Female Martyrdom as Hybrid Resistance in Ana Castillo’s So Far from God

Abstract

Abstract:This article reads Ana Castillo’s So Far from God (1993) as a text that envisions the possibilities of women’s collective resistance and empowerment against systemic gendered violence. Considered Castillo’s most aggressively feminist work, So Far from God portrays the concept of martyrdom as a hybrid, women-centered feminist solidarity that counters violence. This paper examines Castillo’s activist vision through Homi Bhabha’s theory of hybridity, arguing that the novel portrays female martyrdom as a hybrid, resistant mimicry of Catholic martyrdom to reverse the individualistic and exclusive authority of a masculine order into a collective activist spirituality.