Subtextuality Poniatowska

7/29/2019 Subtextuality Poniatowska

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Subtextuality in Elena Poniatowska's Hasta no verte Jess mo

Author(s): Claudette WilliamsSource: Hispania, Vol. 77, No. 2 (May, 1994), pp. 215-224Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and PortugueseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/344480 .

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215

Subtextual ity in Elena Poniatowska'sHasta no verte Jesus mio

Claudette Williamslilnivers'i/y of/he WesI Indies, Kings/on, Jamaica

Abstract This study employs a critical approach grounded in psychoanalytical theory to explore the complex

no verteJesasmlo 1969). Such analysis exposes the contradictory, ambiguous, "silent," or hidden elements

in

Key Words: Mexican novel, 20th century, Poniatowska (Elena), Jesusa Palancares, Lacan, psychoanalyticaltheory, ego and unconscious, subtextuality

D attention has turned increasingly to hope, trapped in the eternal cycle of povertywomen writers in Spanish America and political oppression (Davis 227). Bell

and the articulation of gender issues in their Gale Chevigny, on the other hand, high-work. Along with Isabel Allende of Chile and lights Jesusa's role as rewriter of the officialLuisa Valenzuela of Argentina, Mexico's version of Mexican history (Chevigny 55).Elena Poniatowska is part of what might well Readings of this novel that have focusedbe termed an emerging canon of Spanish on issues of social-class, genre or gender,American women writers. Her testimonial have tended to be illustrative and apprecia-novel Has/a no verle Jesus mio (1969) is tiveA Although these analyses have coveredbased on material gathered in a series of important critical ground offered by thetape-recorded interviews, from which she work, they mainly attempt to establish aproduced a written version of the life of a coherent framework for understanding itsreal working class Mexican woman whose meaning. In the process, they do not ex-fictional name isJesusa Palancares and who plore the novel's subtext-the areas of si-is the narrator of the story. lence and contradiction, the relationship

Poniatowska's declared interest in the between the conscious and unconsciousfeminist appeal of Jesusa's story is an mdi- motives of the protagonist-narrator, whichcation of the ideological imperative that can elucidate the complex process of con-guided the interview and editorial pro- struction of her identity.3cesses.' She presumably prompted her sub- In order to explore this "hidden" dimen-ject in ways that allowed her to emerge as sion of the noVel, it is useful to refer to thea non-traditional woman, an extra-textual theories about the nature and developmentconsideration that would justify a gender of human subjectivity elaborated by Frenchanalysis of the novel. However, Has/a no psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan based on hisven'eJesuismio is open to interpretation from reading of Freud. Lacan posits the notion ofa variety of perspectives. For example, in the human subject as constituted by a splitaddition to the feminist implications of its between the ego (consciousness) and thesubversion of gender norms, Jesusa's char- unconscious (repressed desire). One of theacter can be understood in socio-economic functions of the ego is to provide the humanterms. As pointed out by Poniatowska, her subject with an illusorily integrated self-testimony, albeit not consciously so, is the image; the ego "misrecognizes" itself. Intestimony of millions of Latin American order to maintain its dominance the ego

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216 HISPANIA 77 MAY 1994must constantiy repress the refractory un- Jesusa is a "self-reflexive" protagonist-conscious impulses that constantiy threaten narrator: in recounting her life experiencesto disrupt the imaginary unity of the she is also concerned with defining herselfindividual's selfhood. and establishing the authority of her narra-

Psychoanalytical theory has displaced tive voice. In so doing she attempts to re-the ego as the center of self and has postu- strict the reader to that angle of vision fromlated the primacy of the unconscious in which she appears in a unified, non-contra-human behaviour, despite the fact that it dictory light Her will to harmonize the con-functions at imperceptible and deeply sub- flicting aspects of her character and to pre-liminal levels of the psyche. According to serve the unity of her selfhood is outstand-Lacan, "the unconscious is that part of the ing.concrete discourse ... that is not at the dis- Jesusa's self-representation often takesposal of the subject in re-establishing the the form of self-affirmation, as when she

continuity of his conscious discourse" (49). boasts of her incredible strength:The linguistic implications of this disconti-nuity is that in speaking of the self the 'I' that . ..yo era fuerte, de por si soy fuerte. Ya mi naturalezathe subject pronounces (the perceived 'I') es asi. El cuerpo estft acostumbrado ala necesidad de

the pronouncing (the 'I' that perceives). yo no tengo hambre. (109, emphasis mine)This revisioning of subjectivity has led to She likewise asserts the magnitude of her

not coherent and harmonious but ratherand contradictory. Yo tengo la voluntad

muy

fuerte....

