Women and Haunted Houses in the Films of Jaume Balagueró: The Nightmares of Presence

Davies, Ann

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (2019), 96, (6), 641–653.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.2019.38
Language: English
Pages: 13

Abstract

Jaume Balagueró has developed a successful resumé of horror films that show a decided preference for the classic Gothic motif of the haunted house and the Gothic heroine who investigates its interior. This paper touches first on the Derridean concept of ‘dreams of presence’ (as theorized by cultural geographer Mitch Rose), in order to propose the ‘nightmares of presence’ in which the relationship, the call to care or commitment, between the subject and the space in which the subject dwells or moves, is Gothicized but nonetheless remains to tie the subject to the space concerned. It then focuses on Balagueró’s Los sin nombre, Frágiles/ Fragile and [REC] to consider three very different Gothic heroines: the mother of a dead daughter, a nurse in a children’s hospital, and a television reporter. The antagonistic call to care of the ‘nightmare of presence’ will be used to interrogate spatial aspects of the Gothic heroine.

Jaume Balagueró ha desarrollado un grupo de películas exitosas que demuestra una preferencia por el escenario clásico de lo gótico; tanto la casa encantada como la heroína gótica que la investiga. Este artículo estudia en primer lugar el concepto derrideano de ‘los sueños de presencia’ (según la teoría del geógrafo cultural Mitch Rose), para proponer ‘las pesadillas de presencia’ en que el vínculo, la llamada al compromiso, entre el sujeto y el espacio en que se mueve o que habita, llega a ser ‘gotizado’; pero aún así fija al sujeto en el espacio relevante. El argumento se centra en Los sin nombre, Frágiles y [REC] para considerar tres heroínas distintas: la madre de una hija muerta, una enfermera en un hospital para niños, y una locutora de un programa televisivo. La llamada antagonista de ‘las pesadillas de presencia’ se usa para interrogar los aspectos espaciales de la heroína gótica.

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