GENDER POLITICS IN LATIN AMERICA: A SOCIO-POLITICAL STUDY OF PATRIARCHY AND THE STATUS OF LATINA WOMEN IN THE NOVELS OF GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

Abstract

Patriarchy in Latin America is deeply embedded in the sociocultural practices and is manifested through various social structures. In Latin America, the incorporation of masculine power as a cultural belief system provides justification for the varied forms of assertiveness to Latin American men which have been linked to the protection of women. This research examines the sociopolitical factors responsible for the strengthening of patriarchy and their influence on the status of Colombian women in the twentieth century as presented in the two novels, Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981) and One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is specifically concerned with validating the fictional depiction of the position of women in the patriarchal Colombian culture and the actual sociopolitical reasons behind their status as presented in the non-fictional accounts. The theoretical framework of New Historicism, coined by Stephen Greenblatt was applied to this research. The theoretical framework provided the platform to study the fictional representations in their historical context by studying other historical non fictional documents. On the basis of the parallels drawn between the fictional representation of Colombian women and the sociopolitical factors presented in the non-fictional documents, it can be suggested that Marquez’s works depict a realistic account of the condition of Colombian women which has sociopolitical reasons embedded in the history of Colombia and the Latin American continent--- for example the sociopolitical institutions like the church, family, workplace and education etc. have a significant role in the disparity in gender roles in Colombia.