Author's Department/Program
Romance Languages and Literatures: Latin American and Iberian Literatures (Hispanic Literature)
Language
English (en)
Date of Award
Summer 9-3-2013
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Chair and Committee
Ignacio M Sánchez Prado
Abstract
My thesis examines the representation of the female figure in avant-garde Mexican art and literature at four key moments of rupture or tension from the 1920s to the present: the post-Revolution; the beginning of the "Mexican Miracle" in the 1940s; the period following the 1968 student movement, and the period of political transition from the PRI: Partido Revolucionario Institucional) to the PAN: Partido Acción Nacional) from the year 2000 until now. My use of avant-garde refers to a cultural mode, rather than to the historical avant-garde period: c. 1920-1968), and draws in part from Peter Bürger's formulation of the avant-garde as an attack on art as an institution. The thesis can really be divided into two halves: in the first two chapters--in the post-Revolution era and the post-WWII era--Mexico is facing the challenges of the process of modernization. In chapters three and four, meanwhile, Mexico is stepping onto the world stage culturally and economically, as symbolized by its hosting of the Olympic Games in 1968 and the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. I argue that these figures take on the function of the muse as they emerged in response to these events and engaged with predominant currents and conversations in the country's intellectual sphere, which mostly revolved around constructions of national identity and history. I examine these events from the intersection of the representation of the female body as muse and technological discourses of each period, which I suggest offers a unique historical perspective and potential for subversion or critique.
Recommended Citation
Potter, Sara Anne, "Disturbing Muses: Gender, Technology and Resistance in Mexican Avant-Garde Cultures" (2013). All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). 1154.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/1154
Comments
Permanent URL: http://dx.doi.org/K7C24TJZ