Almodovarian mother figures: early films

Brígida M. Pastor

doi:10.18002/cg.v0i16.6969

Authors

Brígida M. Pastor Swansea University - Gales

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18002/cg.v0i16.6969

Keywords:

Pedro Almodóvar, Spanish cinema, gender, mothers, motherhood

Abstract

In Pedro Almodóvar´s early films, the portrayal of unconventional maternal figures come in varying forms - more than often she (or he) is an unrelated outsider who eventually comes to replace a child’s absent or indifferent biological mother. This study aims to show how Almodóvar's families are formed by accident or necessity regardless of gender, sexuality, fertility, age or class, with the “Mother” figure as the uniting force. We will argue that in Almodóvar’s films the trauma of hostile urban life is often the catalyst for the breakdown of the family bonds, resulting in the search for an alternative mother substitute, while subsequently a return to one’s rural origins is often the key to repairing a damaged relationship between mother and child.

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Author Biography

Brígida M. Pastor, Swansea University - Gales

Doctora por la Universidad de Bristol. Profesora Titular en la Universidad de Glasgow, nominada a Cátedra, Investigadora del CSIC y actualmente Investigadora Distinguida Senior “Beatriz Galindo” (UNED-Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades) e Investigadora Honorífica en Swansea University. Autora de numerosas publicaciones en el ámbito de los Estudios de Género en la Ficción Hispánica (Lang, Pelgrave Macmillan, Routledge, Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies, Romance Quarterly, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, Journal of Romance Studies, Bulletin of Latin American Research, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Arbor, Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, entre otras.). Invitada en prestigiosos centros de investigación en Estados Unidos, Australia, Europa y América Latina. Recientemente recibió un reconocimiento de la ONU por su proyecto sobre masculinidades en la ficción infantil y juvenil.

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