Untitled - Centre for Comparative Literature - University of Toronto

The notion of pregnancy has historically been coded as feminine/female; that is,
to date, men have yet to gain the ability to become pregnant; although, such a possibility
has been explored in many folkloric and mythic traditions as well as popular cultural
forms. 8 Roberto Zapperi has noted these traditions in his book The Pregnant Man which
provides a history of male pregnancy in folkloric and ancient traditions as well as Christian
traditions. Zapperi writes that “God extracts the whole body of Eve from the body of Adam”
(5) and that “Adam himself procreates her” (5). Likewise, Velasco (alongside Zapperi)
notes these same images and also points to the myth of Zeus’s delivering Athena (193).
It seems necessary to now turn to the notion of male pregnancy and offer an
interpretation of the text that one reader may choose to use, namely, the anti-feminist
approach. Ultimately, I argue that this anti-feminist approach is not wholly satisfactory or
appropriate, nor is it adequate. As such, I argue that may be best problematized by the
introduction of queer theory in an attempt to work through the questions of gender, sex,
and sexuality in Cola de lagartija. While it is true that feminist and anti-feminist readings
are useful in illuminating the text, it is my position that a queer approach offers a way to
negotiate a passage through these readings.
The anti-feminist reading of the text will likely seem to be overtly obvious – as
I shall demonstrate – once the reader discounts the Author, that is, as Barthes has
suggested, once the reader is born. One must recognize that the anti-feminist reading
would masculinize the text by means of the words and ideas of the brujo and his quixotic
search for a personal utopia, a utopia of his own. In the novel, it is as if the only purpose
woman could maintain in the brujo’s ideal society is that of religious icon: “me informan que
antes que nada irán al santuario de la Muerta a expresar su devoción” (128) 9 and further
that, “Ella es nuestra madrecita […] Macharemos hasta Ella con la frente en alto para
encarar al enemigo donde quiera que se agazape y pretenda detenernos. Sortearemos
el río de sangre del que habla la antigua profecía, esperaremos junto a Ella la paz que
merecemos” (133) 10 . The text continues, focusing on the idea of “Ella” who, if the reader
should so desire, will evoke biblical images, such as the Virgin Mary; or if the reader
should decide to look at the text with a culturally-infl ected gaze, the fi gure of Eva Perón.
The notion of the political possibility of utopia maintains itself throughout the text,
and the utopia is without doubt a male-centred one. Maggie Humm has proposed that
“[u]topian thinking has always been a source of political inspiration for feminists” (290)
and moreover, what ought to be noted is that this very hope functions paradoxically within
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