Resonancias góticas del fantástico. Paisaje sonoro y violencia doméstica en Raimunda Torres y Quiroga

Abstract

Sound has a great power in the production of emotions and can affect the listener as well as convey information. In three of her fantastic short stories published in the 1870s, Raimunda Torres y Quiroga, an Argentine author, addresses the issue of gender violence and configures audible worlds. Drawing from the study of soundscape of the three short stories, this thesis will analyse how, through gothic elements, the fantastic denatures a normalized event, such as violence against women. The study reveals that the soundscape is placed at the centre of the characters’ relationship and communicates invisible and unspeakable elements which destabilize the patriarchal system of the time, altering the gender power relations. The various resonances that take place produce violent and uncontrollable emotions in the characters thus questioning the masculine authority. Furthermore, the study exposes that, within the sociohistorical and political context in which the short stories were published, sound has the potential to highlight violence against women, as well as to highlight the defence of women’s rights that the author supported.