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Mother's Pain, Mother's Voice: Gabriela Mistral, Julia Kristeva, and the Mater DolorosaAuthor(s): Margaret BruzeliusSource: Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, Vol. 18, No. 2, (Autumn, 1999), pp. 215-233Published by: University of TulsaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/464447

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Mother'sPain,Mother'sVoice: GabrielaMistral,

JuliaKristeva,and the MaterDolorosa

MargaretBruzelius

HarvardUniversity

The VirginMaryrepresents uniquelypowerful dea of motherhood hat

pervadesWesternconsciousness, ven in its Protestantandsecularmanifes-

tations. It is difficultto ignoreher;those who rejecther cult are inundatedwith herimage:on postagestamps, n museums, n greetingcards, he can be

seen sucklingherchild,ascending nto heavenamidmassesof billowingblue

drapery, rsorrowing ver her deadson.While she never hasdisappearedor

the faithful,Mary eemsof lateto bemakinga comeback.Lastyearherimage

appeared n the cover ofNewsweek,1ndanyidle searchon the web will turn

up sites around he globe devotedto her, includingones that recordall her

recent appearanceso the faithful.Accordingto the article in Newsweek,

there is a seriouspopularmovementwithinCatholicism o enshrineMaryas"co-redemptrix"ith her son:aneffort o sanctify he feminineprinciple he

has alwaysrepresentedwithinChristianityas an essentialpartof Godhead.

In the lightof the current eminist effortto reclaimandredefinemother-

hood, and indeed to reconfigurereconceive?) he Virginherself, t is worth

exploringthe wayin which Marypurchasesher abilityto intercedefor sin-

ners. As the model mother of Christianity,Marygainsvoice-her abilityto

speakeven thoughshe is a woman in a male-regulated ierarchy-throughher absolute dentificationwith her child. The churchglorifiesMary'spain

and tearsatGolgothaas the supremenstanceofherlovingsubmission o herson-to her God.2Maryspeakson behalf of sinners as her reward or her

exemplarymaternaldevotion,"evento the foot of the cross."3 his devotion

then becomes a model for all Christians,but especially or all women.Pope

JohnPaul IIwrites n his PapalBullRedemptorisater,"inthe lightof Mary,the church sees in the face of women the reflectionof a beautywhich mir-

rors the loftiest sentiments of which the human heart is capable:the self-

offering otalityof love; the strengththat is capableof bearingthe greatest

sorrows;imitless idelityand tirelessdevotion to work; he ability o combinepenetrating ntuition with wordsof supportandencouragement."4

It is depressingo note that the identificationof motherhoodwith suffer-

ing and the validation of the maternalvoice throughthat suffering,which

has been so effectively osteredby the churchin the caseof Mary,continues

almostunquestioned oday.If the idea of salvationrepresentedby the son

215



seems to be faltering, he idea of motherhoodofferedbyhis motherseems to

have swept the boards.5 n fact, it seemsalmost impossible o conceive of

motherhood-of a "realmother"-in termsotherthan the painfulones reg-istered

by Mary:o

imaginea carefreemother or

guilt-freemother seemsa

Pollyannaishdenial of the true grit of experience. Attempts to describe

motherhood n positiveterms ncurthe immediate uspicion hat the writer

is an agentof conservative ocialvalues.Even thosewho wish to positmoth-

erhood as a supreme ocial and personalgoal forwomen rarelyevoke only

happinessand satisfaction.On the contrary, hey also assume hat mother-

hood (in this case definedas a woman at home alone with herchildren)is a

sacrifice,but one that is nevertheless"worthevery minute"of a woman's

time.6 t seemsasthoughwomen who speakas motherscanonlyspeakas the

sorrowingMarybecausewithin our culturehappymothers have no voice:theyhave not purchasedhe rightto speakthroughpain.7

The voice granted by Westemrnocieties to the imageof the sorrowingmother has been exploitedby manywomen writers,but perhapsnone has

adopted his positionwith more successthan GabrielaMistral 1889-1957),

the Chilean poet who won the Nobel Prize n 1945. In her poetryMistral

identifiesherselfwithmanymaternal igures, dopting he figureof the griev-

ing mother as a vehicle for her own voice. Her poetryhas so successfully

imposed hispersona hat in his farewelladdress o Mistralon herdepartureto Mexico (in 1922 when Mistral was thirty-threeand childless), Pedro

Pradorefers o her as "Ultimo eco de Mariade Nazareth . . a ella tambien

la invade el divino estuporde saberse a elegida;y sin quemano de hombre

jamas a mancillara, s virgen y madre . ."('The most recent echo of Maryof Nazareth . . she also is invadedby the divine wondermentof knowingherself the chosen one; and withouteverhavingbeen soiledby man, she is

bothvirginandmother').8Mistral's ssumption f the role of "lamadre"with

its concomitant associationwith the divinelypowerfulvoice of the Virgin9

connects her to a sourceof female authority n a male-dominatedworld,which she exploitsnot only in her poetrybut in her workfor the United

Nations and in her life as an educator,orexample, n heranthologyLecturas

Para Mujeres10ssembledin the course of her work for the Mexican

EducationMinistry.Mistral's se of the modelof the MaterDolorosaandthe femalespeechit

authorizes s not surprisingn view of the factthat she comes froma stronglyCatholiccountryand waspresumablyndoctrinatedn the Church's each-

ingson Mary's niqueroleas intercessor-as voice-and on the propriety fall other womenremaining ilent. Butthe identificationof maternal peechwith maternal ufferingsevident not only in Mistral's oetry,but in the writ-

ingsofJuliaKristeva,AdrienneRich,and othercontemporarywomen whose

workattemptsto redefine motherhood from a feministperspective.These

216



writersdo not adoptthe role of motherwith Mistral's usto,but theirwritingremainsconditionedby the idea that maternal peechexistsonly because t

can be validatedby maternal uffering: nly the womanof sorrow,boundin

auniquelypainful

relationwith heroffspring,maygive tongue.Beforeexamining he uses to which the imageof the sorrowfulmotherhas

been put, it is worthlingeringon the archetype, he Virginherself, n order

to emphasize ome of the characteristics f hermotherhood.MarinaWamrner,in Aloneof All HerSex, TheMythandthe Cultof theVirginMary,begins by

describing he slender and inconsistentscripturaloundationon which the

Virgin's ult was built and remarks n the ambiguous ndtroublingnatureof

manyof her encounterswith her son in the Gospels.11 he scantynatureof

the textual evidence for Maryin the Bible and the virtualsuppression f

some of her appearancesn the Gospels suggest he overridingdesireof thebelievers o allowonly a Marywho would fulfill theirneeds.The strengthof

Mary's ositionisduenot only to the factthat she isChrist'smother,but also

to his statusas the only other importantpersonin her life: she has no other

children and her husband s reducedto a verysubsidiaryole.12 n orderto

achieve this solitarysplendor,exegeteshave eliminatedMary'sother chil-

dren,who areexplicitlymentionedin all threeSynopticgospelsas Christ's

"brethren."13ommentators ave invented a complicated amilystructureo

explainthese references,14ll of which preserveMaryas the mother of onlyone child. It is, in fact,almostimpossible o imagine Maryas the mother of

five children(if we only count the malenamesMatthewmentions and for-

get possiblesisters)so stronglyis she identified as the only parentof one

child. In partthis is because that one child assumesoverwhelming mpor-tance-he is God-but the presenceof siblingswould also raisean intolera-

ble burdenof ordinariness nd humancomplication orgodhead.It is barelyconceivable that god should become man (and this immediately eads to

extraordinaryntellectualacrobaticso preservehim fromtoo muchhuman-

ity). But how can Marybe a uniquebeing in singularcommunicationwithher son if she also has fourother children tuggingon her apron strings?

