Porteñas buenas mozas: Heart and beauty in the construction of women in the narrative of Salvador Reyes

Abstract

The article proposes a review of the role of women in the works that shape Salvador Reyes' narrative of Valparaíso: El café del puerto (1926), Piel nocturna (1936), Mónica Sanders (1951) and Valparaíso, puerto de nostalgia (1955). The construction of the female subject follows Rimbaud’s notion of “heart and beauty”. This notion counters the phallocentric bias prevalent in Chile in the early 20th century by setting lines of flight that open possibilities of transgression within the order of the family. In addition, this article proposes intertextual connections necessary for understanding the disruptive component of the representation of women in Reyes’ writing