Introduction
Gabriela Damián Miravete, a writer and editor from Mexico City (1979), has published a collection of twelve short stories titled “Soñarán en el jardín” (Alfaguara, 2025). These stories traverse genres like fantasy, horror, and speculative fiction through various female perspectives, suggesting alternatives for constructing a future based on sisterhood, equity, and resistance.
The Power of Genre Fiction
Damián Miravete believes that realistic literature has been insufficient in representing the experience of being alive, especially for women in Mexico. She argues that genres like science fiction, fantasy, and horror provide expressive tools to assimilate reality fully. These genres allow humans to imagine and project themselves into other temporal spaces, just as they construct their reality through small fictions.
Key Stories in the Collection
- “Huir del siglo”: A tale of virreinal nuns opposing the Santa Inquisición and inventing a mysterious machine to abolish the status quo.
- “Soñarán en el jardín”: A story exploring a future Mexico where feminicidios no longer exist.
These stories offer tools to alter the given reality and propose alternative coexistence possibilities.
Collective Experience and Resistance
Damián Miravete emphasizes the importance of collective experience in her narratives, focusing on groups that believe in more horizontal social alternatives and resist for this conviction. She believes that part of the daily pain experienced due to normalized violence and inequality stems from an imposed idea of individualism within hierarchical systems.
Historically Marginalized Female Authors
Although genres like science fiction have always had female authors, they were often hidden or ignored. Virginia Woolf’s essay “A Room of One’s Own” (1929) encapsulated this systematic suppression of women’s authorship with the statement, “A woman was anonymous.”
Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus” (1818) is considered a foundational and creatively abundant story in the science fiction genre.
Damián Miravete acknowledges that while female visibility has improved, ideal circumstances are yet to be reached. She credits readers for this progress and mentions influential authors like Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler, and Joanna Russ who helped bring feminist science fiction to prominence during the 20th century.
Feminine Literature as a Writing Space
Damián Miravete clarifies that feminine literature should not be considered a genre but rather as a space and body from which to write. Today, it’s interesting to analyze the differences in feminine narratives across various genres, not because of tenderness or beauty but due to historical exclusion from other experiences and struggles. These distinct narratives are worth knowing.