Perhaps ven grandchildren?nd ifJesus s only one amongmanychildren,

why is he, rather han Simon orJoses,God? Islamsplitover the questionof

rightfulline of inheritance fromMohammed;'5Christianitycircumvented

the problemby simultaneously ffirmingChristas a humanandisolatinghim

as an only child.

The move to presentChrist as an only child also makesMary'soss when

he is killed moretragic:not for her the consolation of other children.MaryismentionedatGolgothaonly inJohn'sGospel(19:25),16 lthoughSimeon's

prophecy o Mary n Luke"Yea,a swordshallpiercethrough hine own soul

also"(2:35) is taken asa portentof her sorrow o come. ButMary's resenceat the agonizingdeath of her own son and bitterweepingover his bodyhave

217



becomeintegral o herlegend.It is hersolitaryandcompleteacquiescencen

the sacrificeof her son thatprivilegesher. If the ChurchguardsMaryagainstthe common woesof womenby sparingher the painsof childbirth, t never-

theless insists on hersuffering,

as is attestedby

its innumerableepresenta-tions.Justas the requirements f legendhave separatedhe Virginfrom her

husbandandsuppressederotherchildren, heyhave mandatedheranguish.Becauseher motherhood s divine, her son's sacrificeand her own are one

andthe same;she cannot sufferat the birth of her son, but can only mourn

at his death. Herpowerasspeakingmother,as intercessor,s inaugurated yher tears.

Finally,because the dynamicof mother and son not only supersedes ut

alsoexcludesall ordinaryhumanfamilyrelations, t can,paradoxically,on-

tain everysort of humanfeeling.Justas the Churchhassuppressedhe men-tion of Mary's amily, t hastiptoedaround he rebarbative ualityof Christ's

encounterswith her in the Gospel.When Jesusdisappearsor threedaysand

his mother(rathergently)rebukeshim,"behold,hyfatherandIhavesoughtthee sorrowing,"is reply(he is twelveyearsold) is "How s it thatye soughtme? wistye not that I mustbe aboutmyFather's usiness?"Luke2:48-49).

At the weddingat Cana his replyto his mother's"Theyhave no wine" is a

brutal"Woman,what have I to do with thee?mine hour is not yet come"

(John2:3-4).Neither of these

suggestshe attitudeof a

dotingson.

Mariologyhas respondedto these disturbingstoriesby veneratingthe

Virginexclusively n relation o herdeadson.17 nScriptureMaryhas no per-

sona,only a primalrelation to her son ratifiedby her tears.Yet this lack of

definition also allows those who pray o her to envisageher in any way theywish. As Wamrnerakesclear,Marycan be anykindof woman-queen, mis-

tress, iancee-and neverthelessremainuniquebecausehercentralquality s

not an inner one but an exteriorrelation o godhead.Forthose who meditate

on her, Maryoffersthe certaintyof a direct relationto transcendence, he

validationof speech throughsuffering,and an otherwisecomplete lack ofcontent. As an imageof motherhood,her personalblanknesscontributes o

the overwhelmingmportance f her child as the onlysourceof hermeaningand to hersuffering s the validationof her motherhood.

ForMistral,usingthe imageof the Mater Dolorosawas a wayto address

femaleexperienceand summonto her side a culturalauthority hat allowed

her to speakas a woman. While her writing only rarelyovertlyevokes and

addresses he Virgin,she suffused erpoetrywith a seriesof associations hat

automaticallybringthe

Virginto mind.18

Moreover,Mistral'swork

cannilyexploitsthe imageof the Virginasmother,asvirgin,andasfemalespeaker:she authorizedher own poetryby evoking this uniquelypowerfulfemale

speaker n her cultural radition.In her first bookof poems,Desolaci6n, La

MujerFuerte"demonstrateshe obliquereferences hat typifyMistral's vo-

218



cation of the Virgin:

Me acuerdode tu rostroquese fijoen misdfas,

mujerde sayaazuly de tostada rente,

queen mi ninezy sobreme tierrade ambrosiavi abrirel surconegroen un abrilardiente.

Alzabaen la taberna,honda, la copa impura 5

el que te apegoun hijo al pechode azucena,

y bajoese recuerdo,quete eraquemadura,caia la simiente de tu mano,serena.

Segarte vi en enero los trigosde tu hijo,

y sin comprenderuve en ti los ojosfijos, 10

agrandados l parde maravillay llanto.

Y el lodo de tuspies todavfabesara,

porqueentre cien mundanasno he encontrado u cara

iy aun te sigoen los surcos a sombra on mi canto!19

(I remember ourface which fixed itself in mydaysblue-skirtedwoman with a sun-burntace,

who in mychildhood and on myambrosial arth

I sawopen the black furrown a burningApril.

In the tavern wasraised,deep, the impurecup 5byhim who nailed a child to your ily breast

and beneath that memory, o you like a brand,the seed fell fromyourhand,serene.

I sawyousow in Januaryhe wheat of yourson

and withoutunderstanding fixedmyeyeson you 10

enlarged o both wonderand lament.

And I would still kiss the mud on your eet

becauseamonga hundredworldlywomen I have neverencounteredyourface

and still I follow in the furrows he shadowwith my song!)

Mistral's text associates the peasant woman with two of the primary attrib-

utes of the Virgin: the color blue, "mujer de saya azul" (1. 2; 'blue-skirted

woman') and lilies, "un pecho de azucena" (1. 6; 'a lily breast'). Like the

Virgin, the woman is isolated from the man who is the putative father of her

child, and her purity is implicitly contrasted with the "copa impura" (1. 5;

'impure cup') that he drinks in the tavern. (There may be a reminiscencehere of the early representations of Joseph as a drunken buffoon who sleeps

through the Nativity.) The woman is the image of abundance, plowing the

field while bathed in a radiant glow: "vi abrir el surco negro en un abril ardi-

ente" (1. 4; 'I saw open the black furrow in a burning April').

