An analysis of the literary representations of women and violence in three postwar Salvadoran narratives sheds light on El Salvador's new neoliberal reality and provides a basis for understanding the role of women in national reconstruction and democratization. By depicting female characters in traditional roles and as passive victims of violence, Castellanos Moya's La diabla en el espejo exemplifies attempts to disempower and exclude women from the public and cultural sphere. In short stories by Claudia Hernández and Jacinta Escudos, the female protagonists refute this victimization, becoming violent aggressors in their struggle to gain access to the public and cultural sphere.
Alegría, Claribe and Darwin Flakoll1987No me agarran viva: La mujer salvadoreña en la lucha . San Salvador: UCA.
2.
Argueta, Manlio1980Un día en la vida. San José: EDICA.
3.
1986Cuzcatlan donde bate la mar del sur. Tegucigalpa : Editorial Guaymuras.
4.
Beverley, John and Marc Zimmerman1990Literature and Politics in the Central American Revolutions . Austin: University of Texas Press .
5.
Borgeson, Paul W.1987 "El Salvador," pp. 517-528 in David William Foster (ed.), Handbook of Latin American Literature . New York: Garland Publishing .
6.
Cardenal, Ana Sofía and Salvador Martí y Puig1998América Central: Las democracias inciertas. Madrid: Editorial Tec nos.
7.
Castellanos Moya, Horacio2000La diabla en el espejo. Madrid : Ediciones Linteo.
8.
Cortez, Beatriz2001 "Estética del cinismo: la ficción centroamericana de posguerra ." Ancora: Supplemento Cultural de la Nación, March 11.
9.
Cunningham, Lucía Guerra1990 "Rite of passage: Latin American women writers today ," pp. 5-16 in Lucia Guerra Cunningham (ed.), Splintering Darkness: Latin American Women Writers in Search of Themselves . Pittsburgh: Latin American Literary Review Press.
10.
Duncan, Nancy1996 "Renegotiating gender and sexuality in public and private spaces," pp. 127-145 in Nancy Duncan (ed.), Body Space . London and New York: Routledge.
11.
Dunkerley, James1985The Long War: Dictatorship and Revolution in El Salvador . London: Verso.
12.
1994The Pacification of Central America: Political Change in the Isthmus, 1987-1993. London and New York: Verso.
13.
Escudos, Jacinta1997Cuentos sucios. San Salvador: Dirección de Publicaciones e Impresos.
Kampwirth, Karen2004Feminism and the Legacy of Revolution: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas. Athens: Ohio University Press.
16.
Lara-Martínez, Rafael2001La tormenta entre las manos: Ensayos sobre literatura salvadoreña . San Salvador: Dirección de Publicaciones e Impresos.
17.
Löwy, Michael1996The War of the Gods: Religion and Politics in Latin America . London and New York: Verso.
18.
Luciak, Ilja A.2001After the Revolution: Gender and Democracy in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
19.
Montgomery, Tommie Sue1995Revolution in El Salvador: From Civil War to Civil Peace . Boulder: Westview Press .
20.
Pratt, Mary Louis1990 "Women, literature, and national brotherhood," pp. 48-73 in Emilie Bergmann et al. (eds.), Women, Culture, and Politics in Latin America. Berkeley , Los Angeles, and Oxford: University of California Press.
21.
2002 "Tres incendios y dos mujeres extraviadas: el imaginario novelístico frente al nuevo contrato social," pp. 91-105 in Mabel Moraña (ed.), Espacio urbano, comunicación y violencia en América Latina. Pittsburgh: Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana.
22.
Rey Rosa, Rodrigo1999Ningún lugar salgrado: relatos. México, D.F.: Planeta Mexicana.
23.
Robinson, William2003Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization. London and New York: Verso.
24.
Scott, Joan Wallach1999Gender and the Politics of History. Revised edition . New York: Columbia University Press.
25.
Shayne, Julie D.2004The Revolution Question: Feminisms in El Salvador, Chile, and Cuba. New Brunswick, NJ, and London: Rutgers University Press.
26.
Stephen, Lynn1997Women and Social Movements in Latin America: Power from Below. Austin: University of Texas Press.
27.
Toruño, Juan Felipe1958Desarrollo literario de El Salvador. San Salvador: Departamento Editorial del Ministerio de Cultura.
28.
Valdes, Luis Gallegos1981Panorama de la literatura salvadoreña. San Salvador: UCA.
29.
Vilas, Carlos M.1995Between Earthquakes and Volcanoes: Market, State, and the Revolutions in Central America. Trans. Ted Kuster. New York: Monthly Review Press.
