Dystopia, Representation, the Body and Motherhood in The Book of Joan, by Lidia Yuknavitch

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/452f.2021.24.3

Keywords:

dystopia, literary representation, feminism, motherhood, body, Yuknavitch

Abstract

This article analyzes The Book of Joan (2018) by Lidia Yuknavitch, arguing that it offers a reflection on the power of writing and on the importance of the literary representations that women make of themselves. Likewise, it suggests that the book proposes an understanding of the body of women as artifact, which not only differentiates them from men but empowers them, providing them with a primordial place on the social spectrum. In this sense, there is a vindication of the reproductive capacity of women and an emphasis on the maternal condition as the fundamental element in the generation and preservation of life.

Author Biography

Richard Angelo Leonardo-Loayza, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos

Doctor en Literatura Peruana y Latinoamericana de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Magister en Estudios Culturales de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Magister en Literatura Peruana y Latinoamericana de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Diplomado en Estudios de Género por la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Licenciado en Literatura por la Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (Arequipa). Fundador y director del Grupo de Estudios Literarios Latinoamericanos “Antonio Candido” (GELLAC). Coordinador del Grupo de Investigación de Literatura, género y cultura (LIGECU) de la Facultad de Letras y Ciencias Humanas de la UNMSM. Es profesor del Departamento de Literatura de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, del Departamento de Literatura de la Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal y del Área de Humanidades de la Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC). Es autor de La letra, la imagen y el cuerpo. Ensayos sobre literatura, cine y performance (2012) y El cuerpo mirado. La narrativa afroperuana en el siglo XX (2016, 2017). Editor de Poéticas sobre lo negro: literatura y otros discursos sobre lo afroperuano en el siglo XX (2013), Palabra de negro. 9 asedios a la narrativa afrolatinoamericana (2015) y Sobre la piel. Asedios a la literatura afrolatinoamericana (2019). Investigador RENACYT (Grupo María Rostworowski - Nivel I) CÓDIGO RENACYT: P0019388. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica: Lima, PE

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Published

2021-01-31

How to Cite

Leonardo-Loayza, R. A. (2021). Dystopia, Representation, the Body and Motherhood in The Book of Joan, by Lidia Yuknavitch. 452ºF. Revista De Teoría De La Literatura Y Literatura Comparada, (24), 29–48. https://doi.org/10.1344/452f.2021.24.3

Issue

No. 24 (2021): Science Fiction, Gender, and Exclusion

Section

Monograph

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All contents published in the journal are protected under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. This corresponds to legislation within Spain, and does not allow commercial use of the texts. It is not possible to modify the contents either.

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Comparative Literature magazine 452ºF [ISSN 2013-3294] is a publishing project coordinated by Asociación Cultural 452ºF, and developed by its Editorial board.



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