Disrupting the Foundations: A study of how racial identities are reconfigured in Lygia Fagundes Telles’ ‘The Corset’
“The Corset” by Brazilian writer Lygia Fagundes Telles 1 is a short story set shortly before the start of World War II that follows the late adolescent life of Ana Luisa Ferensen Rodrigues, a “white” Brazilian of Jewish descent. Although Ana Luisa is the protagonist of the work, a role that usually means the character is powerful and influential in respect to the narrative, her life and personality are largely determined by the more dominant characters of Margarida, Rodrigo, and her Grandmother. Margarida is the ‘mulatta’ granddaughter of Ifigenia, a black woman that ironed the clothes of the Rodrigues family, and is similar in age to Ana Luisa. Rodrigo is the “white”, blond-haired boyfriend of Ana Luisa that picks a trip over her. Grandmother, the grandmother of Ana Luisa and godmother of Margarida, is a ‘white’ Brazilian and the antagonist of the short story. 2 This report will analyze critically how by using these four principal characters as mediums Telles attempts to challenge “black” and “white” racial identities in relation to beauty and the body. It will draw upon the process of racialization and its fruits, the supposed undesirability of being “black”, and miscegenation. In the end, this report will conclude that while Telles successfully disrupts some aspects of the ‘black’ and ‘white’ racial identities with respect to beauty and the body, she also perpetuates other ones.
In order to look critically at how Telles challenges “black” and “white” racial identities, it is imperative to first establish exactly what “black”, “white” and racial identities are in the parameters of this report. “Black” refers to anyone that has any “trace of known or observable African ancestry” (Twine, 1998: 102). “White” refers to anyone that of European ancestry with no traces of African or indigenous ancestry (Twine, 1998: 102). Racial identities are the results of the process of racialization. Racialization is where skin color is invested with meaning to the point where being “white” or “black” doesn’t only mean your skin color is a certain pigment. Rather, being “black” or “white” encompasses a full array of personality traits, characteristics, positives, and negatives. This “full array” is the racial identity (Ahmed, 2000: 46).
So then, what exactly are the “black” and “white” racial identities? Essentially they are polar opposites of each other. In the “black” racial identity, the “black” body is labeled as “hypersexual”, “lascivious”, and “savage” (Hobson 2005: 87, Bhabha 1999:377). Perhaps the defining feature of the “black” racial identity is that “hypersexuality”; in both the past and present the “black” body has been the embodiment of sexual accessibility, licentiousness, and sexual deviance (Hooks, 1997). This has cultivated a sense of undesirability and “ugliness” in the “black” racial identity because what is “beautiful” is what is sexually unattainable and “pure” (Mitter, 2000). This, of course, is everything that the “white” body is in the “white” racial identity. Somehow, while simultaneously being sexually aggressive, the “black” body is also “the most obedient and dignified of servants” and “innocent as a child” (Bhabha, 1999: 377 and 378). In addition, “black” has been imbued with being “simple-minded” and “intellectually deficient”, whereas “white” has been imbued with mental complexity and intelligence (Warren and Twine 2002). In summation, according to the “black” racial identity, “The Negro is an animal, the Negro is bad, the Negro is mean, the Negro is ugly…” (Frantz, 1986: 113).
When the “black” racial identity is so heavily saturated by characteristics that are “morally wrong”, “bad” and negative, is it so hard to believe that being “black” would be undesirable? Who desires to be a part of an ancestry that automatically makes you inferior in a world of “white supremacy” (Hunter, 2005: 2)? This, coupled with the perceived “inferiority” of “black” physical features to “white” physical features lays down the foundation for “white” Euro-Brazilians such as Grandmother and Ana Luisa to reject the concept of miscegenation, or the mixing of races (Twine, 1998:87). 3 It also sheds light on why Margarida would react so dramatically to looking like her “black”, mulatta mother. 4
A central aspect of the “white” racial identity, that of sexual un-attainability and purity, is rejected when Ana Luisa has sex with her boyfriend after knowing him for a week (see footnote 2). This is juxtaposed with Margarida’s sex life, or lack thereof, as Telles fails to mention if Margarida had sex with her boyfriend. That is not to say that Margarida did not have sex with her boyfriend. Just the fact that Telles does not tell us whether or not she did speaks volumes. Margarida is considered “black” by the characters in the book. 5 According to the “black” racial identity, she should then be sexually aggressive and certainly more sexually active than the “white” character of Ana Luisa. And yet, it is Luisa that is depicted “doing the deed”, a deed that is “filthy” by her own admission. 6 If sex is “filthy”, then is Ana Luisa also filthy because she is engaging in sexual acts? This is a drastic departure from the “purity” of the “white” racial identity.
