Constructions of Motherhood in the Fantastic of the 21st Century in the Work of Samanta Schweblin

Abstract

In this article I am interested in highlighting the presence of women writers in the 21st century Argentinian literature because their voices bring
feminist topics and debates to the fore. This occurs in many literary genres such as the fantastic, in which one of the greatest exponents is Samanta Schweblin. I am going to analyse the diversity of constructions of motherhood that Schweblin presents in the novel Distancia de rescate and in the shorts stories “Pájaros en la boca”, “Conservas” and “En la estepa” from the anthology Pájaros en la boca y otros tales. The female authors of our century make motherhood visible as a decision and not as an imposition, as they address
fertility issues and the dark side of motherhood. Thus, the construction of motherhood that responds to the patriarchal model is eliminated to give rise to a construction from a feminist perspective that is closer to real experience and moves away from the idealization of the maternal role. On the other hand, I am going to establish a connection with the use of the fantastic genre in the 20th century, specifically with Julio Cortázar, in order to identify what similarities and differences we...