A Rosario Castellanos Reader: An Anthology of Her Poetry, Short Fiction, Essays, and Drama (Texas Pan American Series)

Thinker, writer, diplomat, feminist Rosario Castellanos was emerging as one of Mexicos major literary figures before her untimely death in 1974. This sampler of her work brings together her major poems, short fiction, essays, and a threeact play, The Eternal Feminine. Translated with fidelity to language and cultural nuance, many of these works appear here in English for the first time, allowing Englishspeaking readers to see the depth and range of Castellanos work.In her introductory essay, Reading Rosario Castellanos: Contexts, Voices, and Signs, Maureen Ahern presents the first comprehensive study of Castellanos work as a sign or signifying system. This approach through contemporary semiotic theory unites literary criticism and translation as an integral semiotic process. Ahern reveals how Castellanos integrated womens images, bodies, voices, and texts to feminize her discourse and create a plurality of new signs/messages about women in Mexico. Describing this process in The Eternal Feminine, Castellanos observes, ...its not good enough to imitate the models proposed for us that are answers to circumstances other than our own. It isnt even enough to discover who we are. We have to invent ourselves.