
Maternal Ambivalence in Lucrecia Martel’s Salta Trilogy
- 1 The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University International Department
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Lucrecia Martel is celebrated as one of Argentina's premier female directors, with her distinctive body of work gaining international recognition. This paper delves into Martel’s oeuvre, particularly her acclaimed Salta Trilogy: The Swamp (2001), The Holy Girl (2004), and The Headless Woman (2008). Through a close examination of these films, the paper explores Martel’s unique narrative style, which is notably characterized by a childlike perspective and an unconventional emphasis on sound. These elements play a crucial role in shaping her portrayal of motherhood within the trilogy. The analysis reveals that Martel presents motherhood as a multifaceted and often contradictory experience, deeply influenced by personal, familial, and societal pressures, encapsulating the concept of maternal ambivalence. By investigating the intricate relationships between mothers and their children and the recurring motif of “the call,” the paper underscores the emotional disconnection and psychological struggles inherent in these maternal roles, offering a profound insight into the complexities of motherhood as depicted in Martel’s films.
Keywords
Lucrecia Martel, Salta Trilogy, maternal ambivalence, motherhood
[1]. Parker, Rozsika. (1997) “The Production and Purposes of Maternal Ambivalence.” Mothering and Ambivalence. Eds. Wendy Hollway and Brid Featherstone. London; New York: Routledge.
[2]. Guest, Haden. (2009) “Film Interview: Lucrecia Martel.” Bomb. 106.
[3]. Jones, Kent. (2005) “In the Thick of It.” Film Comment. XLI:2: 22–4.
[4]. Russell, Dominique. (2008) “Lucrecia Martel—A Decidedly Polyphonic Cinema.” Jump Cut.
[5]. Marks, Laura U. (2000) The Skin of the Film. Durham; London: Duke UP.
[6]. O’Reilly, Andrea. (2006) Rocking the Cradle. Toronto, Ontario: Demeter Press.
[7]. Ladd-Taylor, Molly, and Laura Umansky. (1998) “Bad” Mothers: The Politics of Blame in Twentieth-Century America. New York; London: New York UP.
[8]. Phelps, David. (2008) “Dread Deseyourt, Part I: ‘The Headless Woman’ (Martel, Argentina).” Mubi. 23 Oct. Web. 16 June 2015.
[9]. Aguilar, Gonzalo. (2011) New Argentine Film: Other Worlds. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, Reminder.
[10]. Lange-Churión, Pedro. (2012) “The Salta Trilogy: The Civilized Barbarism in Lucrecia Martel’s Films.” Contemporary Theatre Review 22.4: 467–84.
Cite this article
Wu,K. (2024). Maternal Ambivalence in Lucrecia Martel’s Salta Trilogy. Communications in Humanities Research,35,198-203.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Disclaimer/Publisher's Note
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
About volume
Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Art, Design and Social Sciences
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who
publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this
series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published
version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial
publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and
during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See
Open access policy for details).