Cosa

que

decido

plural que nunca voya

volver

ahacer,

nunca

lahago....

Me

An examination of the identity and char- cost6 dejar depelear

ydejar

debeber,

pero

teniendo

acter of the protagonist of Has/a no verlebuena

voluntad

no

hay

vicio.

(254)

Jesus info in psychoanalytical terms revealsthe subliminal realities that her ego either She expresses her strong will to resist

represses or ignores in her self-representa- domination: "Por eso yo soy sola, porque no

tion. Displacing the Jesusa's ego as the cen- me gusta que me gobierne nadie" (153).ter of critical focus and resisting the notion She maintains this resistance most stoutiythat her character is intelligible only in the in the face of male domination:terms in which it is constructed by her con-scious self makes it possible to demonstrate Los hombres son siempre abusivos. Como si eso fue-ra ser hombre. Esa es la enfermedad de los mexica-the complex process by which she both nos: creer que son muy charros porque se nos montanconceals and reveals her identity. This criti- encima. Y se equivocan porque no todas somos suscal approach exposes the contradictory, yeguas mansas. (177-78)ambiguous or hidden elements in a narra-tive that presents itself as coherent and This rebellious spirit endures even in hertransparent. old age: "Con todo y lo vieja que estoy,

Poniatowska has created a narrator-pro- todavia no me dejo de los hombres" (213).tagonist who projects a very credible illu- In addition, she underlines her spirit of in-sion of self-effacement. The novel appears dependence and self-reliance, her self-ac-to afford the reader unmediated access to ceptance and resilience, and is careful toJesusa's psyche. Jesusa provides the center emphasize her liberal understanding ofof consciousness through which reality is those individuals considered deviants byconstructed and filtered to the reader. The society, as in the case of the homosexualentire narrative is centered on her ego. Manuel and the transvestite Don LuchoHers is the vantage point from which the (186-88).story is told, hers the consciousness that On some occasions, however, Jesusa'scontrols the discourse; hers are the world declarations about herself appear to be self-view and sensitivity that inform the work. criticism. She lays no claim to goodness,



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SUBTEXTUALITY IN ELENA PONIATOW5KA'S HASTA NO VERTE JESUS MIG 217

usurera" (197). She passes negative judge-ment on her tendency towards aggression: Such statements are expressions of calcu-"Yo era un animal muy bruto, una yegua lated irony that depends for its effectivenessmuy arisca" (161), and in speaking of her on complicity between narrator and readerpast she notes that hers was "la vida de la who both know that the narrator means thevibora" (177). The harshness and emotional opposite of what she says about herself.austerity of her character are also frankly This underlying ironic intent resolves theadmitted: "Yo no soy querendona, no me apparent ambignity of self-affirmation andgusta la gente. Mi canicter ha sido muy self-criticism, so that these ostensibly self-seco. Nunca me aquerenci con nadie. Soy deprecatory statements do not violate themuy regaiXona, hablo muy fuerte" (282). imaginary unity of Jesusa's self-image.

Jesusa constructs much of her identity in As the putative source of truth, Jesusaboth oppositional and hierarchical terms. constructs for herself an essential and un-Her comparisons of herself with others con- alterable identity. With the exception of thestantiy underscore difference. She is espe- brief period when she admits to playing thecially insistent in her assertion that she is role of the submissive, abused wife of Pedronot only different from but also superior to Aguilar, she strives to maintain the integritytraditional women, and she expresses con- of her image as a woman endowed with atempt for the stereotype of the passive "genetic" inclination to resist domination. InMexican woman (which Octavio Paz de- reporting her stepmother's response to ascribes so well in Ellaberinlo e asoledaa): complaint made byJesusa's employer about

the latter's recalcitrance even as a child, sheDesde que vine a Mdxico se me quit6 lo tarugo. Dije: further

reinforces

this

self-constructed

im-

"Bueno, relativamente mientras mfts se deja uno, mfts

la arruinan." Y las que se sigan dejando, pues eso y age: "Pues asi es, seiXora. Naci6 para nomfts se merecen, que las pongan como burras dejarse" (59-60).