Another key component of the “white” racial identity is challenged when Grandmother calls Ana Luisa “ugly”. 7 The concept of “white supremacy” relies heavily on the idea that “whites” are the most “beautiful” group of people. Their non-Negroid noses, long straight hair, light eyes, and pale skin make “whites” “beautiful” to both other whites and non-whites (Twine, 1998). And yet, in spite of the fact that she possesses these qualities (see footnote 2 above), Ana Luisa is still described as “ugly”. This questions the “white” “claim” to “beauty”. No longer are light colored eyes and long hair being equated with beauty. It also reconfigures the “white” racial identity by cutting the ties between “whiteness” and “beauty”. The long haired, light skin, and light colored eyes of the Ana Luisa’s “white” body is not imbued with the characteristic of beauty.
“Beauty”, or rather the supposed absence of “beauty”, is also pivotal in the “black” racial identity. In the way that “whites” are “beautiful” because of their non-Negroid noses, long straight hair, light eyes, and pale skin, “blacks” are “ugly” because they have the Negroid nose and lack the other “beautiful” features. And yet, Ana Luisa thinks of Margarida as having “extraordinary beauty”. 8 Telles does not provide many details about Margarida’s physical appearance. She could have a non-Negroid noses, long straight hair, light eyes, and pale skin. However, because of her ancestry, she is still considered “black”. And, according to the “black” racial identity, “blacks” are not “beautiful”, but “ugly”. This is at odds with Telles’ depiction of Margarida. By describing Margarida as being “beautiful”, Telles challenges the “ugly” aspect of the “black” racial identity.
The “black” lack of intelligence is also challenged by Telles through the character of Margarida. She knows how to read, and is “in love with words”. 9 Even Grandmother acknowledges that Margarida exhibits intellectual behavior (as footnote 9 above). Margarida’s intellect is starkly contrasted with Ana Luisa’s lack of intellectual zest. Ana Luisa relies on Margarida for the definitions of words she does not know 10 seemingly content with her inferiority to Margarida in terms of mental ability. Similar to the situation of the sex lives of the two young women, we realize that if the characters of Ana Luisa and Margarida were crafted with the “black” and “white” racial identities in mind, the situation would be reversed.
While Telles does challenge major components of the “black” and “white” racial identities, she also reinforces a major existing one. The first of these is the undesirability of being “black”. In the short story, every time that Margarida is confronted with her black heritage, she reacts violently and angrily (see footnotes 2 and 4). Although it is true that many Brazilians of African descent desire to be “white” and not “black”, this characteristic is not representative of all Afro-Brazilians (Twine 1998). A more accurate representation would have involved featuring another Afro-Brazilian character that had a different stance towards being “black” than Margarida’s. As it is, Margarida is the only character of “black” descent in the short story (besides Ifigenia and Margarida’s mother whose thoughts and opinions are not talked about) and thus provides the only “black” opinion on the desirability of being “black”.
In conclusion, ‘The Corset’ by Lygia Fagundes Telles on the surface seems to be offensive and derogatory towards “black” Brazilians because of how the characters talk and think about “black” Brazilians. 11 However, when you plunge the depths of the work you realize that besides one exception, the work as a whole rejects many of the different characteristics the “black” and “white” skin colors are invested with. If Telles were to write a short story about present-day life in Brazil, it would be interesting to see what other foundations of race, body, and beauty she would disrupt.
