Technified Muses

Examining representations of the femalebody in postrevolutionary genre literatureInthis volume, Sara Potter uses the idea of the muse from Greek mythology and thecyborg from posthuman theory to consider the portrayal of female characters andtheir bodies in Mexican art and literature from the 1920s to the present. Examininggenres including science fiction, cyberpunk, and popular fiction, Potter findsthat technified muse figures often appear in these texts at moments ofviolence and sociopolitical transformation. Potterbegins by looking at two avant-garde movements that emerged in the aftermath ofthe Mexican Revolution: the Estridentistas and the Contemporneos. Moving to theMexican Miracle, a midcentury period of economic prosperity, she considers thework of surrealists Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo within their culturaland political climates. She then addresses the aftermath of the 1968 studentmassacre in Tlatelolco as explored in Fernando del Pasos Palinuro de Mxico and Juan Garca Ponces Crnica de la intervencin. Finally, Potter engages with the era thatbegan with the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement and Zapatistarebellion, drawing from Bernardo Fernndezs Gel azul, Guadalupe Nettels Elhusped, and Karen Chaceks La cadade los pjaros.Technified Muses shows that duringthese key periods, writers created muse-like characters that interact with the technologicaldiscourses of their times. These figures reflect the increasing emphasis onscience and progress throughout the twentieth century, embodying themodernization of Mexico while offering parallel narratives that challenge officialportrayals of the nations history.Publicationof this work made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the AmericanRescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.