Ghosting the Nation: La Llorona, Popular Culture, and the Spectral Anxiety of Mexican Identity

Abstract

On their way back home late in the evening, the little boy asks as they cross the bridge out into the suburbs: ‘Why is it called the Bridge of Souls?’ The father diligently responds: ‘Well, that is because this part of the river is filled with ghosts. There is a very particular one called La Llorona.’ ‘Who is La Llorona?’ the little boy asks curiously. ‘She is the ghost of a woman who constantly wails for the children she has killed. She wanders along the river looking for them. If you come out late at night, she might mistake you for one of her own and take you away.’ The child looks out the car window, completely mesmerised by his father’s words. He observes the dark landscape; the river is hardly illuminated by the street lamps. The family crosses the river by means of a low-lying road built on top of the old bridge. The nineteenth-century construction is almost forgotten, yet it is still visible if someone steps down to the river bank. The boy looks back at the Bridge of Souls: this is the place where he first heard of La Llorona.