Criticism and tension: the female figure in The Jews of the Acacias

the female figure in The Jews of the Acacias

Abstract

Los judíos de las Acacias (1936) by Rebeca Mactas presents seven tales located in an agricultural colony in Argentina. In a tacit dialogue with Gerchunoff´s Los gauchos judíos, the author re-elaborate the process of colonization and integration of immigrants, but now from a disenchated perspective and puting in the foreground the experiences of women. This article proposes, first of all, to analyze the representation of de female figure in Los judíos de las Acacias through the role and the psychological features of the female characters in the colony, and the perspective on them of the masculine characters. Secondly, it will be detailed the tensions of implied author as, on the one hand, the possible vital destinies of women according to generic regimes in the Argentine countryside and in the more conservative Jewish tradition are criticized, and on the other hand, the naturalization of their destiny prescribed in social and religious mandates is mantained.