South Atlantic Modern Language Association

Serving up Sex: The Writing of Desire in Allende's "Afrodita"

Author(s): Susan Carvalho
Source: South Atlantic Review, Vol. 67, No. 4, Spanish American Fiction in the 1990s
(Autumn, 2002), pp. 10-26
Published by: South Atlantic Modern Language Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3201658
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Serving up Sex:The Writingof Desire

in Allende'sAfrodita
SUSAN CARVALHO

NOVEL PAULA, PUBLISHED

ISABEL ALLENDE'S (AUTO)BIOGRAPHICAL

in 1994, chronicled not only the illness and death of her daughter,
but also the frustratedimpotence of the writer/creator,who spoke
her story to ears that did not hear. In contrast, Afrodita (1997)
represents the author's determination to return to life, to sensation and celebration, and also to the joy of creation through writing. Like Paula,this work defies generic classification, presenting
itself as a kind of playful cookbook-an exploration of food,
sex, and the naturalbridge between the two, aphrodisiacs.In this
testament to the survival of Desire, Allende rejects the notion
that personal or spiritual growth can or ought to be achieved
through suffering. Instead, she proclaims that lust and gluttony,
two of the seven supposedly deadly sins, not only represent fundamental forces of self-preservation,but are "los grandes motores
de la historia"("thegreat motivators of history") (207); she writes:
"el vinculo entre la comida y el goce sensual es lo primero que
aprendemos al nacer ... Desde la lactancia hasta la muerte, la
comida y el sexo tienen la misma garra"("The bond between food
and sensual pleasure is the first thing we learn at birth ... From
nursing to death, food and sex go hand in hand") (208).' As a 300page ode to carnality,Afroditaaffirms not only the appropriateness but the necessity of the pursuit of corporeal pleasure,in two
arenas which have carried taboos particularlyfor women: the relishing of food and the savoring of sexuality.
Lacanian theory has convincingly demonstrated that, because
the Other-the true aim of human desire-is essentially unata) as
tainable,human beings postulate attainableobjects (objetspetit

SouthAtlantic Review

11

substitutes,as a symbolicandtemporarymeansof assuagingthat

desire.PatrickFuerysummarizesthis concept as follows:"In an
attemptto placatethe drives,the subjectconstruesobjectsof desire which can be achieved (or if they cannot, at least seem to be
achievable)" (22). While for Lacan such a concept carries some

negativeconnotationsbecauseit postulatesa fundamentallackas

the sourceof humandrives,even as it posits the impossibilityof
aachievingthe Other,Allende focuses on particularobjetspetit
food, sex, the senses-as tangibleevidence of the existence of
the Other. Physicalsatisfactionis re-writtenas the focus of desire.Paraphrasing
Lacan,Fuerynotes that "byits very definition
desireis beyondrepresentation"
(2),but as feministtheoristshave
pointed out, women writers have often explored differently coded
modes of representation. Culinary texts have come to serve as a
feminine discourse, and through the writing of recipes and the
telling of food-related tales, as well as the constructed sisterhood
within the text, Allende attempts to approximate and to write desire in a new way.

Lacan can only conceive of desire as "outside the limits of the

law" (276), that is, through transgression of the limits imposed by
authority and social law. Taking this observation as one of their
points of departure,theorists like Cixous and Irigarayposit transgression (both social and sexual) as a potential source of feminist
desire. Thus, the rebellion against the mechanisms that society
has erected to constrain desire becomes, for the feminist writer, a
kind of drive in itself. Through a chronologically and geographically broad spectrum of intertextual references, and through a
humor that attempts to undermine the codes of "propriety,"
Allende attacks the assumptions and the literary codes that have,
at least on the surface, kept women-and men-from the possibility of carnal fulfillment. As one mechanism for demonstrating
the arbitrarinessof these taboos, throughout the narrativeAllende
maintains an oppositional dialogue between the Eastern celebration of various kinds of sensory pleasure and the Euro-American
ethic of self-denial; for her, Christianity,which has defined traditional Western morality, involves the "negaci6n de todo aspecto

