«Friends enslave, son». Authority figures and hegemonic masculinity in “Un boleto para cualquier parte”

Authors

  • Alejandra Silva Lomelí Centro de Enseñanza para Extranjeros, UNAM

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15174/rv.v13i28.517

Abstract

This article shows an analysis of the short story titled “Un boleto para cualquier parte” contained in the volume Tiempo destrozado (1959), the first book of stories published by the Mexican author Amparo Dávila. The protagonist is Marcos, a man who seems to have a typical life: he is an employee and has a girlfriend named Irene, and his mother lives in a place where she receives the necessary care and attention. However, as the story develops, we can observe how Marcos’ everyday life actually represents to him the obligation to fulfill a series of expectations and social responsibilities that overwhelm him. The central idea of this analysis is that such commitments correspond to a model of hegemonic masculinity, which exceeds Marcos’ abilities and desires. Exhausted by his life, the character buys a one-way ticket to any place in order to escape the multiple terrible situations that he imagines. Nevertheless, this action becomes a paradox as his running away keeps the power relations that he intends to avoid.

Gender studies, especially those focused on masculinities, are the theoretical basis of this proposal. The research and reflections of Judith Butler, Raewyn Connell, Robert McKee Irwin and Mark Millington guide our observations about the authority figures, the hegemonic masculinity and its relation to the character.

Keywords: Amparo Dávila, Mexican narrative, gender, masculinity, authority.

Author Biography

Alejandra Silva Lomelí, Centro de Enseñanza para Extranjeros, UNAM

Licenciada en Letras Hispánicas por la Universidad de Guadalajara y Maestra en Español por la Universidad de Texas en El Paso. Es profesora de literatura en el Centro de Enseñanza para Extranjeros de la UNAM y jefa de dicho departamento desde enero de 2021. Sus líneas de investigación son la poesía erótica de autoras mexicanas de las primeras décadas del siglo XX y la narrativa de escritoras mexicanas de 1950 en adelante. Es autora de los artículos “Narrar el odio: las posibilidades de María Luisa Puga”, “El ‘clóset de la crítica’: erotismo y transgresión en la obra poética de Rebeca Uribe”, “‘Allá afuera el mundo’. Personajes y espacio doméstico en ¿Te digo qué?, de María Luisa Puga”, en Ligera de equipaje. Itinerarios de la novela corta en México (UNAM, 2019) y “‘Por la lenta agonía’. Cobertura de la muerte de la escritora Rebeca Uribe en la prensa nacional” en Las pasiones en la prensa mexicana, siglos XIX-XXI (UNAM, 2019). Ha presentado los resultados de sus investigaciones en congresos nacionales e internacionales, y dictó el cursillo “Escritoras mexicanas del siglo XX. El caso de María Luisa Puga” en California State University, campus Los Ángeles, y en la UNAM-Los Ángeles en 2018; asimismo, dictó la conferencia “‘Esa chispa que lentamente se apaga’. Rebeca Uribe: su muerte en la prensa, la muerte en su obra” en la Universidad de Guadalajara en 2018.

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Published

2021-06-08

How to Cite

Silva Lomelí, A. (2021). «Friends enslave, son». Authority figures and hegemonic masculinity in “Un boleto para cualquier parte”. Valenciana, 13(28), 7–28. https://doi.org/10.15174/rv.v13i28.517

Issue

No. 28 (2021): Valenciana 28 julio-diciembre 2021

Section

Artículos

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