enquelitadas. (154) For Lacan, speech and, in particular,

what it silences, is the fundamental mediumIn other instances Jesusa's declarations of psychoanalysis. He characterizes as

about herself take the form of ironic self- "empty" that kind of speech "where the sub-deprecation that translates into oblique self- ject seems to be talking in vain about some-affirmation. One example is her represen- one who, even if he were his splitting image,tation of her powers of perception and ob- can never become one with the assumptionservation as a "shortcoming": "yo tengo el of his desire" (45). Jesusa's descriptions ofdefecto de que todo lo que oigo se me queda herself may be viewed in this light. Theyen el pensamiento" (161). A similar impulse succeed in creating an illusion of candourunderlies her comparison of herself with and comprehensive self-knowledge, andDoiXa Adelina: impose an image of the speaker as a modelDofta Adelina era una seftora

muy

melosa

con

los

of

the

non-traditional

woman.

But

the

sus-

clientes y la mera verdad yo

no.

Era

de

las

que

les

picious

reader

will

seek

to

question

the

gustan los bufidos de loshombres....

Yo

tenia

mi

ca-

truth-value

of

her

version

of

reality,

espe-

rftcter y no me dejaba de nadie. (173-74) cially the adequacy of her self-understand-ing and self-representation.

Through irony she also expresses an By probing beneath the textual surfaceinverted pride in her rejection of the role of of the novel and integrating Jesusa's si-submissive wife, subverting thereby the lences into her narcissistic discourse, wetraditional model of the "good" woman: are able to produce a version of her identity



5/11

218 HI5PANIA 77 MAY 1994that is somewhat less coherent than she in the novel when she is abandoned by herimagines. The displacement of her ego as father. Despite the close relationship thatthe only source of truth becomes the had developed between them, she de-means, therefore, of disrupting the unified scribes her response as one of cold practi-image, of releasing her unconscious or sub- cality (56). This seems designed not to af-merged impulses and enabling the emer- firm her emotional strength but also to pre-gence of her refractory identity which re- empt any impression of weakness.fuses containment in a single mould. Unconscious motivation also seems to

One area of silent operation of the un- determine Jesusa's judgement of her physi-conscious is Jesusa's interaction with cal appearance and racial identity. As aPoniatowska as interviewer. In the inter- mestiza she displays an unconscious rejec-

mediating role as interrogator, prompter tracing her family history she dwells on the

and interlocutor, but she is also involved as French origins of her father while glossinglistener. One possible effect of this more over the Indian roots of her mother (220-subtie form of mediation is that, despite the 21). Racial self-hatred also manifests itselfapparent freedom of her narration, Jesusa in her eagerness to establish that she is notmight have felt constrained by her con- dark-skinned: "Petra era trigueiXa, mis

particular views and ideas and to stifle or sol pero no soy prieta pero ella si era oscuraconceal others. The virtual effacement (or de cuerpo y cara. Sali6 mAs indita que yoillusion of effacement) of the author encour- (31)." On the occasion that she refers toages the reader to accept Jesusa's story as herself as Indian, she does so in derogatorythe "truth" of the text, but does not preclude terms: "Siempre que me peleaba con Pedroeither a questioning of what she presents as le decia: -Siquiera cuando se meta atruth, or a recognition of the divergence hacerme guaje, biisquese una cosa buena,betwen Jesusa as speaking subject and que no sea zg'uala mide india.... C/na cosaJesusa as presented by herself. que cos/ife [sic] "(104, emphasis mine) . An-

There is an apparentiy "unconscious" other of her references to her physical ap-irony in the work involving complicity be- pearance expresses the self-contempt oftween the author and the reader. Both can non-white peoples who have internalizedperceive a reality of which the speaker is not the ideology of white aesthetic superiorityaware and which is the opposite of what she (Fanon 42-43):

states. In the text one finds gaps, contradic- Yo no era bonita, era lo que menos tenia y he tenido.tions, ambiguities, indications of uncon- Que me dijeran reina de S6chil era un dicho, una p16.-

scious motivations and desires, whichbelie

tica,

pero

que

nome

echaran

fibres

nique

me

chulca-

Jesusa's explicit statements about herself ran nada porque me daba vergfienza. (70)and which are symptomatic of her misrec- Such a frank admission appears to be a signognition (or misrepresentation?) of her own of both Jesusa's ability to confront the real-identity. ity of her selfhood and her deviation from

