MPhil student Manuela Crivelli has been awarded the 2024 Valentina Guevara Prize for her essay entitled “On Monstrous Mothers and Maternal Monsters: Considerations on Motherhood in La infancia del mundo by Michel Nieva”.
The prize is awarded to the best essay on an Argentinian topic by a graduate student enrolled at a UK university, presented by the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Manchester.
Manuela’s essay explores how the novel La infancia del mundo provides the framework for the rethinking of motherhood beyond heteronormative norms and cultural ideals.
Particularly, her piece discusses how the irruption of monster figures within the novel constitutes an opportunity to imagine motherhood as a transversal, inclusive experience, which surpasses cultural dichotomies such as male/female, human/animal, and nature/technology. Such a rethinking, Manuela suggests, must start from the materiality of the body itself, which, despite representing a space of vulnerability and violence, also entails the potential of resistance and transgression.
Manuela commented, ‘I am immensely grateful to the faculty for providing such a vibrant environment in which to cultivate my research, and especially to my supervisors, who supported me and encouraged me to compete for this award.'
‘This achievement represents an important recognition of the work done over the years, but especially a source of motivation to continue my research work.’