12

SusanCarvalho

placenterode la existencia;los sentidosy los apetitoserantrampas

satinicasque conducianlas almasal infiernoy por lo tantodebian
ser dominadoscon determinacionferrea"("negationof all pleasure-givingaspectsof existence;the sensesandappetiteswerethe
tools of the Devil that condemnedsouls to hell and must therefore be subduedwith iron determination")(83).2Alende's cookbook seeksto invertthislinkingof sensualityandsin,not onlyby
revelingin the pleasureproducedby deliciousfood, but by viewing the activitiesof cooking and of eatingas erotic and sensual
processesto be enjoyedand savored.Indeed,cookingandeating
become avenues of seducton, the kitchen becomes a complement to the bedroom,and both concepts--eating and sex-are
freed from theirutilitarianpurposes (of sustenanceand procreation,respectively),and transformedinto sourcesof energyand
In contrastwithMexicannovelistLauraEsquivel'snovel
creativity.
Comoaguapara
chocolate
whichsharedsome
(LikeWaterfor
Chocolate),
of the same themes as well as the fundamentalnarrativestrategy
of recipe discourse,Allende attemptsto createa new narrative
genre,one which rangesacrosstime and spaceto establisha universal conceptualization of feminine desire and sensual pleasure.
With only occasional references to love and relationships,
Allende describes the arena of feminine desire as primarilyphysical, involving the demands of all five senses for stimulation and
satisfaction. Writing becomes a tool for giving form to these hitherto-suppressed or restrained desires, as the author leaves behind
the narrativeforms which have provided her with such commercial success, and instead mixes one of the most traditionalforms
of feminine written discourse-the recipe-with embellished anecdotes, fictional stories, and conspiratorial"girltalk."As Joy Logan points out in her study of Afroditaas a symbolic journey,"Her
truths, if they are to be found, are not about defining or constructing the thing/object of her categorizations, but rather they
concern the evocation of the creative act and the autoerotics of
representing the self" (687). The triadof writing, food, and sexual
expression represents a defiance of feminine codes of conduct,
and a full-bodied expression of femininejouissance.

SouthAtlantic Review

13

Afroditaprojects an image of a readerthat stands in marked

contrast to Paula, the unresponsive narrateeof the previous work.
Here, the interlocutor is intended to be a conspiratoriallistener in
the female space of the kitchen: a casual dinner guest who savors
the sharing of sexual secrets and escapades along with a delicious
and decadent meal. Having evoked this atmosphere, Allende creates a discourse whose primary stratagemis that of humor. Tales
from the present and the past are embellished with cartoonish
illustrations,word-play,comical exaggerations,as well as the laughter that comes from the flouting of societal norms-whether dietor sex-related-and from wanton indulgence in the forbidden.
Of course, the subject of food as a vehicle for broader explorations of carnalityis not a new one; in Hispanic literature,the humorous treatment of this theme has a famous precedent in the
fourteenth-century Arcipreste de Hita's bawdy medieval poem,
Librodebuenamor(Bookof GoodLove).However, the metaphor has
acquired a new vitality in recent decades, as feminist perspectives
have privileged the kitchen as the space of female agency and the
cookbook as the site of female discourse. SarahSceats, in a study
entitled "Eating the Evidence: Women, Power, and Food" (1996),
assesses this phenomenon: "Because of the close association between women and food, or because of feminism's politicisation
of the domestic, or because of the advance of a material culture,
the work of women writers in the latter half of the twentieth
century is particularlyfruitful for an examination of the relations
between power and food.... A whole gamut of hierarchicalrelations is called into question through eating interactions, appetites
and primal desires" (117). In 1989, Susan J. Leonardi published a
landmark article which served as the official birth announcement
of the trend of "culinary criticism." Spanish American writers
had already noted the potentially subversive edge of this genre;
for example Rosario Castellanos' short story "Leccion de cocina"
("Cooking Lesson," 1971) undermined traditional images of the
kitchen as the site of women's authority and competence. The
1985 critical anthology La sartenporel mango(TheFryingPan kythe
Handle) privileges kitchen imagery as a vehicle for the craft of