219



Mistraldepictsthe womanin the traditionalmale role as cultivatorof the

earth(not the femaleone, which is to be the earthitself),a role she assumes

by rejecting her sexual experience (representedby the drunken man

indoors),movingoutdoors,andworking he fields:"bajo serecuerdo,quete

eraquemadura, cafala simientede tu mano,serena" 11.7-8;'beneaththat

memory,o you like a brand, the seedfell fromyourhand,serene').Mistral

cannot attributea virgin birth to anyone but Mary,but she returnsher

womanto the Virgin'soldby havingherrejecther sexualexperience which

has nevertheless"branded"er) and thus attain a new fertility, hat of the

farmer.

In the final sestet the woman'sassociationwith the Virginbecomes even

stronger.She is "maravilla"1. 11; 'marvel,miracle')and "llanto"(1. 11;

'lament,flood of tears'),a terse but completedescriptionof the Virgin,andshe reapsa cropthat,becauseof the ambiguity f the prepositionde,can be

readas both belongingto andderiving romher son (not herdaughter)-an

odd locution for a peasantwomanbut one that makesperfectsense when

applied o the Virgin.Eventodaythe poetwouldkissher feetbecause he has

no human equal:"entrecien mundanasno he encontradotu cara" 1. 12;

'amonga hundredworldlywomenI have never encounteredyourface').

It is certainlypossibleto readthispoem,withoutreference o the Virgin,

as apaeanto the archetypical easantwoman,motherof the raceanddaugh-

ter of the soil. But Mistral,who waswell readin the Bible,surelymeantto

overlaythe imageof the peasantwoman with that of the Virgin.However,

while loadingthe poemwith images raditionally ssociatedwith the Virgin,

she avoids explicit referenceto her. In this way the peasantwoman, "La

MujerFuerte," ecomessacralized ythe evocation of the Virgin'sattributes:

the abundanceandfertilityconnectedto the sacred igureare embodied n

an earthlyone. Moreover,the link between the peasantwoman and the

VirginendowsMistralwith a powerfulabilityto speak: he can celebrate he

triumphof both mothers.InMistral'somageo the'Maestra ural"p.19; The RuralSchoolteacher'),

the fertilityof the Virgin,which consecrates he peasantwoman and her

child, is extended to empowera childlesswoman.20Here Mistral dentifies

the femalefigurenot withMary'smaternitybutwith hervirginity.This iden-

tificationwith Mary's exualpurity paradoxically llowsMistralto suggest

thatthe maestra ossessesa transcendentertilitybeyondthe merelybiologi-

cal spawningavailable o her students'mothers.Like "LaMujerFuerte" he

maestras adornedwiththe characteristicsf the Virgin.She is bothpureand

poor:"Lamaestraerapura . . erapobre" 11.1, 5; 'The schoolteacherwas

pure... waspoor').Hersmileis a wound andconsistsof tears,"jPobremujer

herida!/ Su sonrisafue un modo de llorarcon bondad"(11.9-10; 'Poor

woundedwoman! Hersmilewas awayof cryingwithgoodness').LikeMary,

220



she is a queen:"Sureino no es humano"(1. 5; 'Herkingdomis not of this

world');and she is comparedto a preciousjewel: "eratodo su espfrituun

inmensojoyel"(1. 8; 'herentirespiritwasan immensejewel').

Althougha

spinster,he is identifiedwith

Mary'sruitfulness;he is flow-

ing with honey, a traditionalsign of fertility:"surio de mieles"(1. 13; 'her

riverof honeys').Like "LaMujerFuerte"heplowsup the ground o sowthe

seed, "Pasoporel su fina, su delicadaesteva,/ abriendosurcosdonde alojar

perfecci6n"11. 5-26;'Shedrewover him [herstudent]herfine,herdelicate

plow/ openingfurrowsn which to sowperfection').Althoughthe maestras

clearlynot a mother,throughher identificationwith Mary'svirginityshe

assumesherpowerfulmaternalaspect.She is morethe motherofher students

than aretheir realmothers:"Campesina... en el solarde tu hijo,de ellahay

masquede ti!"(11.21-24; 'Peasantwoman ... in the landof yourson, thereis moreof her than of you!').Althoughshe dies as the Virgindoesnot, her

deathis like sleep (the original ranslationof Mary nto heaven wasthought

of as her dormition),and she is rescued rom"sterility"nd emblazoned n

the heavens:"Yen su Diosseha dormido, omo un cojinde luna; almohada

de sussienes,unaconstelacion" 11. 3-34; 'And she has fallen asleepin her

God, as on a cushionof moon; pillowedon his temples,a constellation').In

death she is identifiedasa breachthat allowsGod'slightto shine.21Mary s

identifiedwith both starsandmoon as a sourceofheavenlyradiance,andtheflowersgrowingon her gravegive off a powerfuland sweetsmell, a charac-

teristicof visions of Maryas well as being a traditionalattributeof saints,

whosebodiesarepreservedromcorruption.)

Mistral thus redeems illegitimate mothers ("La Mujer Fuerte")and

rewrites hildlessnessasfictivematernity "LaMaestraRural")byassociating

mothersand spinsterswith the two central attributesof the VirginMary,

motherhoodandvirginity.Since all womenfall into one of two categories-

theyeitherare orarenot mothers-Mistral wasable to speak oranykind of

womanby identifyingher with either Mary'smaternityor her virginity.Inboth cases, moreover,Mistral s giving speech to the speechlessunderthe

aegis of Mary,whose capacityfor speech was bought with her suffering.

Mistralbases her authority o speakfor the women of these two poemson

theirsuffering-one is brandedandthe otherwounded-and on herown,for

MistralalsoexploitedMary's uffering s a sourceof authority n poemsthat

describeherselfandherwriting.In "Poemadel Hijo"(p. 35; 'Poemof the Son'), Mistraladdresses erown

childlessness.The poembeginswith a wild clamor ora child:"jUnhijo, unhijo,un hijo! Yoquiseun hijo tuyo/ y mio . . ."(11.1-2;'A son, a son, a son!

