On the Carrier Bag and Contention in Bruna, soroche y los tíos (1973) by Alicia Yánez Cossío

Abstract

This essay discusses The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin and recontextualizes it to the novel Bruna, soroche y los tíos (1973) by Ecuadorian Alicia Yánez Cossío; novel of which this 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of its release. Beginning with Le Guin’s definition of what corresponds to masculine literature and its counterpart, what corresponds to feminine literature, stillness is defended as an attribute of feminine literature and action is criticized as a force that moves masculine literature. Then, points of encounter between the two writers are spun, specifically in their critique of the patriarchal model, and Yánez Cossío’s novel is explored under Le Guin’s theoretical framework. With this, the essay stops at an exploration of the narrative form that the novel employs to contain both the affections and memories of the protagonist’s place of origin, and then chooses to depart in a significant gesture of rupture.