Bulletin of Hispanic Studies

The Myth of the Dzulúm and Patriarchal Masculinity in Rosario Castellanos's Balún-Canán

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (2011), 88, (6), 677–694.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.2011.36
Language
English
Pages
18

Abstract

This article takes the myth of the dzulúm in Rosario Castellanos's Balún-Canán as a starting point for the production of an innovative gendered reading of the text. It is argued that this myth, typically passed over by critics with little comment, is a crucial key to the critique of patriarchal masculinity that the text articulates. R. W. Connell's sociological theorisation of masculinities and bell hooks's thinking on patriarchal masculinity are simultaneously deployed to show how, contrary to any expectation or assumption of a unitary masculinity, a hierarchy of masculinities is depicted by Rosario Castellanos and shown to be irredeemably destructive for both female and male characters. Balún-Canán is also considered a text which does not fit perfectly with the ideas of Western sociology on the social construction of masculinities. Thus, text and theoretical context are mutually illuminating and the narrative function of indigenous myth is (re)valorised in its linkages with Mexican women's resistance to patriarchal practices.

Este artículo toma el mito del dzulúm en Balún-Canán de Rosario Castellanos como punto de partida para la producción de una innovadora interpretación del texto desde la perspectiva de los estudios de género. Se sostiene que este mito particular, normalmente pasado por alto por los críticos con un escueto comentario, es una clave esencial para la crítica de la masculinidad patriarcal que la novela articula. Se emplean tanto la teoría sociológica de las masculinidades de R. W. Connell como las ideas de bell hooks sobre el patriarcado para demostrar cómo, contra cualquier expectativa o suposición de una masculinidad homogénea, Rosario Castellanos describe una jerarquía de masculinidades y muestra que ésta es irremediablemente destructiva tanto para los personajes masculinos como los femeninos. Balún-Canán se considera como un texto que no encaja a la perfección con las ideas de la sociología occidental sobre la construcción social de las masculinidades, asi que el texto y el contexto teórico se arrojan luz mutuamente y la función narrativa del mito indígena se (re)valoriza en su vínculo con la resistencia de la mujer mexicana a las prácticas patriarcales.

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Author details

Harris, Chris