De la sumisión a la libertad de la mujer en Bruna, soroche y los tíos, de Alicia Yánez Cossío

Abstract

Abstract: This research shows the transition from submission to female freedom in the novel Bruna, Soroche, and the Uncles by Alicia Yánez Cossío. Through an approach that links literary criticism with psychological and sociological concepts, it examines how the patriarchal structure and religious influence shape the identity of the protagonists. The study identifies "soroche" (altitude sickness) as a metaphor for the social stagnation that paralyzes the decadent aristocracy, imposing roles of obedience that are inherited generationally. Characters like María Illacatu and the aunts represent the weight of the past and silence, while Camelia displays an incomplete rebellion born of frustration. The breaking point occurs with Bruna, who achieves a conscious rupture by questioning the norms and recovering her family history. The research concludes that women's liberation is not a static state, but a painful process of self-discovery and resistance against hegemonic discourses. Yánez Cossío's text thus emerges as a necessary X-ray of the tensions between tradition and modernity in the Ecuadorian context of the time.