Bibliography
Ahmed, S. (2002) ‘Racialized Bodies’, in M. Evans and E. Lee (eds.) Real Bodies: A Sociological Introduction. Hampshire: Palgrave; 46-63.
Bhabha, H. (1999) ‘The Other Question: The Stereotype and Colonial Discourse’ in J. Evans and S. Hall (eds.) Visual culture : the reader. London: Sage Publications; 370-378.
Frantz, F. (1986) Black Skins, White Masks. London: Paladin (Chapter 5: ‘The Fact of Blackness’); 109‐140.
Hobson, J. (2005) Venus in the dark : blackness and beauty in popular culture. New York: Routledge (Chapter 4: ‘The “Batty” Politic: Towards an Aesthetic of the Black Female Body’); 87-112.
Hooks, B. (1997) ‘Selling Hot Pussy: Representation of Black Female Sexuality in the Cultural Marketplace’ in K. Conboy, N. Medina, and S. Stanbury (eds.) Writing on the body: female embodiment and feminist theory. New York: Columbia University Press; 113-128.
Hunter, M. (2005) Race, Gender, and the Politics of Skin Tone, New York: Routledge. (Chapter 1. ‘Colorstruck’); 1‐16.
Mitter, P. (2000) ‘The Hottentot Venus and the Western Man: Reflections on the Construction of Beauty in the West’ in E. Hallam and B. V. Street (eds.) Cultural encounters : representing otherness. New York: Routledge; 35-50.
Telles, L.F. (1978) ‘The Corset’, in T. Colchie (ed.) A Hammock Beneath the Mangoes: Stories from Latin America. New York: Dutton, Penguin Group; 194-221.
Twine, F. W. (1998) Racism in a Racial Democracy. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press (Chapter 5:‘Embranquecimiento: Aesthetic ideals and resistance to mesticagem’); 87-109.
Warren, J.W. and Twine, F.W. (2002) ‘Critical Race Studies in Latin America: Recent Advances, Recurrent Weaknesses’ in D. T. Goldberg and J. Solomos, (eds.) A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies. Massachusetts and Oxford: Blackwell; 538‐560.
Footnotes
- Short biography on Lygia Fagundes Telles
From the biography provided in T. Colchie (1978) (ed). A Hammock Beneath the Mangoes: Stories from Latin America.
Brazilian writer Lygia Fagundes Telles spent much of her childhood moing from town to town throughout the state of Sao Paulo. She published her first set of short stories in her teens and went on to earn degrees in law (1945) and in physical education (this to placate her mother’s fears that “such a skinny daughter” could only be a candidate for tuberculosis). During these student years, Telles collaborated on the literary journals of the University of Sao Paulo and played an active role in the law faculty’s opposition to the Vargas dictatorship. In 1949, she published her first important collection of stories. Her first novel, The Marble Dance, appeared in 1955. In 1969, she received the Cannes Prix International des Femmes for her short story “Before the Green Masquerade.” Recent works include the collection of short stories entitled Tigrela (1976) and two novels: The Girl in the Photograph (1973) and her gothic masterpiece Naked Hours(1989). Telles has worked as an attorney in numerous professional and public service capacities including, most recently, president of the Brazilian Cinematheque. ↩
- Short Story
Outline/Summary
‘The Corset’ is set in an undisclosed town in Brazil shortly before the start of WWII. It is told from the perspective of Ana Luisa Ferensen Rodrigues, a young “white” Brazilian woman of Jewish ancestry. She lives with her Grandmother, who is also “white” Brazilian (but not of Jewish ancestry) and Margarida, a young mulatta woman who is the granddaughter of a” black” woman that once ironed the clothing of the Rodrigues family. When the short story begins, Ana Luisa is thinking about her childhood with Grandmother, and how they used to look at the family photo album together. Grandmother would tell Ana Luisa stories about the different family members featured in the album. Ana Luisa notices that her mother is glaringly absent from Grandmother’s stories about the Rodrigues family. All these stories painted the Rodrigues family in a positive light, so when Margarida decides to “reveal the ‘rottenness’ of the Rodrigues family”, Ann Luisa is incensed. In retribution she tells Margarida that Margarida looks like her mulatta mother, something that Margarida reacts violently to.