I wanteda son of yours and mine .. .'). She wantsa Christchild, "Unhijo

con los ojos de Cristo engrandecidos"1. 7; 'A son with the greateyes of

Christ'),butfroma humancoupling.Thischild is deniedher,andin the sec-

221



ond partof the poem Mistraltwists her childlessness nto another kind of

sacred ertility.She imagines he bitternessof a child who wouldsayto her,asshe said to her father,"iPorqueha sido fecundatu came sollozante y se

hinchieronde nectar ospechos

de mi madre?"11. 7-48;'Why

didyour

sob-

bingflesh become fertile andthe breastsof mymotherswellwith nectar?').In a reversalof the usualblessingson the Virgin'swomb for its fruit,she

blessesherbodyfor its barrenness: jBenditopecho mio en quea misgentes

hundo/ y bendito mi vientreen que mi razamuere!" II.61-62; 'Blessedbe

my breast n which I drownmy family andblessedthe womb in which myracedies!').Bynot havingchildren and thusrefusing"ladeudade unaraza"

(1. 69; 'thedebtof a race'),Mistralwill achieve anotherkindof fertility,one

that, likeMary's, efines itselfassuffering.n the finalstanzas,Mistralevokes

honeyand water("colmena, l rio"),but balances heseimagesof fruitfulnesswithbitterness: taladranosdoloresmipechocual colmena. Vivo unavida

entera en cada horaque pasa; como el rfo hacia el mar,van amargasmis

venas" 11. 0-72;'mypainshoneycombmyheart ike a hive /1 live an entire

life in each hourthat passes; like a riverto the sea, my veins flowbitter').In a furthergestureof self-denial hat is alsoself-fulfillment he reclaimsher

partin the harvest,not of her own fruits,but thoseof God: "Nosembrepormi troje,no enseneparahacerme un brazocon amorpara a horapostrera.... Apacente los

hijos ajenos,colme el

troje /con los

trigosdivinos .. ."

(11.77-82;'I did not sowformybamrn,did not teachto makemyself an armof

love forthe last hour.... I caredforothers'children,I filledthe barn with

divinewheat. .').In "Poemadel Hijo"Mistralrejectsthe possibilityof the child that she

once so passionatelydesired n order o identifyherselfwith a larger ruitful-

ness,thatof the teacher.In "ElSuplicio" p. 9; 'TheTorture')he poemitself

is likenedto a monstrouspregnancy, nd againthe imageryof the Virginis

evokedin order o consecrate his vision.

Tengoha veinteanosenlacamehundido

-y escaliente l punial-unverso norme, nverso oncimeras

depleamar.

Dealbergarloumisa,asentranias 5cansa umajestad.

iConestapobre ocaqueha mentidose ha decantar?

Laspalabrasaducas eloshombresno han el calor 10

desus enguas efuego,desu vivatremolacion.

Como un hijo, con cuajode mi sangre

222



se sustental,y un hijo no bebiomas angren seno 15

deunamujer.

iTerribleon! jSocarradurargaquehaceaullar!

Elquevino a clavarlon misentraniasjtengapiedad! 20

(For wenty ears havehadburiednmyflesh-and thedaggershot-

an enormousoem,apoemwith hewhitecapsof theopensea.

From arboringt submissively,yentrails 5arewornoutbyitsmajesty.

Withthispoormouth hathas iedmust sing?

Theemptywords fmendonothavethe heat 10

of itstongues ffire,of its vivid

fluttering.

Likeachild,withthecoagulationfmybloodhe sustainsimself,

anda childneverdrankmoreblood rom he breast 15of awoman.

Dreadfulift! Greatburnwhichmakesme scream!

Hewhocame o nail t tomyentrailsHavepity!) 20

Mistral'spoem is a parodyof pregnancy,a twentyyears'gestation,a daggersunk in her flesh. Simeon'sprophecyto Mary"Yea,a sword shall pierce

throughthy own soul also" s evokedby the poem/childasboth daggerand

wound.This poem/childdoesnot sustain tself like a fetus,nourishedby its

mother's reeflowingblood;insteadit is sustainedby a clot of blood formed

arounda wound.The poemis likened to anursingchild,one that sucksblood

fromthe breast, n an imagethatMistralalso useselsewhere o emphasizehe

visceraltie of motherand child. The imageof childbearingor the creation

of literaturehardlyoriginateswith Mistral;however,in this poem the close

echoes of Mary's acredpregnancygive authorityand pathosto the poem'simages.The poet's "submissiveheltering"of the child/poeminvokes the

Nativity, the albergueor inn that the Christ child lacked and the submis-

sivenessthat is a primequalityof his mother.

Unlike the Virgin, who was without sin, Mistralcannot burst into a

223



Magnificat; er mouth that has uttered iescanhardly ind the voice to sing:

"iConestapobrebocaqueha mentido se ha de cantar?"11.7-8;'Withthis

poor mouth that has lied / must I sing?').The next verse recalls the

Pentecost,in which the Apostles,traditionallyedbythe Virgin,experiencethe Holy Spirit:in a similartransfigurationMistral wishes to speakwith

"other ongues."22n the finalimagethe Annunciation is invoked,not asthe

painless conception of Mary,but as the crucifixion: he poem that cannot

find the words o be bomrns nailed to Mistral's ntrailsasChristto his cross.

Mistral's lose identificationof her secularwritingwithMary'sacredcall-

ing emphasizeshe extent to which herwritingdepends orauthorityon the

imageof the Virgin.In an extraordinaryumberof herpoems,whetherthe

delicatetransparenciesf"Cuenta Mundo" pp.84-89) orthe heavy-handed

proselytizingof Poemasde las Madres(which were written, accordingtoMistral's ntroduction,to redeem unwed mothers in the eyes of a brutal

world),23Mistral'sspeech authorizes tself through the evocation of the

Virgin, he sufferingmotherwho intercedes orher followers.24eadersoday

may find this identification redolent of patriarchalrepression,but it is

unquestionably sourceof powerforMistral. n her introduction o Poemas

de las Madres 'Poemsof [for] he Mothers')Mistralmakes this connection

transparent:

-Es unade nosotrasuiendebedecir yaque oshombresolo handicho) asantidadeesteestado oloroso divino.Si la misi6ndel artees embellecerlo

todo,enuna nmensamisericordia,porqueno hemospurificado,losojosdelosimpuros,sto?Yescribiospoemas,on intenci6n asireligiosa.

(n.pag.;one ofus womenmust ay sincemenhavenot] hesanctityf this

painful nddivinecondition.f the mission fart s to make verythingeau-

tiful,n an immense ctofpity,whyhavewenotpurifiedhis or heeyesofthe

impure?ndIwrote hepoems,withanalmost eligiousntention.)

Her art is an attemptto beautifyeverything hroughan "immensepity," hepityof the Virgin orevery iving thing.25Herintentionis"almost eligious,"not in the sense that it celebratesa religious ubjectbutin that it followsthe

pathof familiar eligious elebrations f Mary's regnancy.The poemsthem-

selves alternatebetween pantheistic evocations of the earth as mother,

prayerso God formilk andeasy delivery,andsentimentalevocationsof lit-

tle booties.Unlike the poemsdiscussedabove, they are remarkableor the

completelackof the tension betweenpainandaccomplishmenthatcharac-

terizesMistral's ther work.

