Synopses & Reviews
Oficio de Tinieblas" draws on two centuries of struggle among the Maya Indians, the white landowners, and the conflicted mestiza class in the Chiapas region of Southern Mexico. The novel transposes historical events to the Chiapas of Castellanos's own childhood in the 1930s, and explores, too, the struggle of Mexico's women for independence from the British oppression of their husbands and lovers.
Synopsis
Una obra maestra de la literatura de ficcion latinoamericana escrita por la mejor autora mexicana del siglo veinte.
Oficio de Tinieblas La novela transpose acontecimientos historicos ocurridos en Chiapas durante la ninez de la autora en los anos treinta y explora, al mismo tiempo, la lucha de la mujer mexicana por independizarse de la opresion y el machismo de sus maridos y amantes. El argumento tiene multiples niveles, entrelazando las historias del acaudalado Leonardo; su mujer, Isabel; Fernando, un luchador por la reforma agraria; y Catalina, una mujer maya encargada de criar al hijo bastardo de Leonardo, fruto de su violacion a una nina maya. La tension de lanovela va creciendo hasta alcanzar su punto algido con la crucifixion del nino a manos de los indios, convencidos de que el poder del hombre blanco proviene de Cristo.
Combinando una gran riqueza de informacion historica y detalles locales con un profundo entendimiento de la compleja relacion entre victima y verdugo, Castellanos captura en toda su extension las ambiguedades que subyacen en todas las luchas por el poder.
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Oficio de Tinieblasdraws on two centuries of struggle among the Maya Indians, the white landowners, and the conflicted mestiza class in the Chiapas region of southern Mexico. The novel transposes historical events of the Chiapas onto Castellanos's own childhood in the 1930s, and explores, too, the struggle of Mexico's women for independence from the oppression of their husbands and lovers."
About the Author
Born in Mexico City in 1925, Rosario Castellanos spent much of her childhood in Comitán, in Mayan southern Mexico. After traveling to Europe and to the United States for advanced study in aesthetics, she returned to the province of Chiapas to work with Indian theater groups and the Indigenous Institute of San Cristóbal. Much of her work, even throughout her involvement with the literary group "The Generation of the '50s," tried to traverse the distance between the pre-Columbian and the European cultural traditions of Mexico. While serving as Mexican ambassador to Israel, Castellanos died in a freak household accident in Tel Aviv. In an irony she might have enjoyed, she was buried in the rotunda of Illustrious Men, in Mexico City.