Emilio Payán: The legacy of Rosario Castellanos

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The history of an archive is the soul of a life, and when it comes to one of the most relevant voices in Latin American literature, a writer who challenged the conventions of her time, it takes on even greater value. The exhibition A Sky Without Borders: Rosario Castellanos Unpublished Archive opens a window to the legacy of this Chiapas author, revealing an intimate and previously unknown side of her life and work.

This exhibition is the result of rigorous academic collaboration and specialized research. A team of distinguished university students passionate about the work of Rosario Castellanos joined forces to bring this exhibition to life with creativity and enthusiasm. Poet and essayist Julia Santibáñez, poet Sara Uribe, consultant and researcher Laurette Godinas, María del Carmen Tostado, exhibition coordinator, and Eduardo Vázquez Martín, director of the Colegio de San Ildefonso, participated in the curatorship, along with other voices who have studied Castellanos's work with depth and commitment.

A conversation between Julia Santibáñez and Gabriel Guerra Castellanos, the author's son, sparked curiosity to review the archive boxes he had carefully guarded for decades. What began as a personal gesture between friends transformed into a revelation: a photographic collection and an invaluable collection of letters, manuscripts, and recordings that today take shape in this exhibition, which coincides with the centenary of the writer's birth.

The exhibition is a journey through time and memory that allows us to delve into the intimacy of Rosario Castellanos's life and the depth of her thought. Unpublished photographs, manuscripts, and carefully woven fragments reveal how her family and social environment—the early death of her brother Mario Benjamín, the agrarian reform promoted by the Lázaro Cárdenas government, the loss of her family's property, and her exile to Mexico City—shaped her sensitivity. Her work is both testimony and denunciation: it reflects a critical view of the structures of power, but also a profound compassion for those living on the margins.

The exhibition not only provides insight into personal aspects of her life, but also allows us to rediscover her intellectual commitment, her keen irony, and her critical perspective on gender and society. Her writings engage with the reality of her time and continue to challenge us in the present. They resonate with a desire for justice and a lucid and sensitive awareness of the inequalities and violence experienced by women and indigenous people, topics she addressed uncompromisingly from her position as a poet, essayist, and public official. This exhibition, which is being presented at the Colegio de San Ildefonso, will be open to the public until August 24.

Laurette Godinas, a researcher at the Institute of Bibliographic Research, coordinated with the General Directorate of Publications and Editorial Promotion of the UNAM to publish the book "This Unique and Eternal Minute: Rosario Castellanos in Her Centenary ," which explores the author's different facets through five chapters. This edition will be presented at the 2025 Guadalajara International Book Fair.

Opening that archive was not only an act of historical preservation for Gabriel Guerra Castellanos, but also a deeply personal gesture. Throughout his life, he has tried to digest her absence and learn to live with three relationships with his mother: as a son, as a reader, and as an analyst of a public figure. Upon opening the boxes, he rediscovered not only memories, but fragments that allowed him to complete a story that had always been there.

For Gabriel, finding a suitable home for his mother's archive is a process that requires reflection and discernment. Three fundamental pillars must support this decision: the seriousness and autonomy of the institution, the accessibility of the archive for researchers and the public, and the capacity for dissemination and promotion that guarantees its longevity . In his opinion, UNAM—an institution that Rosario Castellanos honored with her presence—meets these criteria and represents the ideal space to safeguard and showcase her work.

Promoting a research and dissemination program to socialize this valuable legacy would be a tribute to his creative spirit and a tribute to Mexico's cultural richness.

Preserving this archive is not only an act of filial love, but also an act of resistance to oblivion. In a country that has maintained a complex relationship with its historical memory, A Sky Without Borders reminds us of the urgency of returning to the voices that have shaped us and preventing them from dissipating into silence. Rosario Castellanos lives on as a symbol of intelligence, sensitivity, and rebellion, illuminating the fundamental questions of our present from her archive.

“You have to laugh, then. And laughter, as we know, is the first testimony of freedom.”

Rosario Castellanos

For Alicia, for many reasons