Mistral'strikinguse of the imageof the MaterDolorosa ed to herenor-mous successasa writerandto a bodyof workthat remainsevocative.What

is perhapsmore remarkables that the identificationof motherhood with

pain,which derives rom he sacralization f the motherofJesus, sstill extra-

ordinarilyprevalentin woman writerswho do not share Mistral's ultural

224



background.The new surgeof interest n motherhood,which hasprompteda spateof feministwritingson this topic, has not examinedthis most basic

equationof motherhood,pain,and voice consecratedn the imageof the suf-

feringVirgin.One of the most influentialrecent attemptsto rewritematernity,JuliaKristeva'sssay"StabatMater,"26s based,with fullyself-consciousrony,on

her readingof Warner'sAloneof All Her Sex:TheMythandthe Cultof the

VirginMary.While Kristeva spireso anewreadingof maternity, part rom,if consciousof, its traditionalChristian nterpretation, er finalevocation of

motherhoodendsupin the sameoldplacegussiedupwith the new trappingsof psychoanalyticdiscourse.Her imageof mother as a repository f the val-

ues of the race,as a voice that speaks romthe edge of a realmof pain and

nonlanguage s redolent of the archaic MaterDolorosa.Kristevabeginsbyexpressinghishope:"If t is not possible o sayof a womanwhat she is (with-out runningthe riskof abolishingherdifference),would it perhapsbe differ-

ent concerningthe mother, ince that is the only function of the 'othersex'

to which we can definitelyattribute xistence?"p. 161).Kristeva's wouldt

perhapsbe differentconcerningthe mother"eadsherat the end of heressayto envisage (althoughnot to elaborate)the possibilityof a "herethics"p.185), a feminine (feminist?)ethics, disassociated rommorality,which will

allowus-the modemrns-toive in the faceof death.Herpresentationof thispossibility s tantalizingly ague,fullof the elegantdouble-speakhat allows

one both to presenta possibilityandto deny it at the sametime:

Nothing,however, uggestshat a feminineethics is possible, ndSpinozaexcludedwomen romhis(alongwithchildren nd heinsane).Now, f a con-

temporarythics is no longer een as beingthe sameas morality;f ethicsamounts o notavoidingheembarrassingnd nevitable roblematicsf thelawbutgivingt flesh, anguagend ouissance-inhatcase tsreformulationdemandshe contributionf women.Of womenwho harbourhe desire o

reproducetohavestability).Ofwomenwhoareavailableo thatour peakingspecies,whichknows t ismoral,mightwithstand eath.Ofmothers. oranheretical thicsseparatedrommorality,nherethics,sperhapso more hanthatwhich n life makes onds,houghts,ndthereforehethought fdeath,bearable:erethicssundeatha-mort],ove... EiaMater,onsamoris.... Solet usagainisten o the StabatMater, nd hemusic, llthe music.. it swal-lowsupthegoddessesndremovesheirnecessity.p.185)

Putting aside for one moment the staggeringambiguityof this paragraph

(what is a "hereticalethics separated rom morality"?),27he one messageKristevasendsseems to be that if a "herethics"s possible,we need for its

accomplishmentnot women butmothers.

Kristeva's efinitionof the maternalreadsas follows:"Letus call 'mater-

nal' the ambivalentprinciplethat is bound to the species,on the one hand,and on the otherstemsfroman identitycatastrophehatcauses he Name to

225



toppleover into the unnameable hat one imaginesas femininity,non-lan-

guageorbody" pp. 161-62).The maternal san "identity atastrophe"sso-

ciatedwithfemininity,non-language, nd the body.Toencompass rperhaps

only to suggesther experienceof this catastrophe,Kristevadivides her textinto two concurrentlypresentedcolumnsof text. The intellectualdiscourse

propers basedon heranalysisofWarner's ook andhugsthe right-hand ide

(naturally) f the pagewhen the text is divided ntocolumns;Kristeva'smore

ecstaticexperienceasa mother spresented n an intermittenteft-hand ide,

boldfaced olumn thatbegins"FLASH." ince the discoursepropers longerthan the experience ext, it periodically ngulfs he wholepage,as the expe-rience text is never allowedto do. In Kristeva,Mistral's otentmatemrnaluf-

feringthat can empower he womanpoet becomesa "catastrophef person-

ality"experiencedonly in childbearing.Have we come very far from theblank Virginwho is literally nobody without her son since her existence

dependsutterlyon her relationto him?

Kristeva s careful o pointout that the masochismnherent n theVirgin'ssorrows also a meansto pleasure jouissance),ut she neverthelessprivilegesthe relation of motherto solitarychild above all others,slipping romMaryandJesus o motherand childwith no hesitation:"Sheknowsshe is destined

to that eternity (of the spiritor of the species),of which everymother is

unconsciouslyaware,and with regard o which maternaldevotion or evensacrifice sbut an insignificantpriceto pay.A pricethat isbomrnell the more

easilysince,contrastedwith the love that bindsa motherto herson,allother

'humanrelationships'burst like blatant shams"(p. 172). This model of a

mother/childrelationthat makesall other human relationsseem falseby its

overwhelming rueness urelyderives romthe imageof the Virgin's elation

to her son. Kristevaplacesthe phrase"humanrelationships"within quota-tion marksas if to emphasize heir ersatzcharacter n contrastto the real

thing-the mother and her son.

Butwhat if the motherhas two sons?Will the mother/child elationwiththe second makethe firstseem a "blatant ham"?Or will the second seem a

pallidimitationof the first?Or is Kristeva till talkinghereonlyof Maryand

Jesus,even though she has ceased to capitalize?n her next section,where

she takesup the uses of the Virgin'smilk and her tears,she identifiesthese

with two aspectsof repression: whatmilk and tearshave in common:theyare the metaphors f non-speech,of a 'semiotics' hat linguisticcommunica-

tion doesnot accountfor.The Motherand herattributes, vokingsorrowful

humanity,hus become

representativesf a

'retumrnf the

repressed.'...Theyestablishwhat is non verbal" p.174).Maternal ove is associatedwith death:

"Manovercomes he unthinkableof deathbypostulatingmaternal ove in its

place-in the placeand steadof death andthought" p. 176). The maternal

is always he unsayableassociatedwith death and the prelinguistic ealmof

226



the chora, hat imaginaryemalespaceKristevahas elaboratedn other writ-

ings.Maternity s a fold,a changethat alterscultureto nature:"a woman as

motherwouldbe, instead,a strange old thatchangesculture ntonature, he

speakingntobiology.... Thoseparticularitiesf the maternalbody composewomaninto a beingof folds,a catastropheof being"(pp. 182-83).

In the experience side of the text Kristevafollows the same pattern.