Certain strategies of self-presentation stereotypical female vanity, which serves torecur in Jesusa's narration: overemphatic enhance the credibility of her self-represen-denial or assertion and its opposites: eva- tation. Taken in the context in which it ission, flippancy and silence. The resisting uttered, however, this aesthetic self-devalu-reader, refusing to be induced to accept the ation may also be interpreted as a sublimi-narrator's version of truth, will look with nally apotropaic gesture, a strategy for pro-suspicion upon her motivation for using tecting herself from sexual interaction withthese strategies. For example, in her ac- men. This view gains strength from her re-count of her actions she presents herself peated and insistent desexualization of herrepeatedly as one who is ruled by reason relationships with the other sex, which sherather than emotion. This is apparent early construes as an unwillingness to submit to



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SUBTEXTUALITY IN ELENA PONIATOWSKA'5 HASTA NO VERTE JESUS Mb 219

desire to be a man, attributing it to her rec-ognition of the social advantage enjoyed by What strikes the reader in this revelation isthe male (186). But again this expressed not so much Jesusa's awareness of lack ofdesire appears as a mere camouflage for her affection from her husband but her pre-fear of intimate relationships with men. tense that she is not disturbed by this

pre-emptive gesture and a strategy for the sion to demonstrations of affection. Despitecontinued repression of a disquieting psy- her cavalier dismissal, however, one appre-chic truth. hends a yearning for this very love and af-

Because of the overriding concern with fection lurking beneath the surface of hermaintaining the integrity of her self-pro- words. Her scoffing reference to displays ofclaimed identity, Jesusa must frequently love as "d:spara/e? and "figure/a?s oneresort to disgnise and pretense to conceal indication of the discomfort that she feelsor repress desires which she finds disturb- with intimacy with the other sex. But bying.' This is evident, for example, in her representing her response as a conscious

macy with her husband: secret desire and affirming her agency and

a acostar como en mi casa, me voy a desvestir porque played in these instances are symptoms of

era hombre que lo estuviera apapachando a uno, nada verts her declared lack of sexual interest inde eso. Era hombre muy serio. (86) men (156). This dream makes manifest theconflict between her ego and her uncon-

Ostensibly, she seems to be pointing to, and scious, and is a classic illustration of theeven protesting, her husband's lack of affec- Freudian theory of dreams as symboliction and her sexual objectification in the fulfilments of unconscious desires.marriage. But simultaneously she seems The variability of Jesusa's references toanxious not to pass judgement on her hus- her educational deficiency is another mdi-band. In fact, she mitigates her criticism by cation of her tendency towards prevarica-attributing the unceremonious nature of tion. In acknowledging her lack of formaltheir sexual activity to the exigencies of the education she both simulates and rejectswartime situation. Her unconscious motive the perceptions of others, describing her-appears to be to subtly dispel the implica- self as "burra pero muy contenta" (202). Bytion that she yearned for this affection. To disclaiming discontent with her educationaladmit to this need would be to admit to feel- status despite its inadequacy, Jesusa estab-ings of sexual desire, and it is this that lishes some degree of control over her situ-Jesusa would deny at all costs. ation. But the stability of this consciously

On a subsequent occasion she refers to assumed position is undermined by herthe absence of love in her sexual relation- earlier inadvertent admission of remorseship with her husband, but again she is ea- over her educational deficiency (52).ger to pre-empt the idea of lament on her Jesusa's declarations serve equally topart: reveal and to mask aspects of her charac-

ter. But occasionally the mask is lowered to

Nunca anduvo [Pedro] con esas adulaciones de que reveal another side of her person. This ismi vidita yo te quiero, que mi vida, que mi vidita yo the case in her lengthy confession of herme muero. Ay, esos disparates que les dicen ahora!Tampoco me bes6. No estoy acostumbrada a los feeling of marginalization and exile inbesuqueos pues s6lo Judas bes6 a Jesucristo, y ya ye Mexico City:lo que result6. Qu6 figuretas son 6sas! Qu6 hagan



