Una belleza incómoda: anormalidad y monstruosidad en Salón de belleza, de Mario Bellatin

Abstract

This article’s objective is to study the notions of anomaly and monstrosity, present in Michel Foucault’s critical focus of the novel Salón de belleza (Beauty Salon, 1994) from the Mexican author Mario Bellatin. From this perspective, it will be evident that certain abnormal agents in the narration let a character or space mutate into something non-human. The way in which this novel—of which the commemorative issue in 2014 has led to some controversy due to legal issues—will be analyzed can help interpreting the totality of the narrative corpus of the Mexican author. And it is because Bellatin’s narrative has the characteristic of every magnanimous writer: it tends to be beautiful, indeed. But it is also awkward.