Although this text is in a morelyricalvein, when "biology peaks,"t turns

out to saythe samething asthe brain.Pregnancys describedasthe limit of

language,a breakdownof discourse:"Wordshat arealways oo distant,too

abstract or this underground warmingof seconds,foldingin unimaginable

spaces. Writing them down is an ordeal of discourse. .. Flash on the

unnameable,weavingsof abstractions o be torn. Let a bodyventureat last

out of itsshelter, ake a chance with meaningundera veil of words"p. 162).Herbaby's ears are describedas a "spasm f syncopatedvoid"(p. 167), and

in the samepassageKristeva,ikethe Virgin, dentifiesherselfsowhollywith

herchild that she shareshis body:"Mybodyisno longermine, it doublesup,

suffers, leeds,catchescold,putsitsteeth in, slobbers, oughs, s coveredwith

pimples,and it laughs" p. 167). But also like the Virgin,Kristeva dentifies

only with her child'spain;when he laughs,"its[his]smile washesonly my

eyes"(p. 167). In fact,womendo not give birth in pain, they give birth to

pain:"One does not give birthin pain,one givesbirth to pain.... a motheris alwaysbrandedbypain"(p. 167). Kristeva ven uses the imageof the new

child as a stemof a tree,a graft-an imagealso used forMary,a stem of the

tree of Jesse.The collapseof meaningthatKristevadiscerns n maternity eemswholly

derived romthe MaterDolorosaof Christianity.Maryderivesmeaning rom

the emptinessof self that allowstotal identificationwith the dyingGod: she

is the embodimentof a collapseof identity.28Kristeva'smageof the mother

goddess,whosejouissancewill lead to that mysteriousnonthing,a herethics

of love disassociatedrommorals, s located outside the traditionaldiscourseofChristianity, ut leaveswomen-or at leastmothers-in the samepositionas of old: theypurchase peechat the priceof suffering.Within this context

happinessand contentmentareeithernugatoryor nonexistent.And to what

use is this suffering ut?The new herethicsof love is "amort, mour."Amort

is,of course,undeath-a-mort-but it also meansto makedead,aswe, in tax

parlance,amortizea debt.Woman,bypayingherdebtof love (havewe been

herebefore?), scapesdeaththrough ove, through acrifice.She brings oyto

the realm of the law to soften its judgment(does not Maryrescue sinnersfromherson's udgment?).And the essayendsby evokingthe musicthatcel-

ebrates he matemrnalacrifice:"So let us listen to the StabatMater,and the

music,all the music... it swallowsupthe goddessesandremoves heirneces-

sity" p. 185;ellipsis n original).No moregoddesses,no moregods: he realm

227



of the mother,unspeech.Kristeva'sssay aborsmightilyto arriveat an all-too-familiarisionof the

motheras the salvationof the racethroughherwillingsacrificeof self.The

link betweenmaternaluffering

nd theability

ospeak

has been consecrated

with the chrismof psychoanalyticargon; ittle else seems to have changed

except that Kristevadoes not suggest hat maternity s the onlyroleopen to

women.Lookingbrieflyat two current exts commonlyfound in classeson

feminism,Iwould likesimply o note how pervasive he linkbetween mater-

nal pain and maternalspeech remains.Jane Lazarre'sThe MotherKnot

describesmotherhood as she experiencedit with her firstchild. Her text

begins,however,with a descriptionof her awfulsecond abor:"forthe two

hoursandfifty-nineminutesof transition... I screamed ontinually,begging

for them to cut me open orend my life.... I drifted n andout of foggyandnauseous slumber."29 nly after this initial description of the pain of

childbrithdoesLazarreetreat n timeto describehertroubling xperienceof

maternity:he book retraces he processby which firstchild and then book

werebomrn.do not wishminny wayto denigrateLazarre'sxperienceor min-

imizeherpain;I wishonly to pointout that she felt it necessaryo placeher

laborat the beginningof a book that attacks he currentAmericanmodelof

motherhood.Heremphasison the painof labor eems ntendedto emphasizethat hers was "real"

physical pain (not merely unquantifiablementalanguish),and that pain has earned her the authority o write about mater-

nity.Is it possibleto imaginea bookthat openswith a descriptionof a rela-

tivelyeasylaborachievingthe same effectforthe text that follows it?

AdrienneRich in Of WomanBomt30ollowsessentially he samepattern,

describingher isolation and depressionn the yearswhen she attempted o

write and also take care of her children. The first line of her firstchapterreads:"Mychildrencauseme the mostexquisitesuffering fwhich I have any

experience"(p. 21). Rich describes the ambivalentfeelings motherhood

causesher as "themurderous lternationbetween bitterresentmentand raw-edgednerves,and blissfulgratification nd tenderness"p. 21). (Herchapteron maternalviolence remainsone of the most powerfuland sympathetic

descriptions f maternal ageeverwritten.)Likethe Virgin,Richexperiencesherrelationto her childrenasone of total identification:"Tosufferwith and

for and againsta child-maternally, egotistically,neurotically . . always,

everywhere,n bodyand soulwith hat child-because the child is a pieceof

oneself"' p. 22). Her final insistenceon an unsentimentalreassessment f

how to think about the condition of motherhood s basednot on the mere

fact that she has children,buton the fact that she suffered s a mother: ike

the Virgin,she purchases uthoritywith her tears.31

For thesewomen, as for too manyothers,mothers,all mothers,purchase

speech throughpain, and if they arenot speaking romthe authority hat

228



pain gives them, they are not reallyspeaking.ForMistral, he imageof the

sufferingVirginbecomes a wayof addingdepthanduniversalityo her own

experience.She adoptsthe personaof the Mater Dolorosa as a means to

achievespeechandauthority, dentifyingall womenwith her in her aspectsas mother and as virgin.One couldsaythat she sufferedwith gusto,and she

certainly manageda highly successful iterarycareerby identifyingherself

with a mythicmaternal igure.Indeed,the social andpolitical powerinher-

ent in speakingasa grievingmother is exemplified n manyplacesin recent

LatinAmericanhistory,notably n the Madresde Plazode Mayomovement.

These women used theirpublicdisplayof maternal orrown the mainsquareof the Argentinecapitalto helpbringdown the rightistregime hathadmur-

deredtheir children.In a culture mpregnatedwith the ideaof the sufferings

of the Virginand the powerthatsuffering avehervoice, theirpublicdisplayof maternalsorrow tronglysuggested hat the membersof the Argentinian

regimeweremorallyequivalentto those who crucifiedChrist.

It is striking o notice in the workof contemporarywomenfromtraditions

neither Catholic nor Hispanicthat the Virgin, the figurewho dominates

Mistral'scareer,still providesthe reigningdefinition of motherhood. For

Kristeva,Lazarre,Rich, and other women writerswho choose to write as

mothers,pain continues to be the ultimate validation of maternalspeech.The

difficultyof this

positionis its

implicitassumptionhat

painis the

onlytrue index of maternalfeeling-that only in sorrow can one speak as a

mother.

