Abstract

CANEDO, César. Looking away from what women ought to be: the poetry of Josefa Murillo. Lit. mex [online]. 2017, vol.28, n.1, pp.39-67. ISSN 2448-8216.

This paper aims to discuss that traditional criticism has considered the work of Josefa Murillo (Tlacotalpan, Veracruz, 1860-1898) from a preconceived image of the nineteenth-century female romantic poet: in pain, contemplative, chaste and protected. We will review the consolidation of such an image, as well as develop a critique of it in order to show how certain poems of this author do not fit into the mold of what women of that time were perceived to be. Instead, in the voice of her pseudonym “Totoloche” the author displays a series of rebellious themes in which the female poetic voice outsmarts and challenges masculine authority with a considerable dose of humor; and along with that, a series of romantic, poetic and literary practices that constrained the discourse of women and the possibilities which they possessed to express themselves and be recognized.

Keywords : Josefa Murillo; female poetry 19th century; stereotypes; gender.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )