Tracing Texts

This episode features a discussion of Amparo Dávila's short story "La Celda" from her collection "Tiempo Destrozado" published in 1959. The story's depiction of María Camino, the protagonist, could be interpreted as being a femme fatale, but our episode discusses how Dávila's narrative subtly challenges this archetypal representation. Dávila engages in a feminist critique of women’s roles in society. In particular, she addresses repressed feminine sexuality through the use of motifs like madness and characters like the femme fatale. Her writing is characterized by a gothic sensibility that "…submerges the reader in a world that defies rational explanation” (Hammond-Fernández 4).