The Heterotextual Body of the Mora Morilla (review)

MLR, 96. , 200I MLR, 96. , 200I is felt throughout the study. The occasional allusions to Kristeva, Irigaray and Cixous, on the need for women to reclaim the female body from the male gaze (visualappropriation),become clearand strongin thisfinalchapter,althoughthisis by no means a feministtract.Through a detailedtextualstudyof the storiesofJoyce Carol Oates (USA), Rosario Ferre(PuertoRico), Clara Sim6 (Catalonia),Brianda Domecq (Mexico) and the black American writer Ana Petry, the critic concludes this almost encyclopedic work with a resume of female treatment of the theme, as compared to the male subjective manipulation of the female subject/object, a rejection of the traditionalusurpation of the feminine phenomenon. If these final remarksof Rueda's sound a little strident,they are not typical or characteristicof the restof the study,hence the aforementionedneed fora more balancedconclusion which would have given her an opportunity to tie up the many threads of her narrative fabric. This is an interesting study, comprehensive in its coverage, profound in its analysis,delightfulto read. It is undoubtedlyan authoratitive,if not the definitive, study on the Greek legend, proof positive that myths do have universalapplication. QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, ONTARIO JOHN WALKER Theheterotextual bodyof theMoraMorilla. By LOUIsE O. VASVARI.(Papers of the Medieval Hispanic Research Seminar, I2). London: Queen Mary and WestfieldCollege. I999. II5 PP. 9; $14.50; 2,100 ptas. Literatura cetrera dela edadmediayelrenacimiento espanol.ByJosE MANUELFRADREJAS RUEDA. (Papersof the Medieval Hispanic Research Seminar, I3). London: Queen Mary and Westfield College. I999. 91 pp. ?8; $12.50; 1,900 ptas. The Papers of the Medieval Hispanic Research Seminar of Queen Mary and Westfield College continue with two volumes which, if nothing else, demonstrate the wide range of material and theoretical approaches currently deployed in hispano-medievalism. Louise O. Vasvari'sbook, although ostensibly dealing with the 'Yom'era mora moraima' ballad, is in fact much more. Using the motif of the 'mora' opening the door as a starting point, she explores the semiotic system of ballads with particular reference to the erotic. Vasvari provides a significant theoretical introduction to the questions she raises, seeking support in her reinterpretativequest from, amongst others, Freudand Bakhtin.The analysisis not, however, impenetrable.Vasvaritakesthe readerthrougha range of contexts, and is able to quote from a wide varietyof balladtraditionsin supportof her arguments.It is noticeable that this includes non-Western European examples, generally in the form of Hungarian ballads. The author examines in detail a wide range of motifs, from keysto clothes, and passesthrough, as it were, the semi-open (orclosed) door. Her insistenceon context is due to her view of the function of the ballad'snarrative structure as a 'framework to suggest emotional experience rather than [the development of] the details of a coherent story line' (p. 7). It is from this which springthe argumentsleading to her 'suspicionof the claim of reticent victimhood' (p. 58), and her well-supportedcontentions will no doubt give rise to much further analysis in similar vein. Jose Manuel Fradrejas'sbook is a horse of a considerablydifferentcolour. As the extensive bibliography implies, FradrejasRueda is already the leading author on the topic, and this production, presumably designed to give the non-specialist a mode of access to medieval Hispanic falconry literature, is a catalogue of the principal works in the field. The texts concerned are examined in chronological is felt throughout the study. The occasional allusions to Kristeva, Irigaray and Cixous, on the need for women to reclaim the female body from the male gaze (visualappropriation),become clearand strongin thisfinalchapter,althoughthisis by no means a feministtract.Through a detailedtextualstudyof the storiesofJoyce Carol Oates (USA), Rosario Ferre(PuertoRico), Clara Sim6 (Catalonia),Brianda Domecq (Mexico) and the black American writer Ana Petry, the critic concludes this almost encyclopedic work with a resume of female treatment of the theme, as compared to the male subjective manipulation of the female subject/object, a rejection of the traditionalusurpation of the feminine phenomenon. If these final remarksof Rueda's sound a little strident,they are not typical or characteristicof the restof the study,hence the aforementionedneed fora more balancedconclusion which would have given her an opportunity to tie up the many threads of her narrative fabric. This is an interesting study, comprehensive in its coverage, profound in its analysis,delightfulto read...

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.