María Cristina Campos Fuentes (DeSales University)
This panel will explore the concepts and
stereotypes that lay behind the vision of love expressed by Latin American authors.
Its purpose is to create a dialogue about writers’ depictions of love and
womanhood and how those ideas reflect, renew, or challenge Latin American
societies. Both male and female writers have represented feminine images in the
context of love or the lack of it, but it is impossible to overlook the fact
that portrayals of women have been created mainly by men, who often reproduce
traditional views of women, misrepresent them and, furthermore, deprive them of
their own identity. The most common representation of woman sees the beloved
one compared either with the Virgin Mary or a prostitute guilty of awakening
the male’s erotic desires. Nevertheless, with modernization emerging in Latin
America, male and female writers from every part of the region have expanded
their visions of love and womanhood and have depicted women in more varied
situations: women belonging to traditional rural communities or to a liberal
and cosmopolitan metropolis, rich, poor, young, old, loved, abandoned, in love,
hurt, or disdainful. Indeed, within their works, Latin American authors not
only reflect the social expectations for women in their different and often
conflicting roles (as lover, wife, mother, sister, friend, co-worker, rival,
etc.), but also their personal expectations of the beloved woman or the
self—when the author is a woman. This panel will focus on Spanish- and
Portuguese-speaking writers who offer intriguing images of love and womanhood.
Comparative approaches are suitable, as they could enlighten the changing image
of love and womanhood throughout the time under diverse circumstances, but
non-comparative studies would also be considered. The method of analysis is
open and feminist interpretations are welcome. For questions, please contact Dr. María Cristina Campos Fuentes, DeSales University, <camposcristina@hotmail.com>, but please submit abstracts using the NeMLA online system.
This panel will explore the concepts and
stereotypes that lay behind the vision of love expressed by Latin American
authors. Its purpose is to create a dialogue about writers’ depictions of love and
womanhood and how those ideas reflect, renew, or challenge Latin American
societies. Comparative or feminist approaches in Spanish/English/Portuguese are
suitable, but other approaches would also be considered.