14

SusanCarvalho

women's writing,inspiredperhapsby RosarioFerre'sessay,included

therein, entitled "La cocina de la escritura" ("The Kitchen of
Writing").Debra Castillo opens her highly influential 1992 study
of Latin American feminism with a "Recetario,"a compilation of
quotations which refer metaphoricallyto the acts of cooking and
of female communication (ix-xii).The most visible SpanishAmerican representative of this genre of culinary fiction is the 1989
bestseller and subsequent blockbuster,Comoaguaparachocolate
(like
which elevated cooking to the level of magical
WaterforChocolate),
chemistry.
Allende takes this association between food and sensuality one
step further.In Arodita eating is not only a metaphor for, but also
is an excuse to consummate, the sexual act. The food may function as a stimulus to oral sex, as foreplay, or as an aphrodisiac to
prolong the experience of pleasure.The woman figureis herself a
dish to be eaten; for example, in a recipe for "Sopa de la
reconciliacion" ("Reconciliaton Soup')-a soup guaranteedto resolve lovers' quarrels-the instructions, written in the first person, instruct the reader to follow the model of the writer/cook:
"agrego el caldo, el oporto y el aceite de oliva trufado, no todo,
dejo un par de gotas para ponerme detras de las orejas, no
olvidemos que es afrodisiaco" (I add the stock, the port, and the
truffled olive oil-not quite all of it, I leave a couple of drops to
dab behind my ears; let's not forget, it's aphrodisiac").And after
the dish is prepared-the soup, that is-she concludes the recipe
with the following detail: "Me coloco mi mejor vestido, me pinto
las ufias de rojo y sirvo la sopa decorada con crema agriaen platos
calientes" ("I put on my best dress, paint my fingernails red, and
serve the soup, in warmed bowls, garnished with a dollop of sour
cream") (173). Thus, the soup is only the first course, the appetizer, of the peace offering; its intention is to ensure that the main
course will follow.
As a device of narrativeframing,Allende begins and ends
her narrationwith a tribute to the food she considers most decadent, most sensual, and most redolent of the remembrance and
the promise of desire-arroz conlche (rice pudding). In recount-

SouthAtlantic Review

15

ing her time of emotionalstarvation,duringher daughter'sillness

and death,she associatesthis dessertwith both the beginningof
her sufferingand the beginningof her healing;in the opening
pages of Afroditashe writesthat one of her coping mechanisms,
when Paulafell ill, involvedseekingemotionalsustenanceby immersingherself in this food of her youth:"pedicuatroplatos de
arrozcon leche y luego ordeneun quintode postre.Me los comi
sin parpadear,con la vagaesperanzade que aquelnostalgicoplato
de mi ninez me ayudariaa soportarla angustiade ver a mi hija
muy enferma"("Iorderedfour servings,and then a fifth for dessert.I ate them down withoutblinking,with the vaguehope that
thatnostalgicdessertfrommy childhoodwouldhelp me bearthe
anguishof seeingmy daughterso ill")(24).In contrast,fouryears
afterPaula'sdeath,Allendemarksher recoveryfrom the datethat
this food surfacedin her dreams,with a more directlinkto the reawakeningof sensualityanddesire:"yome zambulliay esa crema
deliciosame acariciabala piel, resbalabapor mis plieguesy me
lenaba la boca. Desperte feliz y me abalancesobre mi marido
antesqueel infortunadoalcanzaraa darsecuentade lo queocurria"
(<Idivedin, andthatdeliciouscreaminesscaressedmyskin,slipped
into all the cervicesof my body,filledmy mouth. I awokefeeling
happy and threw myself on my husbandbefore the poor man
realizedwhatwas happeningto him")(24).The happyimagereappears, almost as a postscript, in the cookbook's recipe appen-

dix. The last recipecontainsdetailedinstructionsfor "arrozcon

leche del consueloespiritual"("Arrozconleche,or spiritualsolace")
(323), a dish which the narratorrecommendsservingby spreading it generouslyon the skin of one's lover, providingsimultaneous pleasure to the palate, the "spirit," and the body.

