One of the first things to strike a reader of Mañuel Puig's El beso de la mujer araña is its narrative, or rather, textual structure. The novel is composed of numerous different discourses, including film narrations, footnotes, surveillance evidence, dialogue, subjective thoughts, etc. Most of the text consists of dialogue between the two cellmates, although it is not always clear who is speaking and when. The mere use of dashes to introduce speech, without an indication of the identity of the speaker, blurs this distinction. Additionally, the added footnotes with psychological literature; the subjective thoughts of the characters, as indicated by italics; grocery store lists (as dictated by Molina to the Warden); a letter dictated to Molina by Valentín and intended for the latter's lover, Marta; and the surveillance evidence incorporated at the end, as well as the film narratives and the dream that Valentín has at the novel's end, which I will discuss, all together suggest that the entire work is a meant to be seen as an assemblage of many discourses, which comment on one another and which the reader, and the characters to the extent that these discourses are available to them, must piece together. In this paper I will focus on the effects of the recounting and elaboration of plots from films that one of the characters, Molina, has seen. Consequently I will look at some of these film narratives and at the dialogue between Molina and Valentín.
[...] Bueno, yo también solté el moco una vez Pero basta, che Me pone nervioso, que llores” (218).[vii] Also, the narrative, and the imaginary love expressed in it, seem to have a significant effect on Valentín. It leads him to discuss with Molina his personal life, including his girlfriend and his ambivalent feelings toward her, something he would not have done at the outset. This story actually triggers Valentín's imagination, and deeply engages him throughout . He repeatedly tells Molina to go on with the film. [...]
[...] In particular, it is composed, for the most part, of a dialogue between the two cellmates, although it is not clear who is speaking and when. The mere use of dashes to introduce speech, without an indication of the identity of the speaker, blurs this distinction. Additionally, the added footnotes with psychological literature; the subjective thoughts of the characters, as indicated by italics; grocery store lists (as dictated by Molina to the Warden); a letter dictated to Molina by Valentín and intended for the latter's lover, Marta; and the surveillance evidence incorporated at the end, as well as the film narratives and the dream that Valentín has at the novel's end, all together suggest that the entire work is a meant to be an assemblage of many discourses, which the reader must piece together. [...]
[...] In his mind, Valentín is no longer in the prison; he is with his lover on an island: vivo adentro de tu pensamientoi y así te voy a acompañar siempre, nunca vas a estar solo', claro que sí, eso es lo que nunca me tengo que olvidar, si los dos pensamos igual vamos a estar juntos” (286).[xv] The power of the imagination and of love, even when love is only a possibility, is stronger even than torture. The fantasy itself can thus be said to present a truth. [...]
[...] London and New York: Continuum Philostratus, Flavius. Athenian”, Vita Apollonii, VI Puig, Manuel. El beso de la mujer araña. New York: Vintage Books, Una division de Random House, Inc Scarry, Elaine. The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World. New York: Oxford Works Consulted Bakhtin, Mikhail M. The Dialogic Imagination. Ed. Michael Holquist, trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press Puig, Manuel. Kiss of the Spider Woman. Trans. by Thomas Colchie. New York: Vintage Books Tittler, Jonathan. [...]
[...] In this paper I will show how in El beso de la mujer araña the imagination, through the narration of and elaboration on film stories presented by Molina, makes possible self-transformation through love. I will argue specifically that the use of narrations of film plots and the imaginative embellishment of them makes it possible for Valentín to undergo a self-transformation. He becomes respectful and appreciative of his effeminate homosexual cellmate, so different from himself, and ultimately loves him. Valentín also becomes a dreamer himself and more courageous as a result of using his imagination, and specifically imagining love, a love which contains a truth simply because it is a possibility. [...]
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