Grotesquely Gothic Textual Overflow: Depictions of Generational Female Trauma in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s "Mexican Gothic"

Abstract

This article explores the connection between literary trauma theory and the generational female trauma in Silvia Moreno-Garcia's contemporary novel, Mexican Gothic. This novel, clearly situated in the Female Gothic tradition, expands on common Gothic tropes, and it is argued it presents the Female Gothic genre as one that inherently deals with the trauma of women forced into an oppressive silencing by patriarchal powers. Through the characters of Agnes and Ruth, this paper argues trauma is portrayed as sensory, textual overflow, drawing on the concept from trauma theorist Joshua Pederson. Through sensory, highly detailed and grotesque depictions of women's experiences of trauma, Mexican Gothic demonstrates the power of the Female Gothic genre to explicate trauma while emphasizing the grotesque oppression women face at the hands of manipulative patriarchal power, both in and out of fiction.