One Saturday Margarida comes to borrow Ana Luisa’s mascara, “primping herself for her first date”. Ana Luisa asks if Margarida has Grandmother’s permission to go on the date. Margarida replies that she will sneak out, not knowing that Ana Luisa has already told Grandmother about her date. Grandmother then enters, and forbids Margarida from going on the date because the boy is white and from a well to do family. Margarida realizes what Ana Luisa has done, and tells her that her mother was a Jew. This is a serious affront, as everyone around Ana Luisa always says that it is terrible to be a Jew.
The story progresses quickly as Ana Luisa is tormented by her newfound Jewish heritage. Her Grandmother frequently has her friends from the Red Cross over, and they discuss Hitler’s regime. One day one of the women agrees with his stance towards Jews, and Ana Luisa “feels like screaming”. Later that same night, Margarida runs away and “escapes” from the house of Grandmother.
With Margarida’s departure, the situation between Grandmother and Ana Luisa grows more strained. Grandmother is disappointed in Ana Luisa because she is not a “brave, spirited young woman” and has habits that compromise her “beauty” (the way she comes her hair, biting her nails, etc.).
On the first Sunday of the year Ana Luisa meets Rodrigo, a blond-haired “white” Brazilian. Their relationship progresses quickly; after week of knowing each other they have sex. Ana Luis tells Rodrigo about Grandmother, and how intimidated she is by her. Ana Luisa is so frightened of Grandmother that she hides her relationship with Rodrigo from her. After about two months however, Grandmother finds out and is supposedly “kind” about it. Ana Luisa is not fooled and tries to warn Rodrigo not too fall for Grandmother’s “phony” kindness and generosity, but only succeeds in starting arguments between the two of them.
One day, Grandmother tells Ana Luisa that she has given Rodrigo a loan to help fund his trip to Ireland. Both Rodrigo and Ana Luisa know this is a ploy on Grandmother’s part to separate them, but unlike Ana Luisa Rodrigo is fine with that. Ana Luisa leaves him to “confront” her Grandmother about. Keeping in character with her behavior for most of the short story, Ana Luisa lets Grandmother do most of the talking. However, a change has occurred. Because of the “revolution through love” Ana Luisa has begun to trust herself, gained a new sense of self worth and confidence. She resolves that tomorrow she will tell her Grandmother “I’m leaving”. ↩
- “No, Margarida, you’re not going out with this young man. A white young man, from an important family. It would be most irresponsible of me to consent to this relationship.” (Grandmother, talking to Margarida, 200).
– Here, Grandmother implies that the mixing of people from different ethnicities is “irresponsible” and inherently wrong. ↩
- In the trunk that had belonged to the dead woman there was a picture of the Pole in his hospital uniform. Margarida pinned it on the wall in her bedroom. “Don’t I look like my father?” she would ask me. When we quarreled I would tell her that she was Isaura’s spitting image. “But you’ve never seen my mother!” she protested. To which I’d reply innocently that I had known her grandmother. Then she would crawl under the bed, where she lay crying and tearing her hair. (Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida’s origins, 199)
– Margarida’s desire to look like her “white” father and her violent reaction when Ana Luisa say’s she looks like her mulatta mother is another example of the undesirability of being black ↩
- She also knew all about her own origins, no, she didn’t have any illusions; they went back to her grandmother, black Ifigenia, who had starched and ironed my family’s clothes ever since she was a young woman… (Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida’s origins, 196)
– This quote implies that being of black descent is undesirable. It also provides a clear example of the “one drop rule” being used. Margarida’s is black because she has black in her ancestry. ↩
- No, there couldn’t be any of this filthy ambition and sex in the corseted hearts of the dead of the album. (Ana Luisa, thinking about what Margarida said about the Rodrigues family, 196)
– Ana Luisa’s use of the word “filthy” as a modifier of “sex” gives “sex” a negative connotation. The effects of this are far-reaching when we think about how sex comprises a major part of the “black” racial identity. ↩
- White racial identity
Grandmother had long since given up any ideas of turning me into a brave, spirited young woman. Into a bright one. (Ana Luisa thinking about Grandmother, 210)
