Bodies molded on the streets: Violence, capital and masculine identities in Virgilio Piñera’s ‘René’s Flesh‘
Keywords:
Virgilio Piñera, Masculine identities, Violence, Capital, Latin AmericaAbstract
Virgilio Piñera’s René’s Flesh (1952) represents one of the most complete efforts by the Cuban author on discussing masculine identities. The novel tells the story of an eccentric young man and his coming of age in the hard context of mid-twentieth century Latin American patriarchal societies. In doing so, the book explores the complex structure in which those masculinities converge along with violence ubiquity and capital interests. In this essay I intend to analyze these connections and the role of urban space in shaping the masculine in Piñera’s work.
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