Women writers and the Mexican Revolution

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to explore how women are represented in novels written by women which have conflict as their central thematic concern. Consequently, it was necessary to examine the context in which these texts were written and how they compare to texts written by men based on the same period. As a result I studied the novela de la revolución as a genre in Mexico, accessing this material in Irish, British and Mexican libraries. Having established thematic predecessors, I approached the historical context which meant that for female authors writing about conflict and the Revolution was a rarity in Mexican letters. This meant a close examination of Mexican and international Feminism; the historical circumstances of both the writers and those who they were writing about; and issues surrounding national identity. Having established the context of the work I then examined each of the three texts: Los recuerdos del porvenir (1964) by Elena Garro, Hasta no verte Jesús mío (1969) by Elena Poniatowska and Arráncame la vida (1986) by Ángeles Mastretta, which are the main focal point of this thesis. I explored how women were represented in the context of tropes, types and stereotypes previously employed, as well as studying the stylistic concerns of the writers.