7/11

220 HISPANIA 77 MAY 1994.yo no tengo patria.... No me siento mexicana ni Jesusa wears a psychological mask for the

reconozco a los mexicanos. Aquf no existe m6.s que purpose of the interview. Her actions oftenpura conveniencia y puro inters. Si yo tuviera dine- show that the reality is the opposite of whatro y bienes, seria mexicana, pero como soy peor quela basura, pues no soy nada.... Soy basura ala que el she states. Jesusa is not only capable of feel-perro le echa una miada y sigue adelante.... Soy ba- ing but she is capable of feeling deeply:

microbio que ye.... Aquf se me ha dificultado mucho extraftado todos estos aftos y la extrafto hasta la fecha,la vividera. Pero no estoy triste, no. Al contrario, vivo pero no podemos ser amigas de nuevo porque yo noalegre. Asi es la vida, vivir alegre. (218) s rogar con amistad. Hasta la fecha no s por qu nos

apartamos.... No necesito de ella porque si estoy en-Significant in this utterance is the incongru- ferma me atranco bien atrancada y aqui me estoy re-ity between Jesusa's admission of feelings volcando, sola, solita. (306-07)of victimhood and dispossession, on the one Conflicting desires collide in this account.hand, and, on the other, her relentiess at- Firstly, Jesusa demonstrates her capacitytempt to gloss over these feelings in order for emotional engagement with anotherto convince her interlocutor, and more so woman, which she elsewhere denies ('Yoherself, that she is happy. no tengo amigas, nunca las he tenido ni

The reader who is attentive to that image quiero tenerlas" (182). Her cynicism, oneof the self that Jesusa consciously projects may conclude, is born out of bitter experi-might, with reason, decry rather than ad- ence rather than natural antipathy or aver-mire those attributes and attitudes that sion. Secondly, and even more surprisingly,separate her most clearly from the tradi- her protestations notwithstanding, she be-tional woman. Jesusa, in fact, not only trays her need for friendship. Thirdly, herstands out because of her strength but confession reveals how excessive pridequalifies as a female macho driven by a de- leads to repression of this psycho-emotionalsire not only to resist domination but also need and to consequent loneliness which is,to dominate others: "a mi que me gusta nevertheless, an option she claims to havegritar yo, no que me griten a mi" (153); "Yo chosen. Such as affirmation of self-suffi-los acostumbro a todos, a los niiXos, a los ciency may be attributed to her deep psy-animales, a los policias" (182). Her ten- chological need to appear to conform at alldency to control natural impulse, to deny times to that narcissistic image of strengthemotion and other traditionally held indices that she has created.of female weakness, her propensity to Nowhere is the stark opposition betweenphysical violence, her cold practicality and the

text

and

the

subtext,

between

ego

and

apparent hardheartedness are characteris- unconscious more dramatically illustratedtics that make her appear less than human. than in Jesusa's attitude toward childrenHowever, the disclosure of other underly- and her relationship with them. Not only ising dimensions of the narrator's personal- she childless but she professes an aversionity leads the reader to modify this impres- to children bordering on hatred: "Lavar ession. pesado, pero segiXn yo, es mis pesado

Jesusa's caring side which her ego seeks cuidar nifios. A mi, los niiXos nunca me han

constantly to deny, asserts itself in actions gnstado. Son muy latosos y muy malas gen-such as her treatment of and attachment to tes" (280). She expresses her aversion withan assortment of animals (114,182-83,295). even more emphatic violence:Her repeated expressions of empathy withthe suffering or misfortune of others, espe- . esta vecindad estft llena de criaturas, gritan tanto

cially those whom society ostracizes or ne- que nomfts me dan ganas de apretarles el pescuezo.

glects (184, 185, 273, 284), also conflict with Lo malo es que como en todas partes hay niftos, yono puedo acabar conellos.

Pero

ganas

no

me

faltan.

the image of aloofness that she consciously (173)projects.