While it is truethat Mistralwas a mother(she adopteda child), herwrit-

ing stance as"lamadre"wasprimarily fictive one: she authorized er work

throughher identificationwith the Virgin,not throughher identificationof

herself as a mother.Throughher manipulationof the Virgin'sattributes he

was able to speakfor all women,whether mothersor not: her manipulationof the imageof the sorrowingmotherwas a centralandempoweringmove in

her career. In contrast,Kristevasuggests n "StabatMater" hat what theworld needs now is the "herethical" ontributionof biologicalmothers.But

this contribution s tied to an ideaof the inexpressible atureof motherhood

(as a "catastrophe f personality") hat seems perilouslyclose to the self-

abnegatingsentimentalityabout motherhoodall too familiarin women's

magazines.Perhaps, n fact, the most "herethical"hought possibleabout

motherhood n ourculture s that mothersand childrenare not condemned

to sharea painful,unitary dentity;mothersand children aredependent,but

essentiallyautonomous

beings.

NOTES

I wish o expressmythanks o MartaPeixoto,nwhosegraduateeminar first ead

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Mistral's oems,and to MargaretHomans,whohas stimulatedmy thinkingon moth-

erhood andencouragedme to keep working.Manythanks also to CamilleLizarribar,

who helped pilot me throughsome of Mistral'smorecomplexverses.1KennethL.Woodward,t al., "Hail,Mary,"Newsweek,25 August1997.

2 Despitethe prayers f the faithfulanddespiteher immaculate onception, Maryis at this point still considered o be fullyhuman,and all attemptsto assimilateher

into the Trinityhave been rebuffed.Maryhas fourdivine attributes ordogmas):her

divine motherhood,her immaculateconception,her perpetualvirginity(both pre-andpostpartum), nd her assumptionnto heaven. See MarinaWarner,AloneofAlHerSex:TheMythandtheCultoftheVirginMary(New York:Vintage,1976),pp.34-

49 and236-54.

3 Second VaticanCouncil,Dogmati Constitutionn the Chnurch,umenGentium,

quotedin Pope JohnPaulII,"RedemptorisMater,"OriginsNationalCatholic News

Service), 16,No. 43 (9 April 1987), 752.4 PopeJohnPaulII,"RedemptorisMater," . 762.

5 Of course,the idea of the sufferingmother/goddesswho mournsher lost child

long predatesMary.The Eleusinianmysteries,whose origin is celebrated in the

Homeric Hymn to Demeter,commemorateDemeter's oss of Persephoneand her

eventual return from the underworld.The sons of Belial and of Baal incessantlyanathematized y Isaiah,Jeremiah,andEzekielwereJewswho hadsuccumbed o the

temptationof worshippinghe mother-goddesswhose son/loverdiedannually o rise

again.

6 This assumptionhat motherhood s a sacrificealsounderlies he frequentasser-

tion that workingmotherswill miss the pleasures f "watching heir childrengrow."This process,one of the few pleasuresconsistentlyallotted to mothers,is in fact

imperceptible n a dailybasis.(And also assumed s that absence from the home is

purelyvoluntary.)

7 In the UnitedStates,somepopularwomen writerswho live off theirmotherhood,forexample,ErmaBombeck,do so by elaborating femalemock-heroic hat valorizes

the maternal n a jokingvoice of complaint.These writersare inclined to the "it's

worth it all anyway"ide,butthey trynot to glamorizehe tedium.Theretends to be

a rathershamefaced one to this kind of writing,as if to emphasize he fact that the

authors do not claim true authoritysince they have not suffered,but rather offerthemselvesas typicalexamplesof humanmuddle-mindedness.

8 Quoted in Martin Taylor, GabrielaMistral'sReligiousSensibilityBerkeley:

Universityof CaliforniaPress,1968),p. 4. All translations re mine unlessotherwise

indicated.

9 Maryis considereda uniquelypowerful ntercessorwith her son: legendhas it

that in her pity she has even obtained for the devil occasionalrespitefromhis eter-

nal torment.10GabrielaMistral,Lecturas araMujeres Mexico:EditorialPorruia,974). This

wasa bookof extracts romother writers hat seemedparticularlyuitable or womento read(amongthem is a selection fromRuskin'sSesame ndLilies).1 Warner,pp.6-24. Warner eels that the New Testamentwas,even at the time of

itswriting,"outof joint with the embattleddesiresand ideasof Christians or whom

the virginbirth was a necessarypreconditionof Christ'sdivinity" p. 24).12 Joseph's tatus has alwaysbeen problematicbecause of Mary'suniqueand all-

230



consumingdevotion to her son. Within patriarchyMaryneeds a maleprotector,but

as the mother of God she needs to be protected romthe usualpriceof this protec-tion, which is, of course,sex. Thus fromthe earliest timesJosephis envisagedas an

enforcedcelibate,eitherbecausehe is old orbecausehe takes a vow of chastity.(As

Warnerpointsout,his iconography hangesto reflectthe Church's hangingempha-sison the Christian amily,pp. 188-90.)No matterwhether his stock as familyman

is high or low, at the vital scenes of Christ's ife he is excluded from the pairingof

motherand son:hoveringon the periphery f the centralradianceof Madonnaand

Child at the Nativity,alongwith the threekings,assorted ivestock,andshepherds,andnot even mentionedduringChrist'spassion.

13 In Matthew,Christ's istenersrespond o his preachingwith amazement ndsayto each other,"Is his not the carpenter'son? is not his mothercalledMary? nd his

brethrenJames,andJoses,and Simon andJudas?And his sisters,aretheynot all with

us?"Matthew13:55-56).The suppressionf Christ's iblings s so completethatpeo-ple with ordinarySundayschoolbiblicalknowledgeare oftencompletelysurprisedo

be told this,anddemandchapterandverse.

14 Thisexplanationusually ntailsJosephhavingbeenmarried efore, o that these

areJesus's alf-brothers nd sisters.

15 The Sunni-Shiitesplitoriginatedwith a questionof dynasticsuccessionamongMohammed'sollowers.

16 "Now there stoodby the crossof Jesushis mother,and his mother's ister,Marythe wife of Cleophas,andMaryMagdalene"John 19:25).

17 JohnPaul II stresses n his explanation orJesus's efusal f his mother's ntreatyat Cana that it is not in fact a refusal: Even houghJesus' eply o his mother sounds

like a refusal... Marynevertheless urns o the servantsandsaysto them: 'Do what-

ever he tells you' (Jn.2:5).Then Jesusorders he servants o fill the jarswith water

andthe waterbecomeswine.... What deep understandingxistedbetweenJesusand

his mother?How can we probethe mysteryof their intimatespiritualunion?" p.754). The gistof his approachs to removeMary's elationshipwith her son fromthe

temporaldimension,so that her obedience to his will existsoutside of time, beyond

any immediaterefusal "minehour is not yet come,"John 2:4) and thusbeyond anyimmediateaffront.

