La representación de la vejez y los efectos del paso del tiempo como agentes de horror en dos cuentos de Amparo Dávila

Claudia Gil de la Piedra

doi:10.24275/KQYC4733

The Literary Representation of Old Age and the Effects of Elapsing Time as a Source of Horror in Amparo Dávila´s Short Stories.

Claudia Gil de la Piedra Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6916-081X

Abstract

Through her characters, Mexican writer Amparo Dávila masterly explores the perception of elapsing time and its effects. This paper aims to analyze the characteristics of the literary representation of elderly age in the main characters of two short stories and questions how elapsing time works through the characters, formulating two main questions: How do main characters perceive themselves? and how are they socially perceived? Likewise, I pretend to analyze the internal conflict provoked by a fear of growing old and resistance to elapsing time. This study argues that old age is a social perception which produces an alienating effect of the self that produces horror and bewilderment. Fiction turns out to be a way to confront this fear. On the one hand, the text exposes the resistance to grow old and, on the other hand, the projection of fear of death by the withering of the self. Finally, I will explain why this conflict is emphasized in the female characters due to social pressure.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Claudia Gil de la Piedra, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana

Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Licenciada en lengua y literatura francesas (Facultad de filosofía y letras, UNAM), Maestría en literatura mexicana contemporánea (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco), profesor de cátedra, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

References

Bierce, Ambrose. (1999). Diccionario del Diablo. elaleph.com. Disponible en: https://www.elaleph.com/libro/Diccionario-del-Diablo-de-Ambrose-Gwinett-Bierce/200/

Brasey, Édouard. (2001). Brujas y demonios. El universo feérico. Vol. V. Morgana.

Cirlot, Juan E. (1992). Diccionario de símbolos. Barcelona: Editorial Labor.

Dávila, Amparo (2021). 7° edición. Cuentos reunidos. Fondo de cultura económica.

Díaz Arciniega, Víctor y Luna, Marisol (2018). “La rutina doméstica como figuración siniestra. Amparo Dávila: su poética del dolor”, en Sincronía, núm. 74, México: Universidad de Guadalajara. Disponible en: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=513855742010

Díaz-Tendero, Aida (coord.). (2019). Un pacto con la soledad. Envejecimiento y vejez en la literatura en América Latina y el Caribe. Tirant humanidades.

Eco, Umberto. (2007). Historia de la fealdad. Trad. María Pons Irazazábal. Lumen.

Freud, Sigmund. (1919). Lo siniestro. Universidad Complutense de Madrid: Librodot. Disponible en: https://www.ucm.es/data/cont/docs/119-2014-02-23-Freud.LoSiniestro.pdf

Galindo, Sergio (2012). Polvos de arroz. UNAM: Instituto de investigaciones filológicas.

Gutiérrez, Claudia (2019). Amapolas deshojadas o el horror de la maternidad. El último verano de Amparo Dávila. En Un mundo de sombras camina a mi lado. Estudios críticos en torno a la obra de Amparo Dávila. Universidad de Guanajuato-Colofón.

Ricoeur, Paul. (2004) Tiempo y narración. Configuración del tiempo en el relato histórico. Trad. Agustín Neira. Siglo XXI.

Tario, Francisco (2015). Obras completas. Varia invención. Vol. 1. Fondo de cultura económica.

Williams, Anne. (1995). Art of darkness. A poetics of Gothic. The University of Chicago.

Published

2023-06-28

How to Cite

Gil de la Piedra, C. (2023). The Literary Representation of Old Age and the Effects of Elapsing Time as a Source of Horror in Amparo Dávila´s Short Stories. Revista Fuentes Humanísticas, 35(67). https://doi.org/10.24275/KQYC4733

Download Citation

Issue

Vol. 35 No. 67 (2023): El estatuto de la ciudadanía y su relación con las enfermedades mentales a través de la historia

Section

Artículos

Authors who publish in this journal accept the following conditions:

Fuentes Humanísticas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, which allows third parties to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contribution under the same license as the original.

No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Authors may enter into other independent and additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the article in this journal (e.g., placing it in an institutional repository) as long as they clearly indicate that the work was first published in this journal.