Narrative closure and "woman":: The case of Virgenes y martires

The article analyzes two texts in the collection Virgenes y martires: "Letra para salsa y tres soneos por encargo" by Ana Lydia Vega and "Milagros, Calle Mercurio" by Carmen Lugo Filippi. The texts, which are "writerly" in the Barthesian sense, are open texts. The resistance to narrative closure, it is argued here, allows the distanced reader to question gender arrangements and the ethical positions available to women in society. It is concluded that "woman's place" is problematic and ultimately, an impossible subject position.