Presentation

Artistic creation is, in itself, a liberating act, and as essential tool for their emancipation is useful to women. That is why -and so will be viewed in these pages- the literary works, literary critics, oral story telling, plastic research, scenic and cinematographic works, and in whole, every artistic creative and re-creative experience becomes feminist practice, and in a certain way, is able to criticize the gender stereotypes, when is hitting upon the word, the brush, the camera, and so forth. Moreover, this goes further of 

The first great work of every feminine creator is making herself, being able to create herself in outer borders or assuming a critical standpoint respect to those cultural duties giving them a place in the world. Thus her art becomes a justification for the own creation, for re-shaping herself. As for women is really a necessity to produce knowledge and imaginary of their own, just as a form of transformative action upon reality and as a mode to unfold clearly ideological links, beside the opaqueness and hidden capriciousness which stem from traditional representation. 

The creation and re-creation in the artistic experience, brought about by women who are in compromise, and why not, by solidarityfilled men about deconstruction of the feminine and its specification, constitutes a transformative experience bringing a change on patriarch. 

Because of the representation is a privileged machine of productiondiffusion ideology, images-elaborating structure is a political activity. And so, the imaginaries created and re-created by the artistic-literary praxis made by women -however not manifested as feminist ones- are all a form of struggle and construction of gender justice. Through creative experience, is running a resistance against patriarchal order, the woman identity is vindicated, the autonomy is developed and the feminist freedom is experienced too. 

This is the first issue of Revista Venezolana de Estudios de la Mujer dedicated to the themes of creation, theory and critics of art and literature. We women are sure that is also the first edition ever devoted to creative women present along all Venezuelan academic magazines, either feminist or not. For us has been a pleasure to ask, to claim about delivering in time, to read and now to offer this number 27 to our readers of both sexes, with such issue we are joining to the sectors which at the «V Jornada Nacional de Investigación Universitaria de Género», to be held in Mérida, in the coming October 26-28, will pay a twofold homage: firstly to the essayist Viki Ferrar, secondly to the photographer and laboratorist Franca Donda. Viki and Franca belong to that Italian-born persons who decided to come to Venezuela after the last dictatorship in this country, and many years ago they contributed to form the first groups which dared to define themselves as feminist. 

As a clear example of female creative to begin with, this Review opens with a film script produced by the Feminist Group «Wednesday», which is no only a homage paid to those who gave encourage and motive to a whole militant generation, but also -as Gioconda Espina says- their «radical validity». Such text, named «El c…de tu madre o la tuya que es mi comadre», sounds bravely as a euphemism-free meditation concentrated on the being of woman in a world which is accommodated to masculine power, a fact which entails that each liberation act becomes a new trap. 

The articles on critics and reflection about artistic and literary creation make up feminist re-creations trying to unfold and to explain the reinterpretation of a sort of world produced by creative women. In this group, Carmen Hernández analyses the conscious position respect to female aspect in the artistic production since the 70’s going along the feminist movements. This author also presents the new levels of discourse on representation, focused on the appreciation of feminine ingredient and the critics on discourses shaping femininity. Luz Marina Rivas, Beatriz Alicia García and Mariana Libertad Suárez show the way as woman writers present their visions from the daily life and identity, and for this reason, behave like transgressors of established culture and sexual division of the World. The papers written by Gabriela Malaguera, Desireé Ochoa, Maryiri Parra and Carmen Teresa García come back to traditional stories with feminist visions: Gabriela’s proposal is to reading of seduction as done by the example given by Shahrazád with her behaviour full of courage and sense of alternative putting up a resistance against the peril of solitude for female inconformity. A rigorous analysis of child stories is made by Desireé, Maryiri and Carmen Teresa who study the relationship between these stories and their role in reproducing gender roles. 

These writers speak and tell us their roads, their inside research and the way to reach growing up and freedom. 

The playwright and Theatre director Lali armengol has made a theatrical work devoted to feminist perspective for over twenty years; she has enriched us for decades with their works, likewise she also does so when telling us about her personal creative way through «the process of discovering and disclosing what the appearance hides away». Hilda Benchetrit and María Egea show two plastic explorations structured around their inner view as women. Isabel Zerpa claims the vitality of oral story telling, as well as such telling and dreaming just as a plain encounter act full of home warmth. All these writers as women coincide with each other, along their expressive variety. In harmony with this line, Fernando Aranguren gives a systematic handling to an experience of growing and empowerment in order girls living under risk conditions. He undertakes this matter using both theatre and cinema. 

In this year 2006, devoted to Francisco de Miranda, a great deal has been written about this hero, and even an acclaimed film has been made, directed by Diego Rísquez, therefore is necessary to review the books of Edgardo Mondolfi, Inés Quintero and V. S. Naipul, beside the last novel written by Mercedes Franco, entitled Caribana.