Gender at its limits: the erotic and the political in fictional Mexican and Brazilian 20th century texts

Martinez, Lily

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Description

Title

Gender at its limits: the erotic and the political in fictional Mexican and Brazilian 20th century texts

Author(s)

Martinez, Lily

Issue Date

2013-02-03T19:37:13Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Goldman, Dara E.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Goldman, Dara

Committee Member(s)

• Manalansan, Martin F.
• Tolliver, Joyce L.
• Tosta, Antonio L.

Department of Study

Spanish, Italian & Portuguese

Discipline

Spanish

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Mexico
• Brazil
• Eroticism
• Gender
• Sexuality

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the representation of the erotic and sexuality in works of Mexican and Brazilian fiction in the twentieth century. I examine how the erotic motif influences the construction of gender and sexuality. Erotic representations apart from the surface function of displaying what is aesthetically pleasing also have the possibility to transform or, at a minimum, disturb gender norms. By analyzing gender, my objective is to show how fluid gender identities are, and how the erotic motif can also have political implications by surfacing feminist and activist ideologies. Most importantly, however, by closely analyzing how the erotic has been mobilized in political terms, I am able to observe how radical authors have become in rewriting the female body and erotic desires. Some of the texts under analysis are Gabriela Cravo e Canela by Jorge Amado, Entre Villa y una mujer desnuda by Sabina Berman, Eu Tu Eles directed by Andrucha Waddington, among others.

Graduation Semester

2012-12

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Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2012 Lily Martinez

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