“Ana Luisa, why aren’t you wearing your new dress? And look at your hair!…Was it much too difficult to cut your hair in bangs? Why do you persist in being so unpleasant? And so ugly?” (Grandmother talking to Ana Luisa, 212)
– These quotes articulate the idea that just because Ana Luisa is “white”, it does not mean that she automatically possesses all the qualities of the “white” racial identity. This brings into question the validity of the “white” racial identity. ↩
- It was at that moment, as she was eagerly primping herself for her first date that her extraordinary beauty struck home to me. (Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida, 199)
– Here the ugly aspect of the “black” racial identity is challenged. Inspite of the fact that she is mulatta and of black descent, Margarida is described as possessing “extraordinary” beauty by Ana Luisa. ↩
- However, she was struck by the word cogwheels. She looked it up in the dictionary to determine its exact meaning; ever since she learned how to read, she had been in love with words: she would write down any words that were new to her and then hurry to the dictionary, which she had learned to use “like an intellectual” bemoaned Grandmother. (Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida, 202) ↩
- Derision. What did derision mean? There was a time when I would have asked Margarida to look it up in the dictionary. (Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida, 206).
– In both these quotes a major part of the “black” racial identity, the lack of intelligence and the lack of desire to acquire intelligence, is challenged through Margarida’s ability to read, her desire to learn new words, and the reliance of Ana Luisa on Margarida for information. ↩
- Black/mulatto racial identity
a) No, there couldn’t be any of this filthy ambition and sex in the corseted hearts of the dead of the album. (Ana Luisa, thinking about what Margarida said about the Rodrigues family, 196)
– Ana Luisa’s use of the word “filthy” as a modifier of “sex” gives “sex” a negative connotation. The effects of this are far-reaching when we think about how sex comprises a major part of the “black” racial identity.
b) She also knew all about her own origins, no, she didn’t have any illusions; they went back to her grandmother, black Ifigenia, who had starched and ironed my family’s clothes ever since she was a young woman… (Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida’s origins, 196)
– This quote implies that being of black descent is undesirable. It also provides a clear example of the “one drop rule” being used. Margarida’s is black because she has black in her ancestry.
c) In the trunk that had belonged to the dead woman there was a picture of the Pole in his hospital uniform. Margarida pinned it on the wall in her bedroom. “Don’t I look like my father?” she would ask me. When we quarreled I would tell her that she was Isaura’s spitting image. “But you’ve never seen my mother!” she protested. To which I’d reply innocently that I had known her grandmother. Then she would crawl under the bed, where she lay crying and tearing her hair.(Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida’s origins, 199)
– Margarida’s desire to look like her “white” father and her violent reaction when Ana Luisa say’s she looks like her mulatta mother is another example of the undesirability of being black.
d) It was at that moment, as she was eagerly primping herself for her first date that her extraordinary beauty struck home to me. (Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida, 199)
– Here the ugly aspect of the “black” racial identity is challenged. Inspite of the fact that she is mulatta and of black descent, Margarida is described as possessing “extraordinary” beauty by Ana Luisa.
e) However, she was struck by the word cogwheels. She looked it up in the dictionary to determine its exact meaning; ever since she learned how to read, she had been in love with words: she would write down any words that were new to her and then hurry to the dictionary, which she had learned to use “like an intellectual” bemoaned Grandmother. (Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida, 202)
f) Derision. What did derision mean? There was a time when I would have asked Margarida to look it up in the dictionary. (Ana Luisa, thinking about Margarida, 206).
– In both these quotes a major part of the “black” racial identity, the lack of intelligence and the lack of desire to acquire intelligence, is challenged through Margarida’s ability to read, her desire to learn new words, and the reliance of Ana Luisa on Margarida for information.
g) “What a pretentious mulatta. Ungrateful to boot. Next time I’m getting a coal black girl, one imbued with the tradition of her race.” (Grandmother talking about Margarida, 209)
– Derogatory and unflattering reference to Afro-Brazilians. ↩