Rosario Castellanos

Rosario Castellanos Figueroa ( born May 25, 1925 in Mexico City; † August 7, 1974 in Tel Aviv) was a Mexican poet and writer.

Together with other members of the Generation of 1950, she was one of the most important literary voices in the last century Mexico. Throughout her life she spoke eloquently about cultural and gender oppression, and her work has influenced feminist theory and practice, as well as cultural studies. Though she died young, she opened the Mexican literature to women, and left a legacy to today date.

Life

Born in Mexico City, she grew up on the ranch close to the family Comitán de Domínguez on in the southern state of Chiapas. She was an introverted young girl, watching the plight of the indigenous Mayans, who worked for her family with sympathy. Your statements, according to, she felt alienated from her family, after a soothsayer had predicted that one of the two children of their mother would die soon and had cried her mother, " Not the boy!".

The fortunes of the family took a turn after the Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas prevailed land reform and the emancipation of the peasants tried to move forward. The family lost a part of their country. As Rosario Castellanos was sixteen years old, her parents moved and she. According to Mexico City A year later, her parents were dead and she had to manage alone.

Although she remained introverted, she joined a group of Mexican and Central American intellectuals to, read a lot and began to write. She studied philosophy and literature at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, where she later taught, and joined the Instituto Nacional Indigenista, wrote pieces for the puppet theater, which were shown in poor areas, to promote literacy. The Institute was founded by President Cárdenas. She also wrote a weekly column for the daily newspaper Excelsior.

In addition to her literary work Castellanos had also had various official positions held, for example, she leads the press office of the UNAM and was secretary of the PEN

In recognition of her service to the Mexican literature was in 1971 appointed to the Mexican ambassador to Israel.

On August 7, 1974 Castellanos died in Tel Aviv in an accident. Although there is no evidence is also speculates about a suicide.

Work

Castellanos wrote poems, essays, a larger piece and two novels: the semi- autobiographical novel Balún Canán and Oficio de tinieblas, which is a riot of Tzotzil in Chiapas and is based on events in the 19th century. Although she is herself Ladina, that is, European and non- Indian origin was revealed Castellanos commitment and understanding of the indigenous peoples.

Works (selection)

  • Balún - Canán (1957 ), dt The nine guardians, novel
  • Poemas (1953-1955) (1957 )
  • Ciudad Real: Cuentos (1960 )
  • Oficio de tinieblas (1962 ), dt The dark smile of Catalina Díaz, novel
  • Album de familia (1971 )
  • Poesía no eres tú; Obra poética: 1948-1971 (1972 )
  • Mujer que sabe latin. . . (1973)
  • El eterno femenino: farsa (1973 )
  • El viudo Román, dt The virtue of women of Comitán, narrative
Maya civilization PEN International Tzotzil people Ibero-American Institute Name Authority File
692841
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