Great World Texts - Kiss of the Spider Woman : About the Book

Abstract: As Manuel Puig's novel was adapted to Hector Babenco's film one key narrative structure was notably transformed: the genre movie recaps told by "deviant" gay prisoner Molina to Valentin, his political revolutionary cellmate. The six movie recitations by Molina, which are key in the novel to subtly revealing understandings of the two protagonists not dwelt upon in their dialogues, are reduced to just one (along with Valentin's own dream fragment from the novel being transformed into another of Molina's memories). This changes the dynamic from Puig's original, shifting the focus from a more complex call for social and personal liberation into an essentially romanticized tribute to Molina, however successful the film may be otherwise.

Abstract: Reports that when Manuel Puig's first novels were published in the early 1960s they shook the literary consciousness of the time. Consistency in the use of popular culture; Betrayal of the lower-middle-class' ravenous appetite for commercially packaged products; Differences in portrayals of men and women in novels.

Abstract: Reviews the motion picture 'Kiss of the Spider Woman,' directed by Hector Babenco.

Abstract: Opinion. Studies the teaching of Manuel Puig's book Kiss of the Spider Woman, while examining a composition of how popular culture both colludes with and frustrates official power structures that deny social justice and human dignity. Information on Puig's novel; Examination of a statement made by one of the author's students; Reason the author wanted to use this novel in his teachings.

Abstract: Presents literary criticism of the books "Kiss of the Spider Woman" by Manuel Puig and "Ceremony" by Leslie Marmon Silko. It analyzes the subversive and transformative energy of Spider Woman to defend certain kind of perversions against master discourse of normality. It compares the narrative style and storytelling methods of both novels which responds to the aggressive masculine attitudes at the heart of Western society. An overview of the story of Spider Woman is also offered.

Abstract: In El beso de la mujer araña, Manuel Puig encourages a “tercera lectura,” informed by both cinema and literature. He creates a cinematic language reinforced by the spirit of “synthesis” and then incorporates a conceptual discourse which is beyond cinema because of the “límites de atención” of a “lector cinematográfico.” Puig expects readers to draw their own conclusions about the themes which emerge. I argue here that both the themes and aesthetic of the novel can be read as a challenge to the form and content of a literary and filmic “cult of virility.”

Abstract: Contends that `Kiss of the Spider Woman' is the most successful and powerful novel made by Manuel Puig. Impact on contemporary Western readers; Potential of thematic power base to unsettle mainstream values and practices; Portrayal of gay character as sympathetically complex.

Abstract: Manuel Puig's Kiss of the Spider Woman examines, deconstructs, and then reconceives masculinity through the dialogue and interaction between the traditionally macho rebel, Valets tin, and the seemingly stereotypical effeminate, Molina. In the Course of their conversations inside an Argentinian prison at the time of the military Junta, Puig engages in an exploration of machismo, the code of male behavior, and marianismo, the code of female behavior, In order to re-establish masculinity in a manner that transcends the preconceptions. Arguing for what Puig calls the "polymorphous perverse," the novel redefines maleness in Valentin and Moilna's relationship, their intimacy, and the new-found elements of their personalities, elements which play a vital role in their ultimate fates in the novel.

Abstract: The article examines the transformation of spider woman archetype from Manuel Puig's adaptation of his novel to a play, and other adaptations into a film and a musical. The paper examines how the archetype's image and function shift when ‘re-visioned’ by various artists and performed in disparate social contexts.

"This article will concentrate on those structural differences between the cinematic and novelistic versions, the texts, and the intertextuality which culminate in the Spider Woman symbol in each case" (p. 65).