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Marginalized Experiences Expose The Problems Of Nuance-Deprived Perspectives In The Short Stories Of Lourdes Ortiz, Sarah Margaret Cerovac

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The short stories of Spanish author Lourdes Ortíz present the experiences of marginalized individuals upon whom outside observers have imposed a narrative. In these three stories, the only way for the character to escape this oppressive imposition of a narrative is through a sacrifice of the self, either literally with suicide, as in “Fatima of the Shipwrecked” and “Marcelinda’s Skin,” or metaphorically with the loss of sanity and identity in “Sleeping Venus.” These three stories call upon readers to reflect upon their own tendency to impose a narrative onto an “other,” and condemn the necessity of a sacrifice to escape …