Traditional
representations of motherhood in Spanish-speaking countries have
favoured the image of the selfless, abnegated mother, totally devoted to
her children. As a woman whose entire life was at the service of
others, she was supposed to find fulfillment in caring for and
supporting her family. Modelled after the Virgin Mary, this idealized
maternal role dominated, with regional differences, the Spanish and
Latin American imaginary for centuries. Marianismo, the cultural
expression of this ideological position, demonstrates the pervasiveness
of the Marian cult in Latin America, where the dichotomy Virgin/Whore
described by Octavio Paz has played a key role in imposing normative
maternal values. Nonetheless, during the last two decades new maternal
configurations have emerged in literature, comics, cinema, music, and
art. This collection seeks to examine counter-hegemonic discourses that
stand in stark or seeming opposition to traditional representations. The
editors seek article-length contributions from scholars from a variety
of disciplines, including literature, cinema, music and popular culture
in general.
Articles may examine (but are not limited to) the following topics:
Non-traditional
mothers, step-mothers, lesbian mothers, immigrant mothers, minority
mothers, professional mothers, writing mothers, artist mothers, new
stay-at-home mothers, supermommies, sexually desiring mothers, celebrity
mothers, yummy mommies/mummies, deviant mothers, perverse mothers,
criminal mothers, drug-addicted mothers, or incarcerated mothers.