By concludingthe book with the recipeversionof the dream

which,at leastin symbolicterms,gaveit its initialimpetus,Allende
dispenses,throughthe food andthe narration,a promiseof spiritualand emotionalrenewalto the kitchensand bedroomsof her
readers.This narrativecircularitysuggeststhat femininedesireis
capableof renewingitself throughfood and throughstory.The
kitchenandthe bedroomserveas arenasof celebration,of physi-

16

SusanCarvalho

cal and spiritual nourishment obtained through self-indulgence.

Significantly, creating an intentional contrast with the opening
descriptions of this dessert eaten by oneself, the final image in the
book is one of mutual celebration, a sharing of the arrozconleche
with the lover rather than as solitary indulgence.
While the celebrationof food and sex may defy traditionalnorms
of feminine discourse, the act of writing this desire may be seen
as equally transgressive.Allende takes up the pen as a weapon of
survival, and attempts to write her own body back to life. Unable
to return to the project of the historicalnovel that was interrupted
by Paula'stragic illness (the work that would later become Hjia de
lafortuna [Daughterof Fortune]),the author consciously separates
herself from the novelistic structures that have become her hallmark, offering instead an intentionally fragmented narrative, a
Collateralto this hybrid rhetorical choice
highly original bricolage.
is the rejection of the idea of single authorship. While all of
Allende's earlierintradiegeticnarratorsgenerated their stories from
within their own imaginations or their readings of past writers,in
AfroditaAllende constructs her narrationas a collaborative effort.
The first long section of the book, entitled "Apologia de los
culpables" ("Mea Culpa of the Culpable") (19-25), includes photographs and biographical sketches of her co-creators in this endeavor: her friend Robert Shekter, her mother Panchita Llona,
and her agent Carmen Balcells. Her own photo, under the simple
heading "Yo" ("Me"),appearslast, with the story of her own spiritual and sensorial renaissance and of the book's creative gestation. This showcasing of her collaborators reveals the creative
process in progress. The book becomes the product of conversation, experimentation, and community, ratherthan the product of
one writer'spen (or keyboard). A chorus of voices echoes in and
out of Allende's connective narrativevoice: segments of the text
include a short story by the tenth-centuryJapanese woman writer
Onogoro (56-58), a letter purportedlyfrom Allende's friendTabra,
detailing her surrender to the verbal and physical charms of an
Egyptian seducer (115-122), poems by Pablo Neruda (140-142)
and by James Tipton (205-206), a passage byAnais Nin (103-104),

SouthAtlantic Review

17

and even a quotationfromAlende's own prologueto the Cuentos

deEvaLuna(Stories
of EvaLuna)(18).In Logan'swords,"the textualrecipe ... readsas a mixing,blending,kneadingtogetherof
voices andscripts"(687).Allende'sdualrole as cook andas writer
empowersboth spheresof activity.
The conversational
effectis underscoredbyAllende'sown strategies as self-consciousbut casualnarrator.She adopts a style of
spontaneousorality,completewith directreaderaddress,self-conscious commentaryand self-correction,anecdotal"by the way"
digressions,questions,colloquialisms,jokes, and in general,the
tone of a woman sitting at her kitchen table, sharinga cup of
coffee withintimatefriends.She admitsnearthe end of hernarrative that "la lista de afrodisiacoses mucho mas largade lo que
imaginabacuandocomencea escribirestaspaginasy ya empiezaa
fastidiarmeel tema"("thelist of aphrodisiacsis muchlongerthan
I imaginedwhen I began these pages, and I'm beginningto be
bored by the subject")(184);she criticizesherself for preaching
likea stereotypicalmother(35);she amusesherself as muchas the
readerwith sillyand tangentially-connected
thoughtsaboutJello,
aspic,guinea pigs and cellulite,but then apologizeswith a selfcorrection:"Disculpe,desvariootravez" ("Forgiveme, I'm afraid
I strayedagain"),and then, with comicalcontrast,returnsto her
discourseon formaltable settings(63). This informal,personalized and digressivestyle representsa consciousbreakwith traditionalnarrativeform, and a link to what have become recognizablecharacteristics
of femininediscourse.As Leonardipointsout,
the form of the women'srecipebook "reproducesthe socialcontext of recipesharing-a loose communityof womenthatcrosses
the socialbarriersof class,race,andgeneration"(342).
As Leonardinotes again,"even the root of reipe-the Latin
recere--implies an exchange,a giveranda receiver.Likea story,a
recipe needs a recommendation,a context, a point, a reason to
be" (340). Allende agrees.Early in Afrodita she notes that "la
conversaciones el sexo del alma"("conversationis sex for the
soul"),(19), and this discursiveinteractionis seen as one of the
book'smost potent aphrodisiacs,an objetpetit
a in itself.The result

