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Latin American fiction achieved a turning point in its representation of sexual women sometime in the 1960s. Diane E. Marting offers a richly detailed analysis of this development. Her central idea is that in Latin American narrative women's desires were portrayed as dangerous throughout the 20th century, despite the heroic character of the "newly sexed woman" of the sixties. Marting scrutinizes novels from Guatemalan Miguel Angel Asturias, Brazilian Clarice Lispector, and Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa.
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The Sexual Woman in Latin American DANGEROUS DESIRES D I A N E E. M A R T I N G The Sexual Woman in Latin American Literature Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers Florida International University, Miami Florida State University, Tallahassee University of Central Florida, Orlando University of Florida, Gainesville University of North Florida, Jacksonville University of South Florida, Tampa University of West Florida, Pensacola The Sexual Woman in Latin American Literature Dangerous Desires Diane E. Marting University Press of Florida Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers Copyright 2001 by the Board of Regents of the State of Florida Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper All rights reserved 06 05 04 03 02 01 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Marting, Diane E. The sexual woman in Latin American literature : dangerous desires / Diane E. Marting. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-8130-1832-3 (alk. paper) 1. Latin American fiction—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Women in literature. 3. Women and literature—Latin America—History—20th century. 4. Sex in literature. 5. Sex role in literature. 6. Asturias, Miguel Angel— Political and social views. 7. Lispector, Clarice—Political and social views. 8. Vargas Llosa, Mario, 1936– —Political and social views. I. Title. pq7082.n7 m354 2001 863'.6409352042'098—dc21 00-053267 The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida. University Press of Florida 15 Northwest 15th Street Gainesville, FL 32611–2079 http://www.upf.com Excerpts from the original language versions of the following works are reprinted with permission of the Carmen Balcells Literary Agency, Barcelona, Spain: Mulata de tal, © 1963 by Miguel Angel Asturias. Uma aprendizagem ou O livro dos prazeres, © 1969 by Clarice Lispector. Elogio de la madrasta, © 1988 by Mario Vargas Llosa. Excerpts from Mulata by Miguel Angel Asturias, translated by Gregory Rabassa. Copyright 1967 by Dell Publishing, a division of Random House, Inc. Used by permission of Dell Publishing, a division of Random House, Inc. New York. Excerpts from An Apprenticeship, or The Book of Delights by Clarice Lispector, translated by Richard A. Mazzara and Lorri A. Parris. Copyright 1969 by Clarice Lispector. Translation © 1986 by Paulo Gurgel Valente. Reprinted with permission of the University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas. Excerpts from In Praise of the Stepmother by Mario Vargas Llosa, translated by Helen Lane. English translation © 1990 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. Contents List of Illustrations ix Preface xi A Note a