at the Threshold of a New Century; Chapter 1 Forget Me Not: Malinche's Struggles in Twenty-First-Century Mexico; Hasta en las mejores Malinches; Traduttore, Traditore; Malinche's Religion; A Story of Her Own; Chapter 2 Impossible Nun: Sor Juana and the Traps of Representation; The Phoenix Portrait; Sex and the Convent; Feminist Avenues; Had Sor Juana Cooked . . .; The Lost Manuscript; Chapter 3 Leona Vicario: The Sweet Mother of the Nation; A Female Patriot; Love in the Time of Independence

A Woman Who Knows Latin . . .Chapter 4 Si Adelita se fuera con otro ... Soldaderas of an Unfinished Revolution; Ambivalent Gender Battles and Invisible Others; Returning Soldaderas; Women Rebels of the Twenty-First Century; Nurses of the Mexican Revolution; Queer Revolutions; Epilogue Espero alegre la salida: Frida Kahlo and the Never-Ending Torments of a Female Icon; Notes; Works Cited; Index

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