When a mother does not know, cannot or does not want to love her daughter

I find it curious the simultaneity with which several contemporary Latin American writers in recent books of narrative or autofiction addressed the fact of their late paternities (by usual standards). Shocked by the appearance in their worlds of these creatures, at an age when it was not expected that they would become parents, they describe with genuine delight the pleasures they derive from the relationship with these children.

For example, several buttons: the Guatemalan Edward Halfon with any son; the Chilean Alejandro Zambra with Children’s literature and the Argentine Andres Neuman with Umbilical They write on the subject with the enthusiasm and maturity of style with which Cortazar describes the orgasms from – it is said – the hormonal treatment that allowed him to achieve them at the same time as his beard grew.

The generally complex relationships of male children with their fathers generated memorable texts, such as Letter to the Father of Franz Kafka or the words of Jean-Paul Sartre which includes this statement: “It wasn’t that my father was bad: it was the paternity bond that was rotten.” But women also wrote down their affairs, like Sybille Lacan in My fatherwhich exposes despicable facets of its, on the other hand, distinguished progenitor.

Less common (as far as I know) are women’s reckonings with their mothers. Simone de Beauvoirin A very sweet death, treats his terminal illness with a certain impiety. And, in Argentine literature, a recent example is the excellent novel? of Marina Mariasch, Personal effectsin which he questions post-mortem to its suicidal mother.

I develop this intro to be able to talk about an absolutely exceptional and moving book: The heart of damageby the immense Argentine poet Maria Negroni. It was published in August 2021 and its validity was updated in the theatrical version that ran until the first week of March at the Teatro del Picadero, in an adaptation by the author herself and with Marilu Marini as a dazzling protagonist.

The book begins with a quote from the Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector: “I’m going to tell what happened.” And, from there, in a language of a high poetic level (which does not prevent the crude proposal of a unhealthy mother-child relationship), the alternatives that disturb the life of a daughter who wants her mother to love her, something that she does not know, cannot or does not want to do, are described.

The protagonist-narrator has a sister, who is the one who will take care of that mother in her terminal disease, a task she feels unable to take on. In the book, not only the subjective aspect of that relationship appears: there is also the political militancy of the protagonist in the ’70s, the repression, fear and lack of family protection in the situation and her exile, which allows her to distance herself from the perverse relationship with her mother.

For those who do not know it, it should be noted that Maria Negroniuntil the appearance of The heart of damagehad published numerous books of poetry and obtained in Spain with the most recent, Utility of stars, the Margarita Hierro International Poetry Prize, chosen from among eight hundred unpublished originals. This award implied, in addition to a significant sum of money, the publication of the book by the exquisite Valencian publishing house Pre-Textos. These days, the author is in Spain, presenting that edition.

Sometimes the author’s status as a poet adds beauty to the narrative texts written by cultists of the genre, taking away the strength of the story. This does not happen in The heart of damagewhich undoubtedly counts, preserving a use of language bordering on poetry.