18 Mistraldid not give birth to any children,but adoptedthe child of a relativewhen he was an infant.Her use of the voice of the mother,however,predates his

maternal ink, as the earliereulogisticquotefrom Pradodemonstrates:t was written

in 1922,andMistral ook in her nephewaround1930.

19Mistral,Desolaci6n,Temura,Tala,Lagar Mexico:EditorialPorrua,1974), p. 7.

Subsequentreferences o the poemswill be to this edition andcited parentheticallyin the text.

20 Mistralherselfbeganher careeras a rural choolteacher.21 Theremightbe a slightflavorof obstetrical erminology o the words"dilatada

brecha"1.39). Certainly

nEnglish,

dilation ismostly

usedin medicaldescriptions,chieflyin describinghe dilatedpupilsof drugabuseand the openingof the cervix in

childbirth.Ifso, the imageof givingbirthto the light againreinforces he Marian la-

vor of this description.22 "And thereappearedunto themcloven tongues ike as of fire.... And they...

beganto speakwith other tongues" Acts 2:3-4).

231



23 Mistral,Poemas e lasMadres Santiagode Chile: Cuadernos el Pacifico,1950),

unpaginated.Subsequent eferenceswill be citedparentheticallyn the text.24 In his essayon "Fruta"rom "CuentaMundo,"n Woman sMythandMetaphor

in LatinAmericanLiterature,d. CarmeloVirgilloand Naomi Lindstrom Columbia:

University of MissouriPress, 1985), Virgillo arguesthat Mistral'spoetry, as an"autonomous oetic text,"shouldbe readapart rom"anypossible mplicationabout

how real-worldwomen are to realize heirpotential"(p. 138). Unfortunately, ince

Mistraladored he role ofmaestra,he allowedherselfa certaindidactic icensein col-

lections such as Poemasde asMadres. he elaborates imilar deas n manyof herprose

writingsaboutwomen.Virgillohimselfusesphrases uch as "the onelymessianic ole

of the female" p. 139) and "Mistral oses in the text the earthlytraitsof the sterile

woman andreacquires,n this new realmof artisticrebirth, he inalienablerightsof

her sex"(p. 140). The relationbetween"autonomous oetic texts"and"real-world

women" sperhaps omewhatmore vexed thanVirgillowould allow.25 As Warnermentions,the Virginhas pity even for the devil, who throughher

intercession s allowedrespite romhis tortures ora fewdaysevery year.26 JuliaKristeva,"StabatMater,"n The KristevaReader, d. TorilMoi (New York:

ColumbiaUniversityPress,1986), p. 161.Subsequent eferenceswill be citedparen-

theticallyin the text.

27 The OED has under ethics:"2. [the firstdefinition is for ethic] he science of

morals; he departmentof studyconcernedwith the principlesof humanduty"; nd

undermorality:1.Ethicalwisdom;knowledgeof moralscience."PetitLarousse voids

the exactmirroring f these definitions:moralites definedas"Rapport e laconduite

avec la morale" 'conformity f conductwithmorality'),whileethiques definedas"ce

qui concemrnea morale" 'thatwhich concerns the moral').Morale s defined as the

"sciencequi enseigne esreglesasuivrepour aire e bien et eviterle mal" 'thebranch

of learningthat teaches the rules to follow in orderto do good and avoidevil'). To

distinguish thics frommoralsas Kristevadoes seemsa bitmorecomplicated han she

makes t appear.28 John PaulII describes he complete identificationof Marywith her dyingson,

which in immediate terms means the negation of Gabriel'sprophecy at the

Annunciation:"Onthatwood of the crossher sonhangs n agonyas one condemned.

. . . Marysharesthroughfaith in the shocking mysteryof this self-emptying . .through aith the mother shares n the deathof herson"(p. 752).

29 JaneLazarre, he MotherKnot(New York:Laurel Dell],1977), p. 20.30AdrienneRich, Of WomanBomrn: otherhoods ExperiencendInstitutionNew

York:Norton, 1986), pp. 21-40. Subsequentreferenceswill be cited parentheticallyin the text.

31 SusanSuleiman,in a rathermore subtleway, presents he same valorization f

painfully wrought motherhood in an influential article entitled "Writingand

Motherhood,"n The (M)OtherTongue,ed. ShirleyNelson Gamrner,laireKahane,and Madelon

SprengnetherIthaca:ComrnellniversityPress,1985),pp.352-77.She

analyzeshe fictionof severalwomen who write aboutmotherhoodas a reenactment

of the separation hey must achieve from their childrenin orderto write. Suleiman

makestwo interestingmoves in thispiece, moves that I think can only be justified f

indeed the only "real"motherwho can speak s one who suffers.First, he introduces

heressayby tellingus that she is herself he motherof twoyoungsons. She then sum-

232



marizesvariouspsychoanalytic pproacheso maternityand summarizeshe positionof the mother/writer s follows:"Theoppositionalthemes-guilt vs. love, mother's

creativeself vs. child'sneed, isolationvs. commitment-are the ones I emphasizedn

the abovequotations.The dailyconflict andself-doubt,he wasteof creativeenergies

theseoppositionsengendercannot be overestimated.What is involved here ... isnotsimplyan institutionalor social problem; . . because the conflicts are inside he

mother, they are part of her most fundamentalexperience" (p. 362). Because

Suleiman characterizes he problemas internal and pyschological,as opposedto

external and mechanical, it not only becomes insoluble,but also emphasizes he

absolute dentificationof the motherwith herchild, as illustrated ySuleiman'sver-

sion of the writingmother's"mostnightmarish antasy:Ihadnot known we wereto

share but one life between us, so that the fuller mine is, the more emptyhers"' p.

377).

Suleiman sees the secularmother as essentiallyboundby the same sacredmater-nal condition as the Virgin-even thoughthereisno questionhere of the sacredness

of the child. This is indeed a nightmarish antasyand one that Suleiman,curiously,does not examine.When shespeaksof suffering writingmothers," rewe not to read

her alsoin thisphrase, inceshe has taken careto tell us that she too is a mother?All

of Suleiman'smoves, her declarationof herself as a mother,her internalizationof

everyproblemrelatingto her children,her fantasy hat mother and child have onlyone life between them (asthoughlife were a known finiteentitylike acandybarthat

must be equallyshared),and her dismissalof a portraitof unconflictedmotherhood

as quasi-idealized, s in fact not real, suggestthat the idea of mother as Mater

Dolorosa s so strongthat it is virtuallyunexamined.Suleiman has since writtenan

article,"On MaternalSplitting," n Signs:A Journal fWomen n CultureandSociety,

14, No. 1 (1988), 25-41, that approacheswritingabout motherhood rom a slightlydifferentangle.However,I think that Suleimanstillessentiallyperceives"real"moth-

erhood assuffering.

233

1999 mother's pain

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