Article Title：The domestication of the ensign nun:: La 'monja alferez' (1944) and Mexican identity
Abstract：
This essay explores how and why, during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, a studio nationalizes and reforms a potentially problematic Spanish colonial figure, transforming her into a symbol of national identity. La monja alferez (1944) stars Maria Felix and is directed by Emilio Gomez Muriel, both of whom place the film at the heart of Mexican cinema's epoca de oro. The film rewrites Vida i sucesos de la monja alferez (1625), the alleged autobiography of Catalina de Erauso, a Spanish woman who achieved military renown in America dressed as a man and eventually retired to New Spain. In a move that actively brings the colonial past to bear on the Mexican present, Gomez Muriel's film recasts the historical character not as Basque, but as Mexican. This paper examines the process through which La monja alferez revamps Erauso as a Mexican icon, and considers the intersecting commercial and governmental influences that gave rise to this adaptation.
Keywords: Mexican national identity; colonial literature; Mexican film; adaptation; Erauso (Catalina de); Felix (Maria); Gomez Muriel (Emilio)
DOI: 10.2307/20140872
Source：HISPANIA-A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE TEACHING OF SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE
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