18

SusanCarvalho

of the conversation is intended not as a narrativeof authoritybut

as a source of potential inspiration and delight to the reader, for
the book intends not to dictate the correct temperature of the
oven, but to light the fires of the imagination. As Allende chats
about food and sex, she is also describing, or perhaps rediscovering, her own interactive writing process, and the process affirms
nothing if not ingenuityand improvisation:"aunno conozco quien
cocine o haga el amor con un manual"-she says-"La gente que
se gana la vida con esfuerzo y reza a escondidas, como usted y
como yo, improvisamos con las cacerolas y entre las sabanas lo
mejor posible, aprovechando lo que hay a mano, sin pensarlo
mucho y sin grandes aspavientos" ("I have never known anyone
who cooks or makes love from a manual. People who work hard
to earn a living and who prayin secret, like you and me, improvise
in casseroles and bedroom romps as best we can, using what we
have at hand, without brooding over it or making too much fuss")
(11). She laughingly describes her "research"as the organizing of
dinner partiesand orgies, time spent in the kitchen with her mother
and in the bedroom with her husband, and a visit to a gay pornography store. Again, the creative process is presented as the obverse to the solitarywriting process of the Paulastory;in Afrodita,
communion and lively interaction serve as sources of energy, and
reciprocal sensual perception-including the oral and the auditory-constitutes the basis of the form as well as the content.
Alongside the emphasis on the opening of all five senses, Allende
postulates multiple sites of pleasurein storytelling;by uniting male
and female voices from various time periods and cultures,she seeks
to connect her desires with a transcendent hunger, with an essential current of energy and intimacy that will inspire her writing as
well as her body.
The power of writing as an agent of erotic stimulation is best
exemplified in a passage describing a romantic formal dinner (6869). As the lovers wait for their food to arrive, they arouse each
other without touching-through intense eye contact and the consciousness of their mutual erotic fantasies. The anticipation of
the meal becomes the anticipation of their lovemaking. However,

SouthAtlantic Review

19

the passagealso demonstratesin its form the artof eroticwriting;

the intensityof the passagebuildsslowlyand inexorably,acquiting an increasinglypassionateand impatienttone, and finallyexplodingin a long, tumblingsentencetwelvelines in duration,all
wrapsoff andcautionthrownto the winds,as the loversimagine
tearingeachothersclothesoff andmakinglove on the table.Again,
the lovers'bodies are themselvesthe main course,displacingthe
platesand silverware,and the arrivalof the actualfood (the last
wordsof the passageare"Bonapetit,murmuran"("Bonappetit,
they
murmur")[69])becomesmerelythe post-coital,andnarrative,relaxation.This example of narrativejouissance,
writingthe entire
body as an organ of sexualpleasureand privilegingforeplayas
well as the climacticact, is the work'smost successfulexampleof
the blendingof sex, food, and writingas sources of sensualexcitement.

All of Allende'snovels to datehaveincludedat least one characterwho is herself a writer,a tacticthathas allowedthe authorto
reflecton theimportanceof writingandof storytellingas a mechanism of survivaland resistancefor femalecharacters.The Paula
narrativealso containedfrequentand explicitreferencesto the
writingprocess.Afroditaavoidsthis metafictionalself-consciousness andpresentsitself,instead,as spontaneouslygeneratedrather
than crafted.For her part,Allendeherself appearsas researcher,
cook, taster,andlover,but not as writer.She even appearsto disclaim authorship, attributing stories to intradiegetic narrators or

to ancientEasternlegends.Yet the writtenword continuesto be

affirmed,alongsidethe culinarydelicacies,as both a transgressive
instrument and a source of pleasure.

