Argument and CounterArgument

 

Within my overall paper, my main point revolves around the positive and negative perspectives of the folklore figure, La Llorona. My overall question revolved around how a positive transformation of La Llorona can possibly create changes within society as well as effect women. Slowly I came to the conclusion that La Llorona works as a symbolic figure for proactive action in regards to bringing down social norms when specifically relating to issues of the oppressed, specifically women. 

When it came to finding a counter argument, I had an idea that it was going to revolve around the oppressive nature of La Llorona's original reputation. However something I did not expect to find came from a dissertation by Beth Lee-Herbert titled, "The Fertile Abyss: La Llorona, La Malinche, and the Role of the Terrible Mother Archetype in Transcending Oppression". Herbert expresses an interesting concept known as Transcendent function, which expresses, "Not relieving the unbearable tension with repetitive action allows the natural capacity for healing to arise from the unconscious of the psyche"  (Lee-Herbert 33). (this concept originated from Carl Jung). Lee-Herbert uses La Llorona as an example of someone who does not let go of her guilt thus leading her to continue with her same evil actions. I find this to be significantly interesting considering the fact that throughout most of my sources, we see literary and film representations that demonstrate La Llorona actively working against oppressors. Does it all relate back to her overall negative reputation? This is relevant for future interpretations of La Llorona because there are two completely opposite spectrums.

Works Cited:

Lee-Herbert, Beth. The Fertile Abyss: La Llorona, La Malinche, and the Role of the Terrible Mother Archetype in Transcending Oppression. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2018.