PAIN AS TROPE: TRANSFORMATION OF FRIDA KAHLO'S IDENTITY FROM FEMININE TO A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Abstract

The research explores the transference of Frida Kahlo from embodying traditional feminine roles to becoming a feminist icon within a phallocentric society, as depicted in Slavenka Drakulić's novel Frida's Bed. Utilizing trauma studies, feminist theory, projection theory, and psychoanalytic theory, this analysis delves into how Kahlo's personal experiences of physical and emotional trauma shaped her feminist consciousness and artistic expression and projected her to a sensational symbolic breaking of the predetermined convictions of patriarchy. The novel's portrayal of Kahlo's chronic pain, resulting from a childhood accident and multiple surgeries serves as a focal point for examining how her suffering and resilience influenced her identity and work. Feminist theory provides a framework to understand Kahlo's challenge to patriarchal norms through her art and personal style, emphasizing her embrace of indigenous Mexican culture and her political activism. The psychoanalytic theory offers insights into Kahlo's inner life, exploring the unconscious motivations behind her self-portraits and the symbolic use of her own body as a canvas for expressing pain, desire, and defiance. This interdisciplinary approach illuminates the complexity of Kahlo's transformation, highlighting her role as a pioneering figure in the intersection of gender, culture, and politics. By situating Frida's Bed within these theoretical perspectives, the objective of the research aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of Frida Kahlo's unrecognized legacy and the origin of Fridamania from a feminine to feminist icon that progressed under the Mexican society pre-occupied with cultural struggles and tensions that favored male dominance.