The Silent Feminine: Essays on Jouissance, the Letter, and the Arts(Psychoanalytic Studies: Clinical, Social, and Cultural Contexts)

Contributors to this edited collection use a psychoanalytic lens to examine the historical and political silencing of women as portrayed through Latin American art and literature.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: The Silencing of Women and the Silent Feminine in Literature About War Araceli Colín Cabrera Translated By Natalia Rivas Colín Chapter 2: Nellie Campobello: Writing, Testimony, and Pedagogies Against Silence Cathia Huerta Arellano Translated By Maricruz Ocampo Guerrero Chapter 3: Feminine Jouissance in Elena Garro's Writing: Rescuing Silent, Fertile Difference Flor de María Gamboa Solís Translated By Mariana Sandoval Gamboa Chapter 4: Autoviudas: Prejudiced Justice for The Ladies of Death Nubia Carolina Rovelo Escoto And Francisco Javier de Santiago Herrero Translated By Maricruz Ocampo Guerrero Chapter 5: Feminine Voices as An Exploration of The Unfathomable Alejandra Cantoral Pozo And Alfredo Emilio Huerta Arellano Translated By Helen Harper Chapter 6: Destinies of Silence, Silence of Destiny: “The Good Daughter” By Almudena Grandes Mario Orozco Guzmán And Hada Soria Escalante Chapter 7: Creative Silence in the Works of Frida Kahlo Delphine Scotto di Vettimo Translated By Vic

About the Author :
Araceli Colín Cabrera is psychoanalyst and independent researcher.

Review :
This enthralling book displays a polyphony of voices, analyzing through different perspectives the silence and the silencing of women in Latin America. The reader is not only intellectually but emotionally engaged with the historical context of this silence and its traumatic effects, as she is introduced to women writers, and artists, who addressed that unperceived issue in the aftermath of socio-political upheavals. From my perspective, The Silent Feminine has opened the field for an enlightening dialogue with its authors. The fact that silence is what is heard between spoken or written words shows that, like the feminine, silence is an enigma. Black hole, unfathomable abyss, heteros par excellence, the feminine is inscribed beyond signifiers and beyond letters, which always eludes it. That this book sits in those unnamables and unfathomables attests the value writing has in our lives. When a pandemic ravages the planet and something non-human confronts all forces: scientific, political and economic, a book written by many hands brings us closer to thinking that perhaps, what "remains of Auschwitz" is poetry. This book gives voice to 'femininity', both situating and exploring how this concept departs from ideologically-loaded representations of women and clarifying the role of cultural productions – from the visual and literary arts – in shaping and expressing the ‘unfathomable female’. A landmark book for Anglophone readers, showcasing key Latin American feminist and psychoanalytic scholarship. This book is a sounding board that allows us to listen to the silent feminine. Suddenly the silence is broken and we know the ineffable, the inaudible and what is usually silenced or ignored. We listen to it thanks to the acute psychoanalytic sensitivity of the writers. This is an unprecedented and indispensable book for those interested in femininity, sexuality, psychoanalysis, and gender and women's studies. The Silent Feminine explores the female subject and the meaning of silence in psychology, literature and art. Among other areas, this book makes a significant contribution to the field of Hispanic and the works of contemporary women writers. One remarkable aspect this work acknowledges is the silencing of women writers who, despite their innovation and quality, are relegated from a literary canon. This book reveals how the different avatars of silence may be examples of patriarchal violence against women