Passionate Subjects/split Subjects in Twentieth-century Literature in Chile

Book excerpt: Throughout the literary imaginaries of the twentieth century there is a reiteration of an authoritarian patriarchal pattern that permeates the social arena as well as the female subject, revealing the contradictions of the Chilean modernity/modernization process. The nation appears invariably determined by semi-feudal and semi-modern structures as well as split female modern subjects. Noticing this has led the author to write this book and investigate specifically the ways the discourse of modernity conflicts with the marriage contract in the construction of feminine subjectivity. Marriage is one of the modern protocols that resolve sexual difference through a pact that proclaims male protection in exchange for female obedience. Subordination of difference becomes the overarching feature guiding an incomplete modernity and its attainment in a hierarchical society.