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Intersecciones Hispánicas: Revista de Cultura, Literatura y Lingüística

Abstract

El presente artículo se dedica a indagar las ambivalencias de la experiencia maternal y el deterioro de las relaciones maternofiliales a partir del retrato crudo e incómodo que Sanz ofrece en las páginas de Animales domésticos (2003). Como es notorio, el papel de la madre abnegada y cuidadosa es el que tradicionalmente se ha asignado a las mujeres. Se presupone que el instinto materno emerge de manera natural y se espera que la experiencia de la maternidad constituye una fuente de gratificación incondicional, excluyendo toda posibilidad de ambivalencia emocional. En consecuencia, se alimenta una visión colectiva de la maternidad evidentemente distorsionada e inverosímil, que la prosa contrahegemónica de Marta Sanz se propone deconstruir. En esta línea, se valorará el intento de la autora de impulsar nuevas formas de entender la identidad femenina y su vínculo—o desvinculación—con lo materno, considerando en qué medida la reconfiguración del mito de la maternidad en el contexto de la España de la precrisis condiciona sin distinción a tres de las mujeres protagonistas de Animales domésticos.

The present article aims to explore the ambivalences of the maternal experience and the deterioration of mother-child relationships, as portrayed in the raw and unsettling depiction provided by Sanz in Animales domésticos (2003). As widely acknowledged, the role of the self-sacrificing and nurturing mother has traditionally been assigned to women. It is assumed that the maternal instinct emerges naturally, and that the experience of motherhood constitutes an unconditional source of gratification, leaving no room for emotional ambivalence. Consequently, a collective vision of motherhood is fostered –one that is evidently distorted and implausible– which the counter-hegemonic prose of Marta Sanz seeks to deconstruct. Following this reasoning, this article will evaluate the author’s attempt to promote new ways of understanding female identity and its connection –or disconnection– with motherhood, by examining the extent to which the reconfiguration of the myth of motherhood in the context of pre-crisis Spain equally influences three of the female protagonists of Animales domésticos.

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