The Rise of theMadre Abnegada(Selfless Mother)

Bibliographic Data

ID4052021
AuthorsMarie Sarita Gaytán (0000-0001-7215-3143, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume18
Issue1
Pages17-40
Publication date2019-04-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMeridians (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1536-6936 • E-ISSN: 1547-8424
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/15366936-7297235
OpenAlexW2968713650
LanguageEN
References cited21

Hailed by fans and critics as "Mexico's Mother," and later "Mexico's Grandmother," the actor Sara García exemplified the sentimental attributes associated with notions of womanhood. As Mexico's mother par excellence, García created multigenerational portrayals that introduced audiences to a martyr-like maternal figure: the madre abnegada (selfless mother). This essay examines the origin, diffusion, and popularity of this uniquely Mexican subjectivity. Drawing on poetry, song lyrics, movie reviews, and an analysis of the film Mi madrecita (1940), the essay argues that, in combination with emerging priorities of writers and directors, García's fashioning of the madre abnegada tapped into and vitalized the sentimental relationship between mother and child and between nation and citizen. In theorizing these relations, the essay introduces the term national maternal as a means of capturing the gendered, raced, classed, spiritual, and patriotic dynamics through which notions of motherhood in Mexico were structured. The national maternal rose to prominence as women and progressive leaders challenged exacting patriarchal family arrangements

Art · Excellence · Garcia · Humanities · Literature · Lyrics · Martyr · Poetry · Political science · Popularity · Sociology · Subjectivity · Gender Studies · History · Latin American and Latino Studies · Law · Philosophy · Politics and Society in Latin America · Religion and Society in Latin America

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