Thematically,Allendechallengesmany social,moral,and
behavioralrestrictionswhich she views as impedimentsto sensorialenjoyment,a positionthatallowsAfroditato resonatewith certain aspects of contemporaryfeministthought.In her rejection

of "lamonogamiacompulsiva"
(14)
("compulsive
monogamy")
andherlamenting
of"lasocasionesdehacerel amorquehedejado
pasarpor ocuparmede tareaspendienteso porvirtudpuritana"
for makinglove thatI let go by becauseof
("theopportunities

SusanCarvalho

20

pressingtasksor puritanicalvirtue")(10), as well as in her verbal

opennessabouteroticandsensualpleasure,she defies the norms
of properwomen'sbehavior.As she rejectsartificialrestrictions
on women'sbehavior,she also celebratesthe ideaof men cooking
for women. In her admissionof men to the kitchenratherthan
onlyto the diningroom,Allendeevadesthe trapof somewomen's
fiction, as summarizedby Debra Castillo:"recipesharinghas a
sinisteras well as a celebratoryside.The recipeservesas an index
of femalecreativepower;it also describesa givingof the self to
appeaseanother'shunger,leavingthe cook weakened,starving...
. Her own workandher hunger,both physicalandtextual,go too
often unrecognized"(xiv).Afroditapostulatesanotherpossibility,
one in which the woman does not retaincontrol of the kitchen
nor the man of the bed. Throughthis sharingof genderedspace,
pleasureis acknowledgedand experiencedby both, and the link
between eatingand sex is strengthenedas a sourceof indulgent
reciprocity.

Yet in spite of her vocal rejectionof traditionalfemale

taboos, Allende at key moments remainsthe self-condemning
object of the (internalized)masculinegaze, primarilyin her concern for her physicalfigureand her concerns about aging.Her
revelationsaboutthesetwo sourcesof femaleanxietydemonstrate
that,while she intendsto createa feministdocumentof liberation
from externallyimposed restrictionson women'sbehavior,she
has-whether consciouslyor not-allowed certaintaboos to retain theirhold on her pursuitof pleasure.In spite of her explicit
rejectionsof self-denialand diets throughoutthe work,Allende
revealsin her commentaryon the "Postres"("Desserts")section
that her celebrationwas more verbalthanphysical,since she denied to herself the climaxof samplingher own recipes:
Los dulces son una debilidad que he combatido
duramenteen unaguerrasincuarteliniciadaapenastome
concienciade que teniadientes.... Cadabomb6nen la
boca se desliza sin transici6na las caderasy luego se
pagalaculpaen incontablesdietasy gimnasios.... Sueio

SouthAtlantic Review

21

con postres por las noches y paso los dias estudiando

las recetas,mientrasmi madrelas preparaen la cocinay
el resto de la familialas goza. Desde hace meses no
pruebo dulces de ningunaclase, pero pienso en ellos
sin cesar.(306-307)
(Sweetsare a weaknessI've fought continuallyalmost
fromthe time I was awareI hadteeth.... Everybite of
candythatgoes into the mouth cascadesdirectlyto the
hips andthen mustbe paidfor with countlessdietsand
workoutprograms.... I dreamaboutdessertsat night
and spend my days studyingrecipeswhile my mother
preparesthem in the kitchenandthe rest of the family
enjoysthem. It's been months since I tasteda sweet of
anykind,but I thinkabout them constantly.)
Whilethe book is adornedwith sketchesof a "ninfagordinflona"
("chubbynymph")(20) humorouslyintended to representthe
author,andis illustratedwith photos of severalBotero paintings,
andeven containsan intercalatedstoryabouta professor'sseduction of his overweightand very sexy student,these appearto be
purelyliteraryconcessions; for at other times in the narrative,
Allende'sown concernsintrude,as anxietiesabouther dress size
and its relevanceto her sexual appealpepper the narrative.As
Iggers' TheGardenof Eatingpoints out, "Today,while the old
moralitylies in shambles,a harshnew moralityof the body reigns
supreme.The word 'sinful'is hardlyever used today except in
connectionwith dessert .... At the heartof this new food guiltis
a migrationof both our eroticismand our moralfocus from our
groins to our guts" (xvi).Allende'sambivalentrelationshipwith
the imageof the latetwentieth-century
"idealwoman"revealsthat
her rejectionof culturallyimposed norms is only a partialone,
and that the celebrationof femininesensorialpleasuredoes not
extendto dessert.
Her comments about the agingprocess,while often humorous,reflecta similaranxiety.Her finalsentencein the narrative section of the book questionsthe longevitynot of her own

