Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

countercultural manner of speech. 8 Thus, although some of the stories are merely
fantastic or the main topic is related with a mystery or a crime, it is interesting to
observe how the characters communicate and the places in which the stories occur.
As just mentioned, after Brujerías was banned, the image of Hermelinda Linda
was completely caricaturised when she became the hero of her own comic book, and her
cartoon features were more exaggerated than the rest of the characters, who had more
human-looking characteristics. The witch lives in the neighbourhood called Bondojito,
an area in Mexico City which was at that time, -since the city has grown plenty in the
last years, on the Northern periphery. That part of the city was not wealthy, and the
people who lived there belonged to the working class and this is portrayed in the comic.
Although a real neighbourhood was used to locate the stories, it would be possible to
imagine the place as fictitious. However, throughout the issues there are multiple
references to Mexico City, 9 which points the reader to the fact that the stories take place
there.
Hermelinda’s house is next to a cemetery in a still undeveloped area where the
streets have no pavement and lack some essential services such as electricity. Besides
earning money preparing witchcraft for anyone who can afford it, Hermelinda works
taking care of the graves by keeping them in good condition, and charging monthly the
relatives of the deceased for this service.
There are no impossible tasks for Hermelinda and she does not have moral
issues about what her witchery is required as long as the client pays the fees. However,
Hermelinda knows that those who deserve it, will pay for their pernicious acts, and her
8 As when a spoiled young man says to his father: ‘Déjame aquí, vetarro’ and ‘¡Con mucho susto, mi
‘viernes”…! Using vetarro and viernes as a way to refer to the father (Viejo), and ‘Con mucho susto’
instead of ‘con mucho gusto’. Hermelinda Linda, 377.
9 As some examples, in issue 364 the main characters go to Chapultepec, a famous park in Mexico, or in
issue 370-15 one of the characters is saying where her lover lives mentioning different actual
neighbourhoods in the city.
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