Several subtle indicators show that But a large gap exists between these ex-



8/11

SUBTEXTUALITY IN ELENA PONIATOWSKA'5 HASTA NO VERTE JESUS MI"O221

pressed sentiments and Jesusa's unac- sion of the development of the bond be-

dren. This nurturing instinct is possibly her (272), which signals her denial of her ownstrongest unconscious motivation. Time agency and her projection of her uncon-and again, and spontaneously, she assumes scious desire on to the child. She offers in-responsibility for disadvantaged or mother- stead a completely altruistic version of herless children. In one instance her maternal motives (280, 312).concern outstrips that of the natural mother Nevertheless, Jesusa's account betrays(213). Yet, in characteristic fashion, she definite signs of a deep and sensitive loveconceals her maternal feelings in her ver- for Perico. One measure of this is the effortsion of her mothering experience, and sacrifice she puts into giving him an

Signs of these feelings appear, for ex- education to make him better than herself.ample, in the vocabulary of her account of It is an education which, though harsh byher custody of Angel, the little son of her some standards, seeks to inculcate the val-neighbor. Her description of his death be- ues of discipline, good manners, indepen-trays her emotional attachment to the child: dence and self-reliance, to make him "un"Se nos muri6 de pulmonia fulminante. Yya hombre de vergtienza" (288). The bondno luve muchachilo" (182, emphasis mine), between them is reciprocal: Jesusa's self-But her rationalistic ego immediately as- denial in rearing Perico is matched by his

conscious desire: "A mi no me dio tristeza Jesusa's account of the manner in whichde que se muriera.... Ni me senti sola. Ni she is eventually abandoned by Perico isechd de menos la lata porque a mi nadie me filled with pathos:

da lata" (182). However, the essentially car- Me regres con Tr6.nsito y Perico se qued6 afuera en

ing Jesusa is the image that endures in her Ia banqueta.

Cuando

sali

loalcanc

aver

amedia

cua-

final comment: "Me quedd con tres dra.

Luego

dio

vueltay

allivoyyo

siguidndolo,

detr6.s,

camisitas de ese niiXito Angel. Todavia lasdetr6.s.

Dije:

"Pues

yame

esperar6.

ala

subida

del

ca-

tengo" (182). What is evident here is the

mi6n."

No

me

esper6

nivi

por

d6nde

semeti6.

Ennin-

guna puerta lo encontrdescondido.

Pensft:

"se

iria

a

conflictive relationship between Jesusa as pie.Despu6s de un rato tome el cami6n. Llegu a

narrator and Jesusa as protagonist/actor. In la casa, me estuve esper6ndolo, me dieron las once de

admitting to those feelings which she has la noche, las doce y la una, hasta que me acost. "Ya

already defined as "weak," Jesusa as narra- vendr6.," pens& Pues no vino. Yo me acordaba todotor would be seen to do violence to her ego- el tiempo del pastel: "Ya vendr6. a comrselo en la

identity. When Felicitas dies Jesusa takes noche." Pues no volvi6. (292).on the responsibility of caring for her chil- However, in order to preserve a faade of

dren, but she represents this as a moral emotional strength she suppresses any

duty: 'XiQud hago? Ni modo de echarlos a demonstration of mourning and presentsla calle!" (276). Refusing to admit to deny- instead a picture of dispassionate disen-

ing any emotional benefit from this arrange- gagement:

ment, she advances instead a pragmaticexplanation: "Estaban

chiquillos,

necesi-

Segui

trabajando

de

lavandera.

Aunque

me

haiga

taban calor y se acercaban los dos a mi" puesto triste, qu gano? El andaba divirtkmdose. Me(277).

caigo

para

atr6.s?

Pues

no.

En

lacasa

arregh

unveliz

con ropa.

Dije.

"Ya

no

quiere

estar

conmigo,

que

se

The most moving

episode

inthe

work

is

vaya."

Seme

qued6

laropa

ypoco

apoco

lafui

yen-

the account of her relationship with Perico, diendo. (293)

the shiest of Felicitas' children, whom she

singles out for special attention and even- The Perico affair constitutes the strongesttually rears as a son. Again, in playing the challenge to the unified self-image that

role of mother, Jesusa is reluctant to ac- Jesusa has constructed. The true feelingsknowledge her own emotional interest in she conceals are betrayed by many tell-tale

the relationship. This is evident in her ver- signs, such as the fact that even after



9/11

222 HISPANIA 77 MAY 1994Perico's disappearance she follows his hijos, para qu? Si con trabajos me man-movements and waits for the return of the tengo yo" (312). The maternal desire she

continuing to remember him but stoically incident in which she rejects, with unex-denies that this causes her angnish: pected violence, the offer of a gift on

