The House on Mango Street: A Parable of Degeneration or a Chicana Rewriting of Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies

Carme Manuel

doi:10.18290/rh216911-6

Carme Manuel Universitat de València https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2776-7901

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh216911-6

Słowa kluczowe: The House on Mango Street, Wodne dzieci, Charles Kingsley, darwinizm, degeneracja, deterytorializacja, tożsamość

Abstrakt

The House on Mango Street: Przypowieść o degeneracji albo wersja Wodnych dzieci Charlesa Kingsleya w stylu Chicana

Dzięki lekturze Wodnych dzieci Charlesa Kingsleya, Esperanza Cordero, bohaterka książki The House on Mango Street, wyobraża sobie idylliczne miejsce pełne mocy. Autorka artykułu stawia tezę, że zmieniona tożsamość Esperanzy ma rację bytu wyłącznie poza rzeczywistym środowiskiem, w którym ta żyje, a jej przeniesienie się ze smutnego czerwonego domu na Mango Street do wyobrażonego, nieskazitelnego domu, opisanego pod koniec książki, jest z konieczności trajektorią pożądanego wykorzenienia, opisaną w Wodnych dzieciach. Tak jak bohater powieści Kingsleya, Tom, Esperanza przechodzi metamorfozę, w wyniku której wyzbywa się cech charakteryzujących ją jako Chicanę i uzyskuje nową podmiotowość, a w konsekwencji staje się ontologicznie aterytorialną Latynoską.

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