The Cruelty of Kin: Rejection and Abjection in Rebecca Brown's Representations of Parent-Child Relationships

Autores/as

  • Lisa Xhonneux University of Antwerp

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.20148784

Palabras clave:

Rebecca Brown, Parentesco biológico, Homofobia familiar, Abjección, Abyección, Futurismo reproductivo

Resumen

La obra de la autora lesbiana contemporánea Rebecca Brown puede leerse como una dramatización de la naturaleza elegida de los lazos de parentesco biológico, lazos que, tanto en la creencia popular como en los círculos académicos, siguen considerándose a menudo "naturales" y, por tanto, fiables. Centrarse en la homofobia familiar pone de relieve este elemento de elección: varias de las protagonistas lesbianas de Brown ven radicalmente cuestionada la "solidaridad duradera" que el antropólogo David Schneider atribuyó a la familia biológica. Brown disuelve aún más la naturalidad del parentesco biológico mediante horripilantes descripciones del parto y de la falta de apego de las madres a sus bebés. Al presentar a estos bebés como abyectos, Brown también se aleja de la pasividad del "recipiente" materno que se desprende de los relatos teóricos habituales sobre la abyección, que inevitablemente relegan el cuerpo de la madre al ámbito de lo abyecto. Además, muchos de los bebés de sus protagonistas lesbianas se convierten en niños monstruosos. Así pues, se puede considerar que Brown rebate la idea del niño santo como nuestra esperanza para el futuro por el que todo está por hacer -una ideología que Lee Edelman ha denominado "futurismo reproductivo", y que se utiliza con frecuencia contra los queers, cuya sexualidad se considera incompatible con la futuridad.

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Citas

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Publicado

2014-12-19

Cómo citar

Xhonneux, L. (2014). The Cruelty of Kin: Rejection and Abjection in Rebecca Brown’s Representations of Parent-Child Relationships. Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies, 50, 115–137. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.20148784

Número

Sección

Literatura, cine y cultura