22

SusanCarvalho

sexual desire,but of her sexual appealin the eyes of potential

lovers:"Y cuandoya no puedahacerel amor,no por indiferencia
mia, sino por los tropiezosde encontrarquiendesee hacerlocon
una bisabuela,espero seguirgozando al menos de la comiday de
los recuerdos.. ." ("Andthatwhen I can no longermakelovenot becauseof anyindifferenceof my own, but perhapsfromthe
difficultyof findingsomeonewillingto frolicwith a great-grandmother-I

hope at least to continue enjoying food and memo-

ries")(209).
Traditionalattitudesare also revealed,perhapsunwittingly,in
certaincommentsaboutsex;whileperhapssincere,theseperspectives distinguishAllende from more radicalfeministwriters.For
example,her anecdotesof sensualitydo not embraceanycombinone of the fantasiesnationsotherthanheterosexualcoupling3;
sexual
of herownor of othercharacters-openlyacceptalternative
possibilities.Furthermore,while she expressesher regretof the
missedopportunitiesfor promiscuityin heryouth,andeven chalideal(14),
lengesthe validityof the monogamousJudeo-Christian
Allendealsodefendsherchoiceof monogamyin hermatureyears.
She affirmsrepeatedlythat love is the best aphrodisiac,that "lo
unico que en verdadme excitaes el amor"("theonly thing that
trulyexcitesme is love") (207).Even while mockingherself,she
revealstraditionalist
attitudes;she recountsthat,whileconducting
researchfor the writingof Afrodita,she visited a pornography
storein the gay sectionof SanFrancisco,andwas unableto overcome herown feelingsof discomfort:"medisfracecon unapeluca
platinaday lentesde sol puestodaviapesanen mi cienosescripulos
que una decadaen San Franciscono ha conseguidoeliminardel
todo" ("I disguisedmyself in a platinumwig and sunglassesburdenedstillwith scruplesthata decadein SanFranciscohasnot
managed to eliminate entirely")(32). Taboos, stereotypes, and ar-

bitrarysocietalconstraintson sensualpleasurestilllurkin the cor"sensualrevolution,"

nersof thistreatiseon a turn-of-the-century
andproblematizethe relationshipof the individualto the cultural
ties that bind.

SouthAtlantic Review

23

However, even these concessions to tradition are, like the rest

of the narrative, offered in a self-parodic, tongue-in-cheek tone.
Humor has in recent decades been identified as one of the most
powerful weapons in the arsenal of women's writing. As Sevda
Caliskan writes, "To be funny is to be assertive, aggressive, and
forceful; that is, everything a 'good girl' is not supposed to be"
(51). In Afrodita,this wielding of humor as a critical instrument
controls the entire narration and takes many forms; for as the
narrator comments, "la risa tambien es afrodisiaca" ("laughteris

