Captivity and mexican fantastic narrative: an analytical approach to the short story “Con los ojos abiertos” by Amparo Dávila from the perspective of Marcela Lagarde de Los Ríos’ The Women’s Captivity

Abstract

This research paper proposes an analysis of the short story “Con los ojos abiertos” by Mexican author Amparo Dávila, drawing from the notion of women’s captivity as described in Los cautiverios de las mujeres by anthropologist Marcela Lagarde de los Ríos (2016). The research focuses on the protagonist, Mariana, who is presented by Dávila in an adverse context marked by fantastic disruptions. The analysis also aims to explore how the fantastic, embodied in a supernatural entity that seeks to harm the protagonist, is linked to the concept of otherness in the fantastic, as discussed by Rosemary Jackson (2009) in Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion. This otherness unfolds as an antagonistic force within the plot, becoming an element in the articulation of the captivity. It is suggested that the fantastic mode serves as a strategy to critique and bring to light the cultural dynamics of captivity that affect women.