Rebellious, nomads and desiring: eccentric mothers in Argentinian and Spanish cinema

Abstract

As part of a broader research focused on the dialogue between representations of motherhood in the classic-industrial cinemas of Argentina and Spain, this article problematizes the figure of the “eccentric mother”, noting how her presence is especially relevant both in dramatic terms such as staging, and it affects the system of characters that organizes and disorganizes around them. Faced with the dominant desexualization and de-erotization, Pequeñeces (Juan de Orduña, 1950, Spain) and Armiño negro (Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1953, Argentina) present anomalous feminine-maternal figurations that tense devices of composure and subordination, tearing the categorical interdict by being women with desire, sexual and power, in addition to —and beyond— being mothers.
Articulating cultural history, gender and film studies; and with a comparative approach, the first part of the text traces an overview of the material and socio-cultural conditions that made both films possible, replacing the cinematographic and historical-political contexts in which they were inscribed and circulated; while the second section focuses on the spectacular and dramatic analysis of the stories, taking into account especially the interactions between space, light and corporalities.