Novel and subalternities in El Salvador

study of the work Cenizas de Izalco (1997) by Claribel Alegría

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analize the phenomenon of subalternity reflected in a 20th century Salvadoran novel and to identify the contextual factors that explain this phenomenon from fictional fiction. Regarding the method, the study of the novel Cenizas de Izalco (1997) by Claribel Alegría was carried out from the theoretical perspective of subalternity, one of the most significant postcolonial theories within sociocultural and literary history. After interpreting the results, it is concluded that the author through her characters represents in different ways the phenomenon of subalternity. Firstly, it exhibits the harsh reality of the peasants and indigenous people of El Salvador at the time of 1932. Then the female subalternity is evidenced both in the public sphere (social-political) and in the privare sphere (marriage) and finally, subaltern relations in the military sphere are notorious. Regarding the contextual factors that explain subalternity in the novel, it was found that the main factors are political social, economic, religious, moral, among others, such as: the capitalist system, social and economic inequality, the militarism (“Martinato”), the political regime, the patriarcal system, ideological apparatus, among others. Likewise, it is considered that the author through her work implicity proposes a model for the conquest of female freedom and provides alternatives so that women can reconfigure themselves through sexual and political awareness.