Public Dissertation Defense: Laura Azalia Sánchez

Abstract

La crítica de la violencia patriarcal en cinco cuentos de Mariana Enriquez
This dissertation explores the representation of patriarchal violence in five short stories by Mariana Enriquez: “Tela de araña”, “Rambla triste”, “El chico sucio”, “El carrito”, and “El aljibe”. Anchored in Rita Segato's theory of structural patriarchal violence and employing conventions of Gothic literature, the study examines how Enriquez critiques societal dynamics that perpetuate systemic oppression. The research identifies a pervasive status system under patriarchy, highlighting how gender, class, race, and age overlap as key determinants of power. A qualitative analysis reveals that Enriquez appropriates Gothic conventions—such as haunted spaces, monstrous figures, and altered mental states—to emphasize the irrationality and inescapability of patriarchal oppression.
Using a methodological framework that combines literary analysis with feminist and Gothic studies, the thesis demonstrates how Enriquez’s literature questions conventional representations of gendered violence and universalizes this problematic. Each analyzed story offers a localized critique while addressing mechanisms that normalize violence. In this way, the study underscores how Enriquez portrays violence as a pervasive, self-perpetuating structure that infiltrates private and public life.
This research engages with broader debates on gender and power. The findings emphasize the potential of Enriquez’s writing in exposing and denaturalizing entrenched patriarchal norms in society.

Opponent
Professor Sandra Casanova (Binghamton University)

Committee
Professor Anna Forné (Göteborgs universitet)
Docent Miguel Carrera, (Universidad de Granada)
Professor Holmfri∂ur Gar∂asdottir (Islands universitet)

Substitute
Professor Stefan Helgesson (Stockholms universitet)

Chair
Professor Laura Álvarez López (Stockholm universitet)

Supervisor
Professor Ken Benson (Stockholm universitet)

Co-Supervisor
Professor Carmen Álvarez Lobato (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México)

More information about the thesis (Spikblad and thesis) will be published here

Laura Sanchez Trejo

Disputation i spanska: Laura Azalia Sánchez