Mother's Day by a girl for whom she had

pero con un recordatono natural.... Yo no tenia por characteristic fashion she rationalizes her

La vida si, la vida si es pesada pero yo triste? (294-95). Yo lo hubiera recibido si desde niftas agarran la cos-

tumbre de darme aunque fuera un platano.... Ya

te-

a darme cob..... Y nada menos que el dia de Ia

ma-

insistent disavowal of emotional pain func- dre. De la madre seca, porque yo fui como las mulas!tions counterproductively to cast doubt on (305)the sincerity of her claim. And so, in spiteof her determination to defend the integrity This over-reaction appears to be less anof her self-created image of emotional index of a genuine aversion to being cast in

her emotional vulnerability, expression of the deep anxiety Jesusa feelsWhen Perico returns, Jesusa feeds him because of her barrenness.

and eventually takes him in again. She even By refusing a position of complicity withallows him to exploit her, although she is the narrator, the reader is able to fore-well aware of the opportunism in his mo- ground other textual indicators of thetives. At the same time, she subordinates psycho-emotional aspects of Jesusa's per-her feeling of profound hurt and disillusion- sonality which she does not choose to high-ment to her frustrated desire for revenge: light because they conflict with the domi-"Yo le tengo cariiXo, si, pero ya s que l no nant image she seeks to project. Such anme busc6 porque me queria.... No me pesa instance is the deep love for her brotherdarle la tortilla, lo que me pesa es ver la which is manifested in her reaction to hisvenlafiz que llevd' (313, emphasis mine), death (62-63). She also discloses, some-Here Jesusa reveals her very human need what more ambiguously, her experience ofto be loved for herself. This unfulfilled de- an emotional outpouring of cathartic pro-sire, residing in the dim recesses of her portions, the significance of which is hiddenunconscious, haunts her but surfaces as from her consciousness: "Llor mucho allianger: "Se que estA aquf por mis perte- en Pocito, llor como s6lo Dios sabe. Tenianencias, no porque me quiere. Me acuesto sentimiento, no sfquf cosa lenia, que tantapero no me duermo. Siento coraje. 7'odo agna me subi6 a los ojos. Llor mucho (257,viene de muy lef's de inwy denlrd' (314, em- emphasis mine). The deceptive placementphasis mine). She insists that she is happy of this outstanding example of the eruptionwith her solitary mode of existence: "Soy of the unconscious in the context of a spin-muy feliz aqui solita. Me muerdo yo solita tualist session is further evidence of they me rasguiXo, me caigo y me levanto yo extent of Jesusa's lack of understanding ofsolita. Soy muy feliz. Nunca me ha gustado the psychic tension arising from her repres-vivir acompaiXada" (295). Yet she seems to sion of desire. Other indications of the lim-harbour Perico with the hope of restoring its of Jesusa's self-understanding arethe old bond. present in the narration. She traces the ori-

Despite such incontrovertible evidence gins of her unaffectionate personality to herof her willingness and ability to assume the emotional deprivation during her early de-maternal role, in reflecting on the Perico velopment: "Pedro no se cas6 conmigoaffair Jesusa claims: "Yo nunca he deseado porque yo le gustara.... No nos habkt-



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SUBTEXTUALITY IN ELENA PONIATOWSKA'5 HASTA NO VERTE JESUS Mb 223

bamos. Por eso no reconozco cual es el panding the range of meanings in the novel.amor, nunca tuve amor" (108). She is, of The vigilant critic will disclose, by probingcourse, not capable of recognizing in beneath the surface of the ego, which theLacanian terms that the root of her psychic text privileges, the unconscious that liesdilemma is the struggle between ego and concealed in the subtext, thereby providingunconscious desire. a more complete sense of the complex na-

Jesusa's psychology may bear the affects ture of the "truth" of the work.of socio-economic deprivation insofar as herpreoccupation with surviving has made U NOTESwork the dominant imperative in her life

needs to the margins of her consciousness. sition: "I wanted to highlight the personal

qualities

of

She has developed an extraordinary degree Jesusa that distinguish her from the traditional

image

of Mexican women: her rebelliousness, her indepen-of self- control and her tendency to restrain dence" (Davis 226-67).

bodiment of androgyny, implying thereby expressiveness of the text and

toview

the

finished

both stereotypically male and female traits Hancock, Maria Inez Lagos-Pope, and Margarita(e.g. strength and tenderness) 6 But to Fern6.ndez Olmos.maintain such a view is to de-emphasize the 3Lisa Davis and to a greater extent Lucille Kerr

Her unified identity is no more than a frag- problematic areas.