also an aphrodisiac"[78]).For example,the illustrationsprovided

by collaborator Robert Shekter, sketches that parody Classical
nymphs and satyrs, serve as a kind of paratext that helps to maintain the light-hearted attitude towards the work's rebellious and
subversive content. Other illustrations focus on a particularlysuggestive detail of a painting, or play with the mind's associative
capacities. Allende inserts herself into the game, for on the back
cover of the book she appears, photographed in costume to imitate the woman featuredin Ivan Loubennikov's painting Flore,featured earlierin the book in the section entitled "Hors d'oeuvres"
(236); however, instead of baring her breasts as does the subject
of the original painting, Allende strategicallyand playfully hides
behind a large bowl of black olives.
In addition to the illustrations,Allende uses both content and
narrative tone to communicate her burlesque vision of her own
work, and of human indulgence in general. She also employs humor as a demythifying device, exposing the inhibiting attitudes of
both men and women that separate them from the full expression
of their desires. Most noteworthy is her adoption of a bold and
bawdy tone, which is intended to demonstrate that laughter is the
key ingredient of her narrative recipe and the most natural expression of her re-discovered vitality.In this respect, Allende finds
herself in step with much contemporary writing by women, and
in fact with a historic trajectory in feminist literature. Regenia
Gagnier has noted that even in the Victorian age, "women used
humor neither for disparagementnor temporaryrelease, but rather
as a prolonged anarchicassaultupon the codes constricting them"

24

Susan Carvalho

(929), and that "men fear women's humor for much the same reason that they fearwomen's sexual freedom-because they encourage women's aggression and promiscuity and thus disrupt the social order" (929). This correlation between humor and transgression has provided a fruitful discursive stratagem for a work which
affirms the woman's right to experience and savor life's pleasures,
and to pursue desire in any form that may present itself.
In this ode to sensation, Allende writes herself back to life.
Leaving behind the tragic spirit of her previous work, she re-invents the creativeprocess, as one much more intimatelyconnected
to her body and the bodies which surround her. In the final narrative section which precedes the recipe collection, Alende specifically addresses the links between this world-view and her writing,
when she says that "el profundo regocijo que siento despues de
comer bien y hacer el amor amando, invariablementese refleja en
mi trabajo,como si el cuerpo, agradecido,destinaralo mejor de su
energia a dar alas a la escritura"("the deep joy I feel after eating
well and making love loving is invariablyreflected in my work, as
if my body, gratified, destines the best of its energy to lend wings
to my writing") (209). This text celebrates process as much as
product, and attempts to reflect a woman's desire, the desire of
women, and desire as a part of the human condition. As she adopts
a literary form which enjoys current popularity among women
writers and among readers,Allende at the same time re-writes it,
harnessing it to her own literaryand spiritual aims; she creates a
personal document which intertwines the colaborative creative
processes of food, sex, and writing, and on all three levels celebrates the legitimacy and the life-sustaining power of feminine
pleasure.
Universityof Kentucky
NOTES
1

otrosafrodiacos(New York:HarperCollins,
IsabelAllende,Afrodita:
Cuentos,
recetasy
1997). All furthertextualreferenceswill be to this edition. English translationsare
A Memoir
takenfromAphrodite:
of theSenses,trans.MargaretSayersPeden (New York:
HarperCollins,1998).

SouthAtlantic Review

25

2The linkingof these two appetite-relatedsins has been exploredbyJeremyIggers,

who in TheGardenof Eating:Food,Sex, andtheHungtrforMeaning,cites as an example
the researchof nineteenth-centuryBritishnutritionistSylvesterGraham(inventorof
the "grahamcracker").Grahamadvocateda lust-suppressingdiet free of spices, salt,
coffee, tea,beef, pork,or ale.Accordingto Graham'stheory,"Everyindividualshould
as a generalrule restrainhimself to the smallestquantitywhich he finds from careful
investigation...to fullymeet the alimentarywantsof the vital economy,knowingthat
whatsoeveris more than this is evil." Further,his diet promised"to so subdue [the
dieters] sexual propensity as to be able to abstain from connubialcommerce and
preservetheir entire chastityof body, for severalmonths in succession,without the
least inconvenience"(82-83).
3
This observationis not meant as an accusationof a defect in her writing (although some feministcriticsmight see it as an internalizationof compulsoryheterosexuality),but is merelyintendedto highlightthe presenceof traditionalistrubrics,as
opposed to a more decentralizedview of sexuality.Gay and lesbian charactersoften
playkey roles in Allende'smore fictionalworks;however,Afroditais a more personal
narrativewhich tends towardthe autobiographical,and appearsto be restrictedmore
to a heterosexualarenaof experience.
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