-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Lavery, Jane Elizabeth. Ángeles Mastretta: Textual Multiplicity. Woodbridge: Tamesis (Monografías A, 217), 2005. x + 260 pp. £50/$85. ISBN 1–85566–117–9, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Volume 43, Issue 3, JULY 2007, Page 322, https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqm030
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
This book provides a detailed analysis of the work of the Mexican author Ángeles Mastretta. Its main objective is to refute the prevailing notion that Mastretta is primarily a writer of commercially successful, light literature which is inappropriate for serious academic study. According to Lavery, Mastretta's best-known novels, Arráncame la vida (1985) and Mal de amores (1996), as well as her other work, demonstrate a rich complexity in how they document the social context. The female protagonists of her narratives provide a testimony of the position and situation of women within Mexican history. As Mastretta's style is based predominantly on neorealist, testimonial and journalistic techniques, Lavery recognises a clear influence in her work from the Mexican Revolutionary Novel, while she is also able to establish a link with Post-Boom writing. By combining a critical stance towards masculine orthodoxy and discourse with accessible writing and references to popular culture – a characteristic feature of postmodern writing – the sharp divide between high and low culture is blurred in Mastretta's work. As a consequence, her narratives acquire an elusive quality that resists critical analysis, which, as Lavery argues throughout her book, provides the underlying attraction of all of Mastretta's writing.