Lisa

Davis

(235)

discloses

the

anomaly of an anti-female or anti-feminist attitude inile illusion that she has created. The com- Jesusa. Lucille Kerr's examination of the issue of truthplexity and contradictions of her psyche are in the novel focuses on the fallacy of the notion ofa more reliable index of her human identity. authorial detachment. Cynthia Steele's wide-ranging

In the final analysis, Jesusa Palancares may essay on the novel also points up contradictions andambivalence in Jesusa's narrative and in her charac-be memorable for those exemplary feminist ter.

values and attitudes that she proclaims and 4This self-hatred also manifests itself more ob-exhibits, but no less so for the human feel- liquely in her racial definitions of others, such as Juan

ings, yearnings and anxieties that she seeks Espinoza of whom she says "era un indio negro,staba

to hide. feo el viejo.... Eso si, tenia una mujer bonita, bonitay

Both the reader and the author of this gzieritd' (93, emphasis mine).

5For this notion of disguise I am indebted to Kerr

novel share a privileged position in relation

who,

inher

essay

on

the

novel,

construes

Jesusa's

useto the character-narrator, insofar as they of a male physical disguise during the Mexican Revo-perceive both textual and subtextual dis- lution as an act of simulation (pretending to be what

courses as well as their ironic relationship

she

isnot)

and

dissimulation

(wetending

not

tobe

what she is) and relates it to authorial role and truth-

to each other. Subversion appears on van- value in the novel.ous levels in Has/a no verle Jesus info. 6Hancock (353) proposes this view.Jesusa's narrative is subversive of the offi-cial version of Mexican history. Jesusa's U WORKSCITEDvoice is the voice of the lower class womanwho has been silenced both socially and in Belsey, Catherine. Critical Practice. London:Methuen,

1980.

the high literary tradition.No

less

signifi-

Chevigny,

Bell

Gale.

'The

Transformation

ofPrivilege

cant is self-subversion-the subversive ef- in the Work of Elena Poniatowska." Latin Amen-fect of her unconscious desires on her self- can Literay Review 26 (1985): 49-62.constructed image.

Davis,

Lisa.

"An

Invitation

toUnderstanding

Among

psychoanalytical & ofHas/a Poor Women of the Americas: The Color Purple

reaing and Hasta no verteJesus mio."Reinventing heverteJestis info does not compete Americas. Comparative Studies ofLiterature ofthe

with feminist or sociological read- (In ted States and Spanish America, ed. Bell Galeings, but rather complements both, thus ex- Chevigny and Gari Laguardia. New York: Cam-



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224 HISPANIA 77 MAY 1994bridge UP, 1986. 224-41. Lacan, Jacques. Ecrits:A Selection. rans. Alan

Fanon, Frantz. Black Shin, WhiteMasks. rans. Sheridan. London: Tavistock, 1977.Charles Markmann. New York: Grove, 1967. Lagos-Pope, Maria Ins. "El testimonio creativo de

Fern6.ndez Olmos, Margarita. "El gnero testimonial: Hasta no verteJes&is mio." Revista IberoamericanaAproximaciones feministas." Revista/Review 140 (1990): 243-53.Interamencana 11 (1981): 69-75. Paz, Octavio. El/aberinto de laso/edad. Mexico: Fon-

Hancock, Joel. "Elena Poniatowska's Hasta no verte do de Cultura Econ6mica, 1976.Jesus miu The Remaking of the Image of Woman." Poniatowska, Elena. Hasta no ven'efes,is mio. Mexico:Hispania 68 (1983): 353-59. Ediciones Era, 1990.

Kerr, Lucille. "Gestures of Authorship: Lying to Tell Steele, Cynthia. Politics, Gender and the Mexicanthe Truth in Elena Poniatowska's Hasta no verte Novel, 1968-1988: Beyondthe Pyramid Austin: UJesus mlo."LN1O6 (1991) :370-94. of Texas

P,

1992.

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