This is (Not) My Child: Surrogacy and Non-mimetic Literature

Casas, Ana

doi:https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.2019.36

Casas, Ana

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (2019), 96, (6), 611–626.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.2019.36
Language: English
Pages: 16

Abstract

Literature of the fantastic and dystopian literature has often explored reproduction as a means of control exercised by societies over their subjects and mainly over women. Although this issue has been analysed in some classic examples of science fiction such as Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley, Swastika Night (1937) by Katharine Burdekin or, more recently, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood, this article will examine the forms of surrogacy that appear in contemporary Hispanic texts. Stories by Elia Barceló, Claudia Salazar, Gemma Marchena, Gabriela Bustelo, Olga Fresnillo and Lina Meruane reflect on the meanings of these ‘delegated’ gestations, by means of natural or artificial wombs. In many cases, this form of maternity is an expression of subjugation to the hegemonic powers that be; in others, it serves as an effective weapon against the rulings of that same power.

La literatura fantástica y distópica ha observado en múltiples ocasiones los mecanismos reproductivos como una forma de control que las sociedades ejercen sobre sus miembros – principalmente las mujeres–. Aunque esta cuestión ha sido abordada por algunos relatos clásicos de la ciencia-ficción como Brave New World (1932), de Aldous Huxley, Swastika Night (1937), de Katharine Burdekin, o, más recientemente, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), de Margaret Atwood, el presente artículo se interesa por las formas de la gestación subrogada en textos actuales del ámbito hispánico. Los relatos de Elia Barceló, Claudia Salazar, Gemma Marchena, Gabriela Bustelo, Olga Fresnillo y Lina Meruane servirán para reflexionar sobre los significados de estas gestaciones ‘diferidas’, bien a través de úteros naturales, bien a través de úteros artificiales. En muchos de ellos, esta clase de maternidad expresa el sometimiento al poder hegemónico; en otros, se revela un arma eficaz contra los dictámenes de ese mismo poder.

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