Mothers and Daughters in Post-Revolutionary Mexican Literature by Teresa M. Hurley (review)

Abstract

ii34 Reviews the Comic Mind of his Age will foster informed reflection and debate on the sources and dynamics of Cervantine comedy. University of Toronto Stephen Rupp Mothers and Daughters in Post-Revolutionary Mexican Literature. By Teresa M. Hurley. London: Tamesis. 2003. vii + 2i2pp. ?45. ISBN 1-85566-086-5. Teresa Hurley's study considers the novels offourimportant Mexican women writers: Nellie Campobello's Cartucho and Las manos de mama; Rosario Castellanos's BalunCandn ; Elena Garro's Los recuerdosdel porvenir; and Elena Poniatowska'sLtf 'Flor de Lis' (1989). Hurley's analysis, drawing on aspects of psychoanalytical feminism and Bakhtinian theory,forms what she terms a 'psychoanalytically-based dialogism' (p. 6) in her consideration of the mother-daughter relationship as portrayed in the novels. Drawing on Hirsch's notion of an 'ideal psychoanalysis', Hurley suggests that these novels, rather than portraying the child-mother relationship from the conventional viewpoint of the child, where the mother's voice is absent, instead allow the mother to speak. For Hurley, it is the heteroglossia of the novels she examines that gives the mother a voice. Chapter 1 provides a useful contextualization for the novels discussed, and also an overview of theories of autobiography, suggesting how these works differfrom male-authored autobiographies. Hurley also considers genre, and proposes that the novels she considers, rather than fittinginto any one category such as the novela de la Revolucion or the novela indigenista, share features with a variety of differentcate? gories, including autobiography. In Chapter 2, focusing on Nellie Campobello's Cartucho and Las manos de mama, Hurley argues that Campobello portrays the mother's discourse not only as mother, but as a woman in her own right. For Hurley it is precisely the heteroglossia of the two works that provides for a maternal discourse that challenges the silent role that psy? choanalysis conventionally assigns to women. Hurley shows how sensory impressions are important in Campobello's narrative in the expression ofmemory froma gendered perspective, and links the emphasis on touch and physical contact to Kristeva's notion of the semiotic. The chapter that follows, on Castellanos's Balun-Candn, continues with the focus on sensory perception, proposing a similar binary of sight/touch to that of Campobello's works. Hurley links this to gender roles, noting a distinction between active male roles associated with sight, and passive female ones. Chapter 4 studies Garro's Los recuerdos del porvenir, and takes as one of its focal points Garro's concept of time. Hurley proposes that this can be read in gendered terms, whereby linear time is associated with historical progress, Europe, and the masculine, while circular time is associated with indigenous culture and the feminine. However, Hurley then indicates how Garro goes on to subvert this binary, with mas? culine characters ruled by feminine time, and vice versa. Chapter 5 considers the little-studied firstnovel of the prominent writer Poniatowska , La 'Flor de Lis', and explores the parallels between the mother and the mother country, both of which are seen to be influential in the perpetuation of gender roles. Hurley makes innovative use of Kleinian theory in her consideration of the ambiva? lent attitude Mariana has towards her mother, and provides an illuminating analysis ofthe conflict between love and hatred feltby the protagonist. Hurley's book is a refreshing take on the work of these prominent writers, and her employment of psychoanalytic theory proves persuasive when discussing the dy? namics of the text. What are perhaps less convincing are the moments when Hurley attempts to read the symptoms of the text back to the author (e.g. p. 153). However, MLRy 100.4, 2005 1135 these moments are infrequent, and the strengthof this book lies in its original analysis as it provides an innovative and accomplished discussion of these important writers. University of Liverpool Claire Taylor A pie de obra: escritos sobre teatro. By Marcos Ordonez. Barcelona: Alba. 2003. 488 pp. ?21. ISBN 84-8428-165-5. The fact that a theatre critic has decided to compile a volume of his work that was ori? ginally published in the press and has found a publishing house willing to bring it out is an uncommon occurrence, although there are...