Graduation Semester and Year
2023
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in English
Department
English
First Advisor
Erin Murrah-Mandril
Abstract
This thesis seeks to analyze how La Llorona’s abjection allows her and those who call on her to exist as specters, haunting the space of their personal, cultural, or historical trauma to make sense of their abuses and gain power to combat the oppressive structures that allowed for abuse to occur. I include both Historical and Literary contexts to locate La Llorona as a transcultural and hemispheric conduit that provides a space for the feminine collective to find the familiar in the grotesque and carve out a space for themselves in a society that would otherwise force them into silence. I will use this essay to argue how historical and contemporary artists across North and Central America have invoked La Llorona’s abjection to counter the ongoing dominance of colonial, patriarchal power that has forced them into similar subjugated roles across time and space.
Keywords
Folklore, Latino folklore, Latino studies, Border studies, Gender studies, La Llorona
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | English Language and Literature
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Donoso, Samantha, "INVOKING LA LLORONA: ABJECTION AS A SITE OF POWER IN JOVITA GONZÁLEZ, CHERRIE MORAGA, AND JAYRO BUSTAMANTE" (2023). English Theses. 116.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/english_theses/116
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington