Abstract

RUEDA ACEVEDO, Alicia Rita. Version, Subversion, and Parody: Postfeminist Proposals in Almudena Grande’s “Malena, una vida hervida”. Valenciana [online]. 2023, vol.16, n.31, pp.79-103.  Epub Apr 28, 2023. ISSN 2007-2538.  https://doi.org/10.15174/rv.v15i31.626.

This article analyzes Almudena Grandes’s “Malena, una vida hervida” as a paradigmatic representation of the postfeminist proposals that the Spanish author presents in her work. Grandes’s literary work constantly criticizes and distances itself from traditional and patriarchal women roles, questioning at the same time a variety of feminist principles.

In this short story, compiled in Modelos de mujer, Grandes criticizes the parameters of beauty established by society while rethinking eroticism and its relation to food. To aim this goal, the author presents a version, subversion and parody of masculine and feminine models emphasizing the impossibility to escape from the feminine model imposed by patriarchy.

Keywords : Almudena Grandes; Postfeminism; Patriarchal models; Erotism; Food; Short story; Contemporary narrative; Female characters.