Among Locas and Witches: Monstrosity, transgression and Resistance in Hell has no limits (1966) and Hurricane Season (2017).

Abstract

Throughout the 20th century, Latin American literature and its characters’ representation reveal the ongoing process of construction of Latin American identity. These cultural products served as guides to the expectations placed on individuals as part of a nation-building project that aimed to align the region with North American and European societies following the independence movements of the previous century. After the social revolutions of the 21st century, concepts such as identity, belonging, and marginality experienced significant transformations. However, certain narratives persist and continue to be reproduced in Latin American art and culture, shedding light on both the advances and shortcomings of this process. In Hell has no limits (Donoso, 1966) and Hurricane Season (Melchor, 2017), two central characters exemplify how social segregation based on the monstrification of certain gender identities continues to be embedded in Latin American cultural frameworks today. This paper explores these figures as agents of revolution and social critique, capable of challenging and reimagining social and political impositions of both centuries, as well as the possibility of appropriating monstrosity as a mean for change. Drawing from gender and cultural studies—through theorists such as Halberstam, Butler, Moraña, and Valencia—this work aims to provide a perspective on the identity construction of these characters and demonstrate how their connection to monstrosity, corporeality, femininity, and transgender identities may be understood as a proposal for cultural and social revolution.