Rape culture and its representation in Latin American literature: approach

Abstract

This article establishes key moments in Western literature in which the rape of women has been a reason for comedy, eroticism and love. In this sense, the transition from the humorous meaning (Libro de Apolonio) to the erotic meaning (Justine) implies a review of the culture of female rape as a recurring theme in Western literature that is represented in three Hispanic American authors of the 20th century: Pablo Neruda, Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa. This article is a hermeneutical analysis of the symbolism that rape has in three Latin American works reinforced by the constant of Western rape culture, using as a theoretical framework the works of Judith Butler, Julia Kristeva and Denis de Rougemont.