The Monstrous Mother: Figurations of the House and Motherhood in Mandíbula by Mónica Ojeda

Abstract

The novel Mandíbula (2018) by Mónica Ojeda reveals a configuration that can be recognized as monstrous around the maternal figure from, mainly, two aspects: the gestation of the mother as a being that devours and drowns her offspring (conceived as a violent matrix) and alienation through an animalized representation that lacks human referents and is shown to be similar to elements of the animal or vegetable kingdom or horrific topics such as the notion of the witch. In this sense, our research will stop at the images linked to domestic spaces that represent disruptive figurations for the teacher Clara, and the students Annelise and Fernanda. For this, we will locate the house-womb that constitutes a simile of a female body that the daughters simultaneously yearn for and repel. Therefore, we will mainly use the category of monster outlined by Mabel Moraña in El monstruo como máquina de guerra (2017) and by Elena del Río in Una era de monstruos. Representaciones de lo deforme en el Siglo de Oro español (2003), since it will help us to detect fissures within the rational discourse and the emergence of a singular affiliation. Similarly, we will point out the dangers of unhealthy closeness for progeny based on articles by Luce Irigaray (1994) and